The Verdict on My Husband the Judge: GUILTY novel Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I went straight to Leo’s room.

He was out of the ICU, but he still looked like he might shatter. Bandages wrapped around his head. Cheeks so hollow. Skin the color of old paper.

When he saw me, his whole face lit up–then his eyes shot past me to the doorway.

Waiting.

When nobody else walked in, his face fell.

“Dad didn’t come again?”

I forced a smile.“He’s working on your case, baby. Making sure the people who hurt you can’t get away with it.”

The lie burned going down.

Before I could say anything else, heels clicked down the hallway.

A voice rang out–loud, cheerful.

“Jenna! There you are!”

I froze.

Emily walked in like she owned the place, carrying a fruit basket that looked three days past expired and a bouquet of white lilies.

And right behind her? Dylan. The kid who’d beaten my son.

She flashed me a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“I’ve been trying to get ahold of you. Did you think about what we discussed? The settlement?”

Dylan locked eyes with Leo and flipped him the bird.

Leo went stiff as a board. Pure terror washed over his face.

I stepped between them.

“Get out.”

Emily’s smile stayed plastered on. “Come on, Jenna. Let’s not be dramatic. Boys fight. That’s what they do. You’re

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Chapter 2

making this into something it’s not.”

My hands started shaking.

“Boys fight?” My voice cracked. “Your son put mine in the ICU with a broken rib and bleeding in his brain. You think that’s just boys being boys?”

Her smile finally slipped.

I took a step closer, my voice dropping low.

“You want to settle this? Fine. We’ll settle it the second your kid has a broken rib too.”

Her face went hard. She yanked Dylan behind her like I was a dangerous one.

Dylan peeked around her shoulder, smirking. “Mom, Mr. Lawson said we don’t have to worry. He said she can’t

touch us.”

Mr. Lawson.

Everything went white–hot.

I slapped him across the face without hesitation.

The crack echoed. Dylan’s head snapped to the side, and then he started screaming–high–pitched, theatrical wailing.

“YOU JUST ASSAULTED MY CHILD!”

Emily came at me like a freight train. She grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked me backward. Her nails raked down my face. I hit the floor, and she didn’t stop–slapping, clawing, screaming in my face.

My ribs screamed. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t see straight.

From the bed, Leo was sobbing.

“STOP! LEAVE HER ALONE! MOM!”

He tried to climb out of bed, and that’s when I saw it–blood soaking through the bandages on his side.

By the time security dragged her off me, Emily looked barely mussed. Hair a little messy.

I was on the floor in a heap. Blood streaming from my nose. $hirt ripped half off. Every breath felt like knives.

When the cops showed up, they took one look at both of us.

Emily, tears streaming down her face, clutching her son.

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Chapter 2

Me, looking like I’d been through a blender.

At the station, I asked for a medical exam. Told them I wanted to press

The officer’s whole demeanor shifted.

Suddenly, Emily wasn’t the one who’d beaten me bloody–she was just a worried mother “defending her child.” And I was the aggressor. I needed to apologize.

I shot to my feet. The handcuffs slammed against the table.

Then I saw it–the way the officer’s eyes flicked to his phone. The way his posture changed, like he was standing at attention for someone who mattered.

I dropped back into the chair.

Zane.

Of course it was fucking Zane!

He’d protect her no matter what it cost me.

My throat locked up. I tried to breathe, but the air wouldn’t come.

I refused to apologize.

They threw me in a holding cell for three days.

Seventy–two hours that felt like drowning in slow motion. The air reeked of piss and bleach. Every minute crawled by like broken glass scraping against my skin.

In the dark, my mind kept circling back. Ten years ago. That night. Too.. with two pink lines.

Zane told me to keep it. Said he’d marry me. Said we’d figure it out together.

I thought he’d finally seen me.

Turns out I’d just trapped myself.

vine. Bad choices. A pregnancy test

When they finally let me out, I looked like absolute shit.

Hair matted. Clothes reeking.

I went straight to the hospital.

The Verdict on My Husband the Judge: GUILTY

Chapter 2

Leo’s private room was gone.

Some stranger was in there now. An old woman hooked up to IVs.

They’d shoved Leo into a shared room.

Four beds crammed together.

The second Leo saw me, he broke down.

He threw himself into my arms, his whole body shaking.

“Mom–Dad said it’s my fault–he said I got bullied because I was bad–because I deserved it–but I wasn’t, Mom, I SWEAR-”

His words gutted me again.

I bit down on the inside of my cheek.

I held him. Rocked him. Told him over and over that none of this–none of it–was his fault.

When he finally stopped shaking, I kissed his forehead and walked out.

I made it halfway down the hall before I froze.

Through the window of a private suite I saw him.

Zane.