VIVIENNE

~•~

I had my hands folded on the table so nobody could see them shaking, and I kept my eyes on the judge, and I worked at looking like a woman whose whole life wasn't sitting on a piece of paper she'd helped poison.

"…found the child to be safe, healthy, and strongly attached to both adults in the home." Elena read it straight off Hale's report and let the words sit a second. "Those are the evaluator's own words, Your Honor. Not mine."

Judge Okafor turned a page, reading along. ...