Chapter 7\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 7\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gabriel looked at the hostile stares from the villagers, then at my quiet baby in my arms, and pain flashed in his eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The day after Gabriel and his crew left, I got a call from the courthouse saying he\u2019d filed for divorce mediation and was fighting for custody.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I let out a bitter laugh. How thoughtful of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the county legal aid center, the lawyer pushed up his glasses after hearing my story.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cProperty division shouldn\u2019t be a problem, but custody is the main issue. Courts usually consider financial stability, and he definitely has the advantage there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut do you have any favorable evidence? Something that proves he\u2019s got character issues?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I pulled a USB drive from my bag.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has Vera\u2019s chat records and photos she sent me, plus copies of the hospital security footage.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The lawyer plugged the drive into his computer. After a few minutes, he frowned deeply.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis stuff definitely helps your case, but it\u2019s not enough. You need more evidence to prove he\u2019s unfit to raise a child.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After getting back to the village, I started reaching out to old neighbors and friends to gather evidence of Gabriel\u2019s cheating.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Surprisingly, lots of people contacted me first, saying they\u2019d been disgusted by Gabriel\u2019s behavior for ages and were willing to testify in court.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mrs. Stone, who used to praise Gabriel to my face, now told me, \u201cElena, honey, I wanted to warn you for the longest time. That man\u2019s no good. We\u2019re all behind you raising that baby on your own.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The day before the hearing, Gabriel came back, this time alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cElena, do we really have to drag this through court?\u201d He sat on the stone by my gate looking exhausted. \u201cThe kid needs a complete family.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was washing clothes in the yard and didn\u2019t even look up. \u201cBy complete family, you mean you, Vera, and her son?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gabriel was quiet for a long time, then said \u201cI admit I screwed up a lot of things. Can you give me another chance?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother chance?\u201d I stopped what I was doing and looked at him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want me to come back with the baby and go back to walking on eggshells every day, watching you three play happy family while my kid and I are like two extra pieces of furniture.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gabriel\u2019s face turned ugly. \u201cI never\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether you did or not, you know the truth.\u201d I squatted back down to wash clothes. \u201cSee you in court tomorrow. I\u2019m done talking.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The next day\u2019s hearing went smoothly. Gabriel\u2019s lawyer was definitely professional, arguing for custody based on financial stability and living\u00a0<\/p>\n
conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But when Vera\u2019s chat records and photos were presented as evidence, the judge\u2019s expression clearly darkened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even more damning was the hospital security footage that clearly showed Gabriel and Vera\u2019s intimate behavior in the hallway while I was giving birth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
09:59\u00a0<\/p>\n
You Thought Cilantro Was Just a Flavor? It\u2019s Actually My FU, Cheater!\u00a0<\/p>\n
12.0%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gabriel sat in the defendant\u2019s chair, his face white as paper.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His lawyer tried to explain, but with solid evidence, any defense looked pathetic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finally, the judge awarded custody to me, ordered Gabriel to pay child support, and denied him visitation rights until the child reached adulthood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Walking out of the courthouse, I stood on the steps holding my baby, looking up at the blue sky and white clouds, feeling completely free for the first time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Gabriel walked past me, he paused. \u201cElena, I\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t turn around or say anything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some people, once you lose them, you should never look back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
(0)\u00a0<\/p>\n
(0)\u00a0<\/p>\n
You Thought Cilantro Was Just a Flavor? It\u2019s Actually My FU, Cheater! by Mark Twain 16 Chapter 7\u00a0 Chapter 7\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cilantro-taste-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20266\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}