Page 37 of Burning Your Lies

“It is also a concern regarding the protection of my private matters. Privacy is a defining aspect of my life. I am determined to ensure that my personal matters remain private and do not receive media attention. I aspire to sustain this way of life. And then there is the matter that the applicant is not even the mother of the child.”

Her gaze finally falls on me. “Is this true?”

I sit taller. “If that comment is to be accepted as a factual statement, then it is to be argued that mothers who have children via egg donors cannot be called mothers. It is to say that women who have adopted children should not be deemed a true mother. Iamher mother. I underwent implantation. I carried her in my womb. I gave birth to her. I completed the night feeds alone, might I add? I soothed her when she cried. I cared for her when she was poorly. I changed her nappies. I rocked her to sleep. I ensured she was clothed, happy and protected. Is that not the true nature of a mother?”

“She was born via surrogacy?”

Xavier nods. “Correct.”

“Did you complete the necessary paperwork to change parental responsibility after the birth of the child?”

“No.”

“And why not, Mr Rivers?”

“Unfortunately, my wife passed away prior to the birth of our child.”

She’s looking at me again. “And you took on the role of her caregiver?”

“Yes. Mr Rivers and I were in a relationship at the time. I was living in his property and became a full-time mother.”

“We were not in a relationship, your honour,” he snides. “Savannah was there to help care for Elise until I arranged for childcare.”

I can’t help but laugh. “That is a lie, your honour. Mr Rivers has a tendency to fib. We were in a relationship. I have many people who can testify to that. Including my current husband, as I ended my then-relationship with him to pursue a future with Mr Rivers.”

Xavier smiles before pulling out a stack of paper from his briefcase. “I appreciate your mention of your intimate involvement with Ray. To my understanding, Savannah can only be legally responsible for parenting if she served as our surrogate.” He slides the papers to the judge. “The following is the legally binding contract that was signed by my late wife, Savannah, and myself. Please take the time to examine this document at your convenience, but in essence, it stipulates that Savannah Hayes will act as our surrogate for the duration of the unbroken clauses. Clause G, referred to as ‘sexual activities’, prohibited Savannah from participating in sexual relationships throughout the duration of the process to mitigate the risk of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.” He shoots me a smug grin. “By her own admission, she admits she broke this clause.”

I don’t let her respond, because I have been waiting for him to bring this up. “Thank you for that, Xavier. I’d like to raise a point on this matter, if I may?”

“Go ahead.”

“My relationship with Mr Rivers startedbeforethe one with my now-husband. He was the one who initiated the relationship.”

“That is alie.” He looks at me incredulously. “And you call me the liar? Your honour, her relationship with Ray started many months before ours did.”

Her eyebrows shoot up. “I thought you weren’t in a relationship with her, Mr Rivers?”

He’s still looking at me. “You know you slept with him the night of my company anniversary party.”

I put on my best face of innocence. “And how do you know that, Xavier?”Come on. Admit it.“Was it because you watched it through the cameras you planted in my bedroom?”

“Pardon me?”

He shakes his head at her. “She is lying.”

“The only liar here isyou,” I spit at him.

Xavier takes a second to calm himself and think of another lie. “His car was outside the property for quite some time.”

Judge Callahan is back to looking bored. “Perhaps he was reading her a bedtime story,” she sarcastically remarks, and it takes everything in me not to laugh in his face. “Unless you can prove she broke the clause, I will disregard the matter of a broken contract.”

He weighs his options. “I have no proof.”

She shakes her head with a tut. “Is there anything else you’d like to bring forward, Mr Rivers?”

“I’d like to make the courts aware that the applicant has only just been released from a mental health care home after being sectioned.”

A fucking cheap shot. Come on, Xavier. You can do better than that.

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