Page 87 of Fake it With Me

“I said quiet!” Another bang of the gavel, and the murmuring stopped.

Judge Morrison turned her sharp gaze on Sasha, who was still standing. She looked like she was thinking about snatching the gavel and beating Grant with it.

“Ms. Gentry,” the judge said, her voice dangerously calm. “Would you care to explain why you just assaulted a man in my courtroom?”

Sasha’s lawyer was trying to pull her back into her seat, but she shook him off. “Because he lied to me, your honor. Grant was the one who showed me that photograph. He told me it came from security footage at the yacht club, which is what we’ve been saying all along. And when I saw my child in danger like that—” Her voice cracked. “I lost my mind. Of course I did. What mother wouldn’t?”

“Ms. Gentry, please sit down.”

“I know I haven’t been there for my baby,” Sasha continued, the words pouring out now. “I know I left and I hurt her and I have so much to make up for. But I want to be a good mother. I want to be in her life. And I won’t let her be neglected or put in danger. That’s why I pushed for sole custody when I saw that photo. But if it was manipulated, that changes things.” She turned to glare at Grant. “If someone doctored it to make Darek look bad, then I had nothing to do with it. It had to be Grant.”

The judge let her finish, then turned her attention to Grant, who had gone pale and was looking around like he wanted to disappear through the floor.

“Mr. Waverly,” Judge Morrison said. “How do you respond to these allegations?”

Grant stood slowly, clearly calculating his options. Finally, he shrugged with a casualness that was completely at odds with the tension in the room. “Fine. Whatever. I changed the background. Made the water look rougher. That’s all I did. The rest of the image is real. Darek really was looking away. Daisie really was leaning over. I just… enhanced the danger.”

“Liar!” Liza burst out. “You photoshopped his hand out! Darek was holding on to her the whole time.”

“And you know this how?” The judge looked at me. I knew it wasn’t exactly the way things were done but I didn’t think slapping people was typical, either.

I slowly stood and cleared my throat. “I was holding Daisie’s lifejacket. I’ll admit my attention was on the boat, but I had a firm grip on her. If you look close, you can see where my hand should be. Someone erased it.”

Sasha made a noise and buried her face in her hands. The courtroom erupted again. People were shouting, lawyers were objecting, and my hands clenched into fists. Grant had just admitted to fabricating evidence. He nearly destroyed my life and he was shrugging it off.

“Order!” The gavel came down repeatedly. “I will clear this courtroom if necessary!”

Everyone begrudgingly quieted down, though the energy in the room was electric.

Judge Morrison looked at Grant with an expression of pure disgust. “Mr. Waverly, do you understand that you’ve just admitted to tampering with evidence in a custody case? To committing fraud before this court?”

“I—” Grant seemed to realize the magnitude of what he’d done. “I was just trying to help Sasha. She deserved to know the truth about how Darek treats their daughter.”

“The truth?” I couldn’t help myself. The word exploded out of me. “You fabricated evidence! You nearly cost me custody of my daughter based on a lie!”

“Mr. Sullivan, that’s enough.” Judge Morrison turned her attention back to Grant. “Mr. Waverly, we’ll be dealing with your fraud in a future hearing. Criminal charges are likely. I don’t appreciate being lied to. Neither does the great state of Maine.” She looked down at the papers in front of her, then back up at the courtroom. “Based on the lack of credible evidence against Mr. Sullivan, and given the glowing home evaluation report, custody will remain unchanged. Daisie Sullivan will continue to reside primarily with her father. This hearing is adjourned.”

The gavel came down one final time, and Judge Morrison stood and left the courtroom.

For a moment, I just sat there, trying to process what had just happened. We won. Daisie was staying with me. The nightmare was over.

Then Liza was there, wrapping her arms around me. I pulled her close, burying my face in her hair. “You did it. You actually did it.”

“We did it,” she corrected. “Together.”

I kissed her, not caring that we were in a courtroom. My little nerd had come through when it mattered most.

But there was still one thing I needed to address. I pulled away from Liza and stormed across the courtroom to where Sasha was standing with her lawyer, Grant hovering uncertainly nearby.

“What the hell is going on?” I demanded. “Sasha, tell me the truth. Did you know about this?”

She turned to face me. I was shocked to see tears streaming down her face. “No. I swear to God, Darek, I had no idea. Grant showed me that photo and told me it came from security footage. I believed him. Why wouldn’t I?”

“You went after sole custody based on one picture?”

“Because I thought our daughter was in danger!” Her voice rose. “What was I supposed to do? I saw that image and I thought you were being negligent. I believed Daisie could have drowned because you were too focused on work. Of course I pushed for custody.”

“But you were happy to use it,” Grant interjected.