He Won The Case, He Lost His Family Chapter 03

He Won The Case, He Lost His Family Chapter 03

After Graham’s visit, Tessa’s mental health deteriorated.

She tried hard to act normal in front of me, but she stopped sleeping and began hurting herself when she thought no one was watching.

She chewed every fingernail until the skin bled. Seeing her like that nearly destroyed me.

I stayed beside her during the day and studied case law at night, searching for any argument Graham had overlooked.

The appeal hearing came quickly. Graham took the opposing side again and recited my daughter’s supposed offenses with methodical precision.

“The forensic examination recovered no usable DNA from the plaintiff,” he told the panel. “Investigators found no signs of a struggle on the landing.”

“The evidence supported an accidental fall, not an assault.”

He glanced at me and paused. Sienna gave him a pleading look, and he continued.

“The plaintiff and the defendant had a history of conflict, including several arguments related to their families.

“We contended that jealousy, not violence, produced this accusation.”

“My client reserved the right to file a defamation claim and demand a public retraction.”

With a few polished sentences, Graham had transformed the victim into the offender.

In his version, my gentle, conscientious daughter was capable of calculated cruelty.

I could not remain silent.

“You were lying!” I shouted.

“Tessa did nothing wrong. Derek had been tormenting her for months.”

After the fall, I had read her private journal. That was how I learned what had happened after Graham used his influence to transfer Derek into her senior class.

Derek cut chunks from her hair, threw away her textbooks, and humiliated her in front of other students.

Tessa had hidden it from me because she feared adding to the tension at home.

She had tried to tell Graham, gently and in confidence. Derek’s abuse only intensified afterward.

Her father’s response had been even worse.

“If he didn’t treat anyone else that way, you should ask yourself why he chose you,” Graham had told her.

“Stop making drama the way your mother did and consider your own behavior.”

There was no point relitigating every cruel word from the past. What I could not forgive was Graham turning Tessa’s plea for help into evidence against her.

While I stood there reeling, the presiding judge announced the decision.

Our appeal was denied, and no further review would be granted on the record before the court.

The room tilted around me.

Graham placed a draft defamation complaint on the table in front of me.

“You and Tessa should apologize to Sienna and Derek, and this ends here,” he said. “Otherwise, the next time you enter a courtroom, you’ll be the defendant.”

I had cried until there was nothing left. I walked out in a daze and missed a step on the courthouse stairs.

“Laurel, were you all right?”

Sienna hurried forward to help me, but her nails dug deliberately into my arm. She bent close and lowered her voice.

“Did you want to know why you lost?” she whispered.

“Because I removed every piece of evidence before the police could find it.”

I stared at her.

“The night your daughter fell, Graham was in my bed. She called him more than a dozen times, but we were too busy to answer.”

“When I heard what happened, I reached the school before the police secured the landing.

“I removed every trace, following instructions Graham had once given me about making evidence disappear.”

The world warped in front of me, and every sound became a distant roar. I looked up at her without feeling the pain in my hip or the concrete under my palms.

Derek wandered over and lowered himself until his grinning face was level with mine.

“You’re as pathetic as your daughter,” he said. “You couldn’t keep your husband, and you couldn’t win in court.”

“You should let Graham be with my mom. If you don’t, Tessa’s life is only going to get worse.”

The obscenity of that threat burned away my reason.

I lunged, wrapped both hands around his throat, and screamed, “You would never touch my daughter again!”

Graham tore me away. The slap he delivered snapped my head to the side.

He helped Sienna and Derek to their feet, his face twisted with disgust.

“What was wrong with you?” he demanded.

“Did you want me to have both you and Tessa arrested?”

“No wonder she turned out this way. She learned it from you.”

He seized my arm and dragged me in front of Sienna.

“Apologize,” he ordered. “Or I’ll show you exactly what a lawyer like me can do.”

Blood filled my mouth. I lifted my head and spat it across his cheek.

“Go to hell.”

For my daughter, I would never bow to any of them.