Chapter 2 - Your Honor, I object!If court rules had allowed a photographer into the room, they would have captured a masterpiece of absolute, irreversible destruction
In the image, I am standing tall and unbothered in my immaculate white blazer, calmly extending the heavy manila envelope to Judge Sloan. Beside me, my young daughter—whom Blake had tried to use as a pawn in his custody filings—looks up at me with absolute innocence and trust. But the true poetry of the image is in the background. The smug, victorious aura of my estranged husband and my traitorous family has entirely evaporated. Blake is caught mid-gasp, his face drained of all color, his polished attorney persona shattering. Next to him, my mother, Judith, and my sister, Taryn, have their mouths hanging open in sheer, unadulterated terror, realizing the trap they just willingly walked into.
"Your Honor, I object!" Blake's attorney stammered, finally finding his voice. "This is highly irregular! We have not been granted discovery on this document!"
"That is because this document is not a civil filing," Judge Sloan said, slicing the envelope open with a silver letter opener. She pulled out a thick stack of papers bearing the official seal of the Department of Justice.
