Part 5
Part 5 · 2 min read ·
Margot looked around for support.
She found none.
Finally, she turned toward me.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you? All these important people running around because of your little title.”
I looked at her quietly.
“I would rather have spent the afternoon holding my children without anyone hurting me.”
Her mouth tightened.
“You’ve always thought you were better than us.”
“No,” I said. “I simply expected you to treat me with basic decency.”
She gave a bitter laugh.
“Decency? You hid your career from us for years!”
Graham frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Margot seized the opportunity.
“Your wife has been lying to this family. She let us believe she was an ordinary attorney. She never told us she was some kind of judge!”
Graham looked at me.
I could see the confusion in his eyes.
He knew my position. He had attended my swearing-in ceremony and celebrated every major milestone in my career.
He also knew that I had deliberately kept my professional life separate from his family’s social circle.
“Mom,” he said slowly, “Imogen never lied about being a judge.”
“She never told me!”
“Because you never asked her a single question about her work without making it sound like an insult.”
Margot’s face hardened.
“I thought she was unemployed!”
“You thought that because you wanted to believe it.”
She stared at him.
Then she looked at me, and her voice dropped to a venomous whisper.
“You manipulated everyone.”
I shifted Owen gently in my arms.
“No, Margot. I simply stopped correcting your assumptions.”
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Graham turned toward the security officers.
“Please escort my mother from the room. She is not to have contact with my wife or the children unless Imogen agrees and the appropriate arrangements are made.”
Margot gasped.
“You’re choosing her over me?”
Graham’s expression was devastated.
“I’m choosing my family.”
“I AM YOUR FAMILY!”
“And so are my wife and children!”
His voice echoed through the room.
Owen stirred, and I instinctively drew him closer.
Graham immediately lowered his voice.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
He came to my bedside and gently kissed my forehead.
“I should never have left you alone with her.”
I touched his hand.
“You couldn’t have known she’d do this.”
“I knew she was capable of cruelty. I should have taken that more seriously.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“I’m so sorry.”
I squeezed his fingers.
“Stay with us.”
“Always.”
Behind him, the security officer escorted Margot toward the door.
She stopped just before leaving.
“Bridget will never forgive you for this,” she hissed.
Graham turned.
“Bridget was not here. She did not take our son. Do not put your sister’s name on your decisions.”
Margot’s expression flickered.
Then she disappeared into the corridor.
The door closed.
For several seconds, the only sound in the room was Owen’s soft breathing.
Graham sat beside me and took my hand.
“Tell me everything.”
So I did.
I told him about the papers, the threats, the slap, and the moment I had pressed the security button.
When I finished, he lowered his head.
“I thought if I kept setting boundaries with her, eventually she’d learn.”
“Graham, you did set boundaries.”
“Not enough.”
I looked at him.
“Then we’ll make them stronger.”
He nodded.
And together, we began to make a list of what needed to happen next.