Page 8 of Fourth Wall

She waggled a finger at me just as her doorbell rang. James came out of the office and asked if we were expecting someone. We both shook our heads.

“Fuck,” he mumbled, reaching for his weapon in the back of his pants. It was so ironic how used to guns I had gotten over the past year. None of them ever used it in front of the girls, but around me? They seemed to always be on the brink of violence and destruction.

James answered the door and muttered something that neither of us could make out.

“MAEVE,” he shouted.

“Me?” I asked Tatum, who shrugged her shoulders and linked her hand in mine as we walked over to see why James called me over.

“What?” I looked over at him and then back at the inconspicuous person at the door.

“This person is here to see you?” It was a combination of a statement and a question. Why would anyone be here at Tatum’s house to see me?

“Yes?” I glanced over at the man standing at the door. He seemed like a very average person. He wore jeans, a T-shirt, and a baseball cap.

“Ohhhhhh. Is it from your lover?” Tatum giggled from behind my shoulder as she tried to see who it was too.

“Maeve Pierce?” the man asked.

“That is me,” I responded hesitantly, but I looked down and saw James had a steady hold on his weapon in the back of his shirt.

“You have been served,” the man told me as he handed me a stack of papers.

“Wait, what?!” I startled at the papers in my hand and attempted to reach out to the man, but Tatum quickly pulled me away and ushered me back into the kitchen.

“Open the packet immediately,” Julian told me as he grabbed the papers from my hand. He and Christian now joined us at the kitchen countertop. I was too stunned to do anything else. Who would be serving me? Tyler didn’t even have to do this when we got a divorce.

I was shaking. How did the person know I was here? I mean, they must have followed me when Christian and I drove here. Shit, I couldn’t stop shaking.

“What is it?” I hesitantly asked Julian before glancing at Christian, who suddenly appeared beside me.

“We’ll figure it out.” Tatum grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze, but for some reason, I didn’t think even she believed herself.

Julian opened the papers and started to read them.

“What does it say?” Christian asked as he leaned in toward me. Just the very tips of his fingers grazed over my lower back, sending shivers down my spine for some reason. I shot him a look, and he quickly moved his hand. It was almost like he didn’t know what he was doing either.

“Tyler is taking you back to court.” Now I shook quite uncontrollably. He was messing with my family. What did the fucking snake have against me?

“For what?” I tried to keep my voice even, but I knew I was doing a terrible job. Even James came over to give me a supportive hug. His touch was very different, though, than when Christian’s fingers grazed my back. His felt friendly, but Christian’s felt…electric.

“He is asking for full custody of the girls,” Julian said as slowly as possible, and then all of a sudden, the world got dark. I was falling apart. My entire world was literally falling apart. I could barely hear Tatum when she shrilled.

“For what?!” she screamed. The world was tunneling in. I wasn’t able to move. My feet were concrete underneath my body,and I didn’t know if they would move. My heart raced, and I felt it climbing into my throat. My morning coffee threatened to come up.

“He wants full custody. He’s claiming that you are an unfit mother without a proper home and stability for the kids,” Julian explained.

Full. Custody.

He wanted to take the girls away from me. The two little humans that I birthed, that I raised, that I worked so fucking hard to do the best I could possibly do for them.

“We’ll get the best lawyer. Julian, call Alex and get him to connect us with the best.” Julian silently nodded, but the voices were still nothing but a blur around me. I couldn’t see or feel anything, but I needed a bathroom immediately.

“Bathroom.” I just waved and hobbled over, where I immediately felt like the oxygen was getting sucked out of the room as I opened the door and puked up my coffee from this morning.

How was this happening to me? I was a good mom. I took care of my kids. I worked hard to make sure I provided for them. I never even blinked twice when we split anything together. I think, considering the circumstances, I had my life together. I was also incredibly freaked out that someone followed me all the way to Tatum’s house. It felt like some sick form of a reality show.

And what a fucking douche for not giving me a heads-up when I saw him this morning. My grief was quickly shifting to anger as I gripped the seat of the toilet and took some centering breaths in a technique that Gianna had taught me.

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