Page 74 of Forsaken Vows

“But not morally,” she shot back.

I leaned forward, speaking directly to the judge. “Your Honor, I’m not the villain here. My wife is sitting in this courtroom pregnant by another man. Let’s not pretend she’s some innocent flower.”

Zane leaned over, whispered something to her attorney. The woman nodded, then reached into a file folder.

“I was going to save this,” her lawyer said smoothly, “but since Mr. Blackwell wants to discuss morality…” She handed something to the bailiff.

I shifted in my seat, suddenly uneasy.

The bailiff handed a stack of photographs to the judge. He flipped through them silently. His eyebrows went up.

“I assume you recognize the woman in these, Mr. Blackwell?”

I couldn’t breathe.

No. No. She didn’t…

The judge slid a photo across the bench to me. It was me.

And not just me.

It was Sam’s wife.

Naked. On her knees. In my living room.

My stomach dropped.

A low murmur rippled through the courtroom. I turned—and Zane’s parents were seated next to Sam now, a Black woman about Zanes age was next to them, she turned to glare at me..

“These were obtained by a licensed private investigator,” her lawyer said. “Taken while my client and Mr. Blackwell were still married. These not only establish infidelity—they show that he knowingly slept with the wife of the man he now claims is the root of his marital breakdown.”

“Objection!” I barked, slamming my palm on the table.

“On what grounds?” the judge asked, unimpressed.

“This is an ambush.”

“No,” Zane’s lawyer said calmly. “This is the truth. If you can’t handle the truth, that’s not the court’s problem. It’s yours.”

My eyes locked on Zane. She stared back at me, lips tight, head tilted like she pitied me.

That broke something loose in my chest. It started aching.

“You followed me?!” I stood up. “You had me followed?! Is that who you are now? You needed dirt so bad you sent someone to sneak around our house?!”

“You were screwing Sam’s wife on my couch—and his!” Zane snapped, standing too. “I didn’t need to send anybody to make you dirty. You did that all on your own.”

“She’s lying!” I shouted, pointing now, voice booming. “She wants this to look like I’m the problem, but she’s the one who walked out! She’s the one spreading her legs for a man she barely knew!”

The judge banged the gavel. “Mr. Blackwell—control yourself!”

“I will not sit here while she paints me like some monster when she—” My voice cracked.

Zane’s voice cut through the room, quiet but deadly.

“You are a monster, Mark.”

That did it.

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