Page 51 of Ashes of Us
Danica glanced at David. This was the crux of everything, and if Jasper had told his therapist about that night, then they needed that testimony as much as Amy and Lucy did. David lifted his shoulder in a shrug, telling her it was up to her. “If I were to give permission, can I limit what can be disclosed?” She asked Perella after a quick internal debate.
“Yes, absolutely.” The Judge nodded and turned to his computer. “You do understand that by granting permission, it will be on the record and publicly available?”
Chewing her lip, Danica considered that. On one hand, she didn't believe Jasper cheated. On the other hand, if he had, everyone would know. His family would have their perception of him destroyed, and she would have the humiliation of everyone knowing her husband had screwed another woman and hid it for months after. In the end, her faith in Jasper won out, and she decided to give permission. “I'll consent to Dr. Lin answering questions,butonly about the night in question and whether or not he had sex with her.” She took a deep breath and made another decision, looking at David. “I think I need to take the stand and explain what our fight was about.”
Mathers' eyes lit up, and he looked like Danica had just told him Christmas had come early. “You're willing to take the stand and answer questions?”
“I was going to call her if I felt like her testimony was necessary.” David brushed him off without so much as looking in his direction. “She's prepared to answer questions, but it's up toJudge Perella if he'll allow it, considering she's not on your list of witnesses you subpoenaed. However, I agree with my client and think she should explain the fight that precipitated all of this.” He turned to the Judge and bowed his head respectfully. “Your honour, for scheduling and context, we request to call Mrs. Preston out of order to address background facts before the counsellor testifies.”
Judge Perella held up his hands, looking extremely irritated that this was getting out of his control. “Before we get to that, let's get the rest of the permissions out of the way. Mrs. Preston, the opposing counsel has also subpoenaed your marriage counsellor. Are you willing to let him testify?”
Danica blew out a breath. “I can limit what he's allowed to ask?” She glanced at Mathers, who still looked like a cat that got a canary. The Judge nodded, and Danica thought about what she would be comfortable having brought out into the open. “I will only allow questions that pertain to the aftermath of the fight, the steps we were taking to reconcile and whether or not the therapist believes we were working things out.” She decided that the other issues that had come up in the sessions, like how much Jasper disliked the Wests, his insecurities about Alex, and the financial problems, were not pertinent to any of this.
After the Judge went over everything with her, making sure she understood what she was agreeing to and that she wasn't making the decisions out of fear or pressure, he had her sign a waiver, which he then passed to the court clerk. “Now, as to the matter of whether or not I will allow Mrs. Preston to testify out of order, yes, I will; however, I will be questioning her to get the information I believe is necessary as a neutral, fact-finding party. You will both be allowed to cross-examine her, but only about what she discloses for clarification purposes. If Mr. Niehaus calls her to the stand when it is his turn to present theirevidence and witness testimonies, then you can ask whatever you want.”
Mathers' face fell, but both lawyers nodded in agreement with the Judge's proposal, and they returned to the courtroom. The Judge called the room back to order and explained that Danica had given her consent to both Jasper's therapist and their marriage counsellor, but that the information they were allowed to discuss would be limited. He then asked Dr. Lin to step down and take a seat in the gallery until she was asked to return to the witness stand, at which time he would go into more detail about what she was allowed to disclose. Looking surprised, Dr. Lin returned to the galley and took a seat next to Danica's therapist. “Mrs. Preston, please take the stand.” He nodded at Danica, and she approached and was sworn in. When she was seated, he cleared his throat and looked at her, his face completely neutral. “As we discussed in the chambers, you will be giving testimony regarding the fight you and your husband, Jasper Preston, had on the afternoon of April 20th from your perspective, correct?”
“Yes, sir.” Danica nodded, trying to remain calm and not fidget. She hated being the center of attention like this, and she could feel her anxiety rising with everyone's eyes on her.
“Very good.” He nodded slightly and then looked at her thoughtfully. “Can you tell me what started the fight?”
“I informed Jasper that I had received an inheritance from my long-term employer, Alexander West's estate. When he heard the amount, he accused me of having an affair with Alexander and things escalated from there.” Danica kept her eyes firmly on Perella, refusing to look at anyone else in the room as she explained her side of the fight. She was almost regretting her decision to do this but knew it was important that everyone had context behind what started everything. Perellaseemed genuinely shocked that this was what the argument had been about and frowned.
