The bailiff approached and made his speech, and I recited the words I had been instructed to say. But I barely heard them. Keisha gave me a small smile as she approached. Her questions started off easy, asking me to describe my relationship with Justin and Lyla, what our days were like, and my plans for their futures. Then they got a little tougher. She asked me about my relationship with Chelsea and why we didn’t speak for years.

I tried to keep my voice even and my explanations as clear as possible. But I braced. For the question I knew was coming. Just as Keisha asked something, I caught sight of a figure in the back row.

I hadn’t seen him come in, but he glared at me now, anger pouring off him in waves. Derek had testified two days ago. He’d spilled lie after lie, and I had no idea if the judge had believed him. But I couldn’t figure out why he was still here. Whatever job my parents had likely paid him for was complete. The only reason he might be sticking around was in the hopes of seeing me suffer.

“Ms. Foley?”

I gave myself a little shake and met Keisha’s concerned gaze. “I’m sorry. Can you please repeat the question?”

“Why are you concerned about your parents having custody of Justin and Lyla?”

I swallowed against the burn tracking up my throat. “Because my father was physically abusive to both my sister and me for as long as I can remember. And my mother covered for him.”

“Can you please describe the physical abuse?”

My fingernails dug into my palms. “He was good at hiding it. Punches to my abdomen. Sometimes a knee. But he broke my ribs once that way.”

Keisha turned to the judge. “We have x-rays of those broken ribs in evidence.” The judge nodded, and Keisha continued with her questioning. I recounted incident after incident, and each retelling felt like living through the event all over again. By the time Mr. Paisley rose for my cross-examination, sweat trickled down my spine.

“Ms. Foley, is it true that you were a rebellious child?”

“I would need more clarification on what you mean by that.”

He pushed his glasses up his nose. “Did you sneak out of the house to meet your boyfriend?”

“Yes.”

“Did you attend parties with alcohol and drugs when you were only sixteen?”

“Yes.” It killed me not to defend myself. Not to ask if he had only drunk a beer once he turned twenty-one. To tell the judge I’d never done a single drug in my life. But I stayed with the one-word answers that Keisha had urged me to use.

“Were you sexually active with your boyfriend at the age of fifteen?”

Keisha stood. “Objection. Relevance?”

“Goes to character,” Paisley ordered.

“I’ll allow it but tread carefully,” the judge said.

“Yes.”