Page 52 of Twenty-Three Years of Longing

I WANT FULL CUSTODY OF MY SON. SEE YOU IN COURT.

Now I understood why she was crying. Joseph was going after what she loved most in life. Her child.

Pulling her into my arms, I held her tightly and said, “Raya, we’re not going to let that happen. He hasn’t been part of Joey’s life for ten years. We will make the courts see that.”

“How? He has money. He can afford a good lawyer. I am the one who has worked and all the money I make has gone to supporting Joey. Giving him a good life,” she sobbed. “I can’t afford to fight him. He’s...he’s going to win. I’m going to lose my son.”

“No. You won’t,” I said.

“Orion. You don’t know his family. They have some serious money and clout. That is why I got nothing in the divorce court. No help at all. He was just free to leave us,” she said. “They even made it hard for me to get a job. But I didn’t quit and took whatever job I could get to pay our bills and keep food on the table. But all that means nothing because he’s evil and has decided for some unknown reason to hurt me even more.” She wiped her cheeks but instantly they were replaced with more tears. “Now he’s going to take Joey. And I don’t have the power or money to stop him.”

When it came to Tabiq, I was doing good for myself and could hire the best attorney in the country. But I didn’t have what she needed in order to fight Joseph in the US. Not if what she knew was still accurate. She hadn’t heard from him in years. Maybe he was down on his luck and couldn’t afford a lawyer himself. But I couldn’t take that chance. Neither could Raya. And he needed to be stopped.

“Raya, you might not but we know who does. The Henderson family has the clout and the connections that most people can’t touch. We need to bring them in and let them help. Trust me, Joseph is going to regret ever threatening you. He will back down before it ever goes to court,” I said. Even if I need to make him do so myself.

“I can’t ask them to help,” she said.

“You don’t need to. I can,” I said.

She shook her head. “I can’t ask you to do that for me. I...I need to leave and go home. Back to the States and find a way to fight him in court.”

That is exactly what I was trying to avoid. Her leaving. And if she does, my gut said Joseph was going to do everything in his power to hurt her. Just don’t understand why. What made him change his mind?

“As the Vice President of Tabiq, we cannot afford to lose you as School Administrator. Due to that, I will put in an official request for the Hendersens' help. If you allow me to, I’d like to set up a meeting to talk to them in the morning,” I offered. Hopefully she would accept the help if it wasn’t purely on a personal level.

Raya sniffed and her sobs quieted. “I...I don’t know what to do.”

“Then let me do it for you.” She might have studied psychology in college, but I had done quite a few courses in law that she wasn’t aware of. It had shown me that practicing law wasn’t what I wanted to do. I wanted to help the youth in Tabiq. But it did give me knowledge and now I knew her rights, and I knew who could enforce them. “This can be handled privately, without anyone knowing what’s going on.”

“How is that possible?” she asked.

“The Henderson family deals with keeping their lives private every day. They have mastered the art of keeping secrets. No one will know anything you don’t want them to know. Is that fair?” I asked.

“Yes, it is,” she replied. “I...I trust you, Orion.”

That was huge. It wasn’t a case about money. This was her son. She was trusting me to do what was best for Joey and her. I wasn’t going to let either of them down.

All I needed to do was decide which Henderson I wanted to reach out to and set up a meeting for the morning.

“Come. Let’s go lay down and get some sleep. We are going to need it tomorrow,” I said.

She nodded and we went and slipped beneath the covers. I laid on my back and she placed her head on my chest. Neither of us moved, and the only words spoken were sleep well. Something we both knew wasn’t going to happen.

Not until we knew Joey was coming to be with Raya and no one was going to change that.

CHAPTER 16

Raya

Even though my eyes burned, and they probably were still red and bloodshot from crying so much last night, and the lack of sleep. I did not care. When we arrived back at the resort, I quickly changed, and didn’t even bother applying any make-up. My hands probably would’ve shaken too much to apply it properly anyway.

I should have been at the school and Orion at the office, but instead, we were in Bennett’s office at the resort, and on a video call with his brother-in-law Shaun.

“Mr. Henderson, I really don’t know how to thank you for helping me. Helping us,” I said.

Shaun replied, “It’s my pleasure. Trust me, I know from experience what it is like. My wife was facing something similar, and he needed to be reminded what being a parent was all about. And he wasn’t any of that.”

“What happened?” I asked. “I’m sorry. That might be too personal a question.”

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