Betrayed by My Childhood Love novel · Chapter 17 of 32
Chapter 17: The Hearing
"No," I said.
The line went quiet.
"Essie, it's one dinner."
"It's Esme. And no." I watched a pelican land on Gran's dock post. "You took my notebooks out of this garage. If you want to tell the truth about that, tell it. You don't get a date for it."
"Then I can't help you."
"Then don't."
I hung up.
Waylon didn't say anything.
He just reached over and clinked his coffee mug against mine.
The hearing was in a federal building in downtown Dallas, in a room with blue carpet and no windows.
Three judges sat at a raised table.
Rice's lawyer sat at one small table with me. Annika's lawyer sat at the other with her.
Behind Annika, filling three rows, was half the Thornbury rocketry club in navy blazers.
My parents sat in the front row behind her.
My mother wore her pearls. She didn't look at me once.
My father looked at me exactly once, when I walked in, and then down at his hands.
Behind me sat the adviser, Waylon in a tie he'd borrowed from the recovery senior, and Gran in a church dress I'd never seen in my life.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–16 of Betrayed by My Childhood Love are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
← Chapter 16 · All chapters · Chapter 18 →
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