Chapter 341 She Has Lost a Baby Before
Charlotte’s arrival marked a turning point in the court hearing. After all, civil cases like child custody battles were the hardest to adjudicate on. There were no black-and-white rules on this, but it was almost common practice that the child’s wishes would have a huge impact on the court’s verdict.
Justin frowned at once. “Miss Carter, who let you bring my daughter here? Frankie, take Charlotte out of here now!”
Hernandez stood up at once. “Your Honor.”
The judge banged the gavel in his hand. “Silence!”
The scene went silent at once.
Hernandez accused sharply, “How could a kid grow up under the control of such a domineering father?”
Justin looked as black as thunder as he struggled to suppress his displeasure. “Rachel, why do you have to have Charlotte brought here?”
Instead of answering him, Rachel continued to make her case. “Your Honor, there’s one other thing that I need to make clear. I gave birth to Charlotte while I was divorced and technically single. The time of her birth and the time of my divorce could be verified, so her custody should’ve been mine in the first place.”
All at once, a discussion broke out among the jury.
Justin wanted to say something, but his attorney stopped him, saying, “Your Honor, I’d like to ask for a recess.” After all, Charlotte’s sudden presence had made the situation somewhat complicated.
The judge nodded slightly. “The court will recess for 15 minutes.”
Justin stopped Rachel as soon as they left the courtroom. “Come with me. I’d like to have a word with you!”
“Justin.” Hernandez tried to stop him.
Rachel was imperturbable, though. “It’s okay. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Only then did Hernandez relent.
After following Justin into the lounge, Rachel asked straightforwardly, “What do you want to say? Shoot.”
Justin took a deep breath and let it out slowly. After barely calming himself, he said, “Rachel, whatever means you use for this lawsuit, I can understand it, but why do you have to be so cruel? Why let Charlotte see us at each other’s throats? She’s just a kid!”
Rachel argued, “She’s already six years old. Do you think she doesn’t know anything? Rather than coaxing her into living a fairytale, it’s better to let her choose her own future life. At least she won’t blame me in the future for not giving her the opportunity!”
“That’s too cruel! You’re her mother!”
“It’s precisely because I’m her mother that I want her to know I’ve never given up on her! I’ll do my best to win this lawsuit.”
Justin was on the verge of breaking down. “Do you have to do this? I told you that you can visit her anytime you want. You—”
“I don’t want that!” Rachel interrupted him snappily. “It made me feel very uncomfortable the first time I heard this from you. You sounded like you’d made a huge concession or something. Do you honestly think I should be eternally grateful for that?”
Justin was at a loss for a reply. Rachel’s words punctured the man’s eardrum and pierced through his nerves one after another like needles.
“If there’s nothing else, I gotta go. The hearing will continue in a minute.”
“Wait a minute.” Justin grabbed Rachel’s arm. His deep voice dripped with humbleness as he said, “I’m not making concessions; I’m begging you. I can’t lose Charlotte.”
In a small movement, Rachel broke free of Justin’s grasp and flicked the nonexistent dust off the cuff of her shirt.
When Justin saw this, his heart clenched all of a sudden. To think that she loathes me to such a degree!
Just then, Rachel said, “I don’t believe you. Since you could marry me and then divorce me for the sake of your own interests in the past, you could also abandon Charlotte for the sake of your own interests in the future.” Her heart was desolate as their past was brought up again. As she stared at Justin, everything that had happened five years ago flashed vividly before her eyes. “You probably have forgotten about it, but I lost a baby back then.” The baby she had lost before conceiving Charlotte was always a pain in her heart, and she had never gotten over it over the past five years.
Upon hearing her words, Justin turned pale and staggered. “I… I didn’t forget it. I still remember that, Rachel. I still remember that.”
Rachel turned her face away, not wanting to look at him.
As they both silently refused to budge, Justin’s voice sounded more and more muffled up. “I know it’s useless for me to say anything, but I’ll spend my whole life making it up to you and Charlotte. I’ll have the Burton Group’s shares that I have added to the will.” At the mention of his will, he felt like he had clutched his lifeline, and his eyes lit up somewhat. “Rachel, didn’t we agree that I’ll make a will to protect Charlotte’s rights in the Burton Family so that you don’t have to worry about her suffering wrongs in the Burton Family? Please let Charlotte stay with me. Take it as my plea to you.”
However, Rachel replied coldly, “Your will will only be valid when you’re dead.” With that, she pulled the door open and left the lounge right away without looking back, leaving the man standing at the door with his face as white as a sheet.
“Mr. Burton!” His attorney hurried over with an anxious expression. “Why are you here? We need to rediscuss our strategy.”
“What else can I do?”
“Your child’s wishes are crucial to the case. If you can convince your child to live with you, then there’ll basically be no problem.”
Justin barely pulled himself together. “Where’s Charlotte?”
“The public rest area.”
At this moment, Charlotte was holding a bottle of fruit juice given by Jolly in the public rest area outside the courtroom, but she didn’t drink it.
“Why not drink it, Charlotte? You don’t like it?”
Charlotte’s little face was clouded with unhappiness. She asked with a frown, “Godmother, why are Daddy and Mommy fighting for my custody? Can’t they be together?”
“You probably still don’t understand the matters between adults. In that case, let me ask you this: if you have to make a choice, who do you wish to live with?”
Charlotte’s eyes reddened somewhat. “Daddy and Mommy have asked me this question before.” In the past, she would cry at the question, and Rachel and Justin would feel sorry for her and stop questioning her. But now, it seemed that it’d be useless no matter how she cried.
“You see, don’t you always want to be with your mom? Now your mom has come back for you. If you live with her in the future, you’ll get to play with Samuel, who will go to school with you every day and go to the playground with you on weekends. We’ll travel together during the winter and summer breaks… How happy we’ll be!”
“But I’m also very happy to be with Daddy. He’s very nice to me, too.”
“What’s good about him? He—”
Before Jolly could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by Justin’s voice from behind. “Charlotte.”
At the sight of Justin, Charlotte immediately jumped down from her chair, ran to the man, and flung herself into his arms. She sobbed in an extremely aggrieved voice, “Daddy!”
Justin was very saddened to see how aggrieved Charlotte looked.
Just then, Charlotte said, “Daddy, Godmother said I have to choose between you and Mommy, and I can’t choose both of you.”
“Who would you like to choose, then?”
Charlotte lay in Justin’s arms without speaking.
They had lived together for such a long time as father and daughter, so if anything happened, Justin would be Charlotte’s biggest support. Regardless of what Jolly might have said, Justin was still confident of this. Rachel has made a mistake in trying to use our child to win the case.
At the sight of the scene, Jolly secretly clenched her fists and made up her mind. I still can’t let Rachel go easy on him this time. If she still doesn’t harden her heart, it’ll be too late.
