Page 30 of Balance

Five minutes to go until Brittany is late. I know that Andy thinks this will be cut and dry if she doesn’t show up, I just don’t believe it. Nothing with her has ever been easy. Nothing has been so simple.

No one has heard from her or seen her since she showed up at my house two weeks ago to try to kidnap the girls. Not even any phone calls or emails. She hasn’t shown up at the arena once.

I’m more surprised than I am happy about it. She’s as dramatic and egotistical as they come, why hasn’t she done anything? Whatever scheme she’s going to try to pull next is going to be big… I can feel it.

The bailiff asks for us to stand while the judge stalks in and takes his seat, waving his hand for us to sit. He goes through his spiel, glancing around as he introduces himself and the case.

“And where is Brittany Bale today?” He murmurs and blinks at the empty table as if a lawyer is going to pop in and answer him. Andy clears his throat and stands.

“Your honor, in the documents in my hand, I have proof that Mrs. Bale tried to kidnap their three daughters from their home, without any conversations with their father, Mr. Morgan Bale. He was away for work when she showed up and pushed herself inside of Mr. Bale’s home. She attacked the nanny and frightened the kids. She admitted to being homeless and having no money, wanting to extort more from Mr. Bale, even after she signed the divorce papers, giving Mr. Bale sole custody of the girls once approved. He gave her a check for thousands of dollars when she packed up her belongings and wanted to leave their home. She traveled around Europe until she ran out and wanted more.”

The judge pinches the bridge of his nose and asks for the bailiff to come gather everything from Andy, allowing him to read through it. “I understand you also signed a prenuptial agreement with Brittany Bale prior to your marriage, correct?”

We nod and he leafs through until he can find that and read through it before the other documents. “You already had one child when this was signed and she still signed away her alimony and any monetary stipends if she is caught with infidelity. Do you have proof of that?”

Andy stands and pulls out another file from his briefcase. “Right here, your honor. Phone records, printed messages from her social media accounts from the men themselves, and signed witness statements from others that they had relations for months behind Mr. Bale’s back. I also have written statements from their house staff that she refused to parent or be a mother, paying them off to care for them while she went on trips when Mr. Bale was out of the state. She would lock herself in her room, drink copious amounts of wine, and ignore the kids completely.”

The judge shakes his head and reads through everything the bailiff continues to hand him. “Does she have any friends or relatives nearby that she could be staying with?”

I shrug. “She’s not close with her family, but they do live here in St. Paul. They haven’t seen the children since Nessa was born over four years ago.”

He sighs and glances over to my attorney and purses his lips. “She had ample time to meet with a public defender if she could not afford an attorney. She was sent letters and phone calls, from what I can see on the records. She was in town two weeks ago, trying to extort money from Mr. Bale and isn’t here to tell us her side, whatever that may be.” He grabs a pen and signs a few documents. Waving to the bailiff to bring everything back over. “I amtemporarilyawarding you full custody of your three children, along with the restraining order, and the divorce is now final. You do not owe any alimony or living wages to Brittany Bale. If she is so inclined to try to open a case against you in the future, you may have a long fight on your hands depending on what she tries to throw at you. From what I can tell, she signed all of these documents of sound mind. Good luck.” He stands and leaves the room and I let out a long, slow breath.

Andy claps my back and shakes the bailiff’s hand before he pushes me towards the door and down the hall towards the parking lot. “How do you feel?”

I press my lips together and unlock my car, leaning against the door. “I have no idea… I expected her to show up. I also didn’t expect for it to be so… quick and painless. I didn’t think he would proceed with the divorce without her here.”

Andy chuckles and swings his briefcase out in front of him. “I’ll head back to the office to make sure everything is updated. If you hear from her, call me. I’ll call our PI friend and have him look around for her, see what she’s up to.”

I shrug and open my door, slumping down into the seat. “Just… Fuck. I don’t care about sending her money if it’s done through the courts. She told me she was going off with a rich boyfriend and they were happy to go traveling around Europe. Obviously shit went down between them and he stole her jewelry, money, and expensive clothes for whatever reason. I don’t want anything bad to happen to her… I just want her out of my life and away from the girls unless she gets some help.”

He nods and knocks his fist on the roof of my car. “We’ll figure it out. I’ll call you with updates… The PI sent me an email this morning that he’s back in St. Paul from his trip to San Francisco. I haven’t had time to read through it but I’ll forward everything to you.”

My heart starts to pound… Lillian. I hope it’s good news. Betty’s children are hopefully going to get in a bit of legal trouble for all they’ve done over the years. I just pray that she can mentally handle all of this such a short time after Betty passed away.

I’m just glad that she was able to at least see her and speak to her. My chest hurts when I think about all that she has been through and endured. She’s the strongest woman I know… and I hope that she accepts my offer for us to get to know each other better than the surface level.

The girls utterly adore her and I’m close behind them. She’s stunning, intelligent, caring, and kind. She’s confident, sarcastic, and hopefully mine. I know that she felt rejected when I asked for her to wait, but it just… felt wrong to touch her while I was still legally tied to Brittany.

Now that it’s over, I’m officially divorced. I have full custody of my kids… We need to celebrate. All of us.

I smile and wave at Andy as I back out of the parking spot and head straight to the rink. I’m a few hours late to practice, but Coach Williams is aware of what I was up to today.

I park and race through the halls to the locker room, rushing as I change and gear up to play a few practice games before I figure out where to make reservations for tonight.

I want to take Lillian out on a real date soon or up to a remote cabin for a weekend. Really get to know her.

I lick my dry lips as I pound on the glass and slide onto the ice, staying against the wall as I watch James and Logan chasing after the puck. I tilt my head, looks like they’re on opposing teams this morning. This should be good. I lean back and spin my stick around, waiting to be thrown into the chaos. I need to expel this pent up energy that I’m still feeling since I woke up.

“Bale! Get your ass out there. Pick a team.” I snort and push off the wall, glancing around trying to figure out who is even on what team. I shrug and steal the puck from James and slap it to Landon and watch as he laughs and passes it back to James.

Ah. My bad.

James sends me a glare and moves toward the correct goal. I slam into one of the rookies and send him flying, watching James try to make a goal against Nolan.

I let the cold seep into my pores, feeling better by the minute. I skate away and get into formation in between James and Alexi… which is just strange. “I take it Williams wanted to mix it up a bit more?”

James sighs and sends me a look. “Yeah, man. I’m fucking exhausted.”

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