Chapter 11 - When Mother Turns Against Son
The sight of the federal agents shattered whatever remained of Selina Miller’s sanity.
Realizing that prison was no longer a theoretical threat but an immediate reality, Selina jumped to her feet, knocking her chair backward with a loud crash.
“It wasn’t me!” Selina shrieked, pointing a shaking, manicured finger directly at Rowan’s face. “It was him! It was all Rowan! He set up the accounts! He stole the money from his company! He told me it was an executive bonus!”
“Mom!” Rowan screamed, turning on her with wide, horrified eyes. “What are you doing?!”
“I am an innocent widow!” Selina wailed to the judge, completely ignoring her son. “He used my name! He forged my signature on those consulting contracts! He bought that watch to frame me! I begged him to go to the hospital for the baby, Your Honor! I begged him on my knees, but he wanted to stay at the vineyard and drink wine!”
“You lying monster!” Rowan lunged across the table, grabbing his mother’s shoulders and shaking her violently. “You told me Phoebe was worthless! You told me to ignore her call! You demanded the sixty-thousand-dollar watch for your birthday!”
“Get your hands off me, you failure!” Selina slapped Rowan across the face with a loud crack that echoed through the courtroom. “You ruined our lives! You had a billionaire’s daughter as your wife, and you were too stupid to even keep her happy!”
“Order! Order in this court!” Judge Harrison banged her gavel repeatedly, her face dark with fury. “Bailiffs! Restrain them immediately!”
Four court officers rushed forward, separating Rowan and Selina. Rowan was pinned against the petitioner’s table, sobbing hysterically with a red handprint burning across his cheek, while Selina was forced into a chair, screaming obscenities at her own child.
Arthur Pendelton quickly packed his briefcase, took two steps away from his clients, and raised his hands. “Your Honor... at this time, I respectfully request permission to withdraw as counsel for both petitioners due to an irreconcilable conflict of interest.”
“Granted, Mr. Pendelton,” Judge Harrison snapped. “And you’re lucky I don’t sanction you for bringing this frivolous, fraudulent petition before my bench.”
Judge Harrison took a deep breath, straightened her robes, and looked down at the pathetic spectacle before her.
“In thirty years on the bench, I have rarely witnessed such an appalling display of moral bankruptcy, greed, and utter contempt for the welfare of a child,” the judge declared.
She turned her attention to me and Eleanor.
“Regarding the emergency petition filed by Mr. Miller: it is dismissed with prejudice. Full legal and physical custody of the minor child, Leo Sterling, is awarded exclusively to the mother, Phoebe Sterling. Mr. Rowan Miller is granted zero visitation rights, and I am issuing a permanent order of protection barring Mr. Miller and Mrs. Selina Miller from coming within one thousand feet of the child, the mother, or their residence.”
Judge Harrison slammed her gavel down with finality.
“Court is adjourned. Federal officers, you may execute your warrants.”
The two federal agents in the back walked forward, pulling pairs of steel handcuffs from their belts.
As the cold metal clicked around Rowan’s wrists, he looked across the aisle at me one last time. Tears and snot were running down his face.
“Phoebe... please,” he whimpered, his voice broken into pieces. “Tell them you forgive me. Tell them to stop. I’m Leo’s father... please...”
I stood up, smoothed the lapels of my ivory blazer, and looked him straight in the eyes.
May you like
“You stopped being his father the moment you hung up that phone, Rowan,” I said softly. “Have a good life.”
I turned and walked out of the courtroom beside my father, never looking back as Selina’s hysterical screams and Rowan’s pathetic sobs faded behind the heavy double doors.