“He found out Alexander West left you money in his estate and thought you had an affair?” He repeated, he was doing his best to keep his voice neutral, but Danica could hear the confusion underneath it. “Wasn't Alexander West in his seventies when he died?”
Danica nodded. “He was seventy-two.”
“And you're thirty-three?” He consulted his notes again. “Was there a particular reason your husband thought you were having an affair with a man thirty-nine years your senior?”
“I turned thirty-three in March,” Danica confirmed her age and then took a deep breath. “Alexander and Cassandra West gave me a job and took me in after my foster family kicked me out when I turned eighteen. They paid for me to go to university, let me live rent-free in their apartment over their garage while I studied and worked part-time in the hotel. I regarded them as my family.” She cleared her throat and swallowed the lump that rose as she explained her relationship with Alexander and Cassandra. “When I told Jasper how much money Alexander left me, he demanded to know why Alexander was giving so much money to an ‘orphan they never even adopted.’”
“So, it was a substantial sum, then?” Perella asked, his quiet voice carrying in the silent courtroom. “I'm not going to ask that you disclose the amount,” He reassured her, shooting a warning look at Mathers, making it clear he wasn't allowed to ask how much either. “Just a yes or no answer.”
“Yes,” Danica confirmed, very happy he didn't ask her to elaborate on it. She knew Jasper had told his father, butshe didn't think he had told his mother; she would have had something to say about it, regardless of what Jasper wanted.
“And what happened after he accused you of having an affair?” Perella seemed satisfied with everything she said so far, and Danica felt her nerves ease a little. He was sticking to his word in the chamber and being a neutral party who just wanted the facts, not the drama.
“I was angry,” Danica admitted. “Angrier than I've ever been before. I couldn't believe he thought I would cheat on him with a man old enough to be my grandfather, that he thought I would do that to Alexander's wife, whom I adored. I needed space before I said something I'd regret, and I tried to walk away, but he grabbed my upper arm, hard enough to leave bruises, to stop me. He yelled that I couldn't walk away from him and started to call me something, but before he got it out, I turned and slapped him. I hit him hard enough to leave a mark on his face.” She felt heat rise in her cheeks and dropped her gaze, looking down at her hands and wondering if she would ever stop feeling the weird mix of pride and shame whenever she remembered hitting him.
“That seemed to snap him out of his anger, and I was able to tell him off for accusing me. He tried to apologize, but I walked away. He didn't follow me, and I heard him leave about twenty minutes later. I thought he was going to his parents' place, and I shut off my phone so I wouldn't have to listen to his mother berate me for hitting him when she saw the mark on his face.” She finished the story of the fight and looked back up at him. “He came home around four in the morning and begged me not to leave him. I agreed to stay as long as we got couples counselling to work through the issues we clearly had and were ignoring.”
Perella nodded again and turned to Mathers. “Do you have any questions about what she just told us?”
Mathers stood up. “Just a few.” He approached the stand and came to a stop in front of her. “Were you having an affair with Alexander West?”
“No,” Danica replied firmly. She had expected that question, especially since the Judge seemed to take her word that she wasn't fooling around with a man who was more than twice her age and hadn't asked it. “I saw him as a father figure and friend, that's all.”
“Very well.” Mathers looked very disappointed that she didn't admit to an affair but seemed to understand Judge Perella wouldn't allow him to badger her about it. “And you had no idea where your husband went that night? He didn't tell you after you decided to work on things?”
“No.” Danica shook her head. “Like I said, I assumed he was going to his parents' house. We did share locations, but I’ve never tracked him. I thought we both needed space to calm down so we could have a rational discussion later. He never mentioned it after, and I didn't have a reason to ask.” Her answer must have surprised him because he raised both his eyebrows as he studied her face.
“He accused you of cheating and then left you home alone, and you didn't think you had a reason to ask where he was all night?”
Danica shrugged, maybe it made her an idiot, but she had no reason to believe Jasper was anywhere but at his parents' house. “I didn't have a reason to think otherwise. We always gave each other space to process things, and as I mentioned, he always went to Amy and Cecil's after a fight. I need to be alone to process my emotions, and he needed to talk them out withsomeone. He apologized and said he didn't mean what he said before he left, so I figured it was the same as before.”
“Did you and your husband fight often?” Danica stopped herself from rolling her eyes as Mathers latched onto how they handled their arguments.
“Objection.” David stood up, looking annoyed. “Relevance.”
