Page 35 of Plea
It was a standard NDA that would keep her from talking about me, our relationship, or anything I’ve said and done for her before, but it also had a clause that she had to sign and initial saying I wasn’t the father of her child and that the claims she’d made on social media were false. I made sure she understood the legalese at the bottom that said if she mentioned me again, she’d be sued for defamation and paternity fraud. Once she signed, I told her to get the fuck out of my firm and to pray we lost no investors or clients over her bullshit.
I thoughtAsia’s fear would be the most expressive display of emotion I’d see today, but when I made it to Venus’s penthouse and found her in a puddle of tears, I quickly realized that wouldn’t be the case. When she didn’t speak, I took the papers out of her hand. She had disassociated, and I needed to know what had her staring at the wall while tears continued to run down her cheeks. It didn’t take much time at all for me to process what I was reading.
Emotional distress—$100,000
Breach of verbal contract—$100,000
Intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress—$250,000
Punitive damages—$500,000
Repayment of all expenses for the canceled wedding—$300,000
This petty ass nigga was suing her.
Now I’d threatened to sue Asia, but that was really just to get her to agree to stop spreading her lies. I wouldn’t have actually taken her to court unless it affected my firm. Trevor, however, had wasted no time getting an attorney to try and build a case against Venus. There was no way in hell he thought I was going to let him get a million dollars out of her, or any amount for that matter. At the most, I could see a judge agreeing that Venus pay for some of the wedding expenses, but if Trevor verbally or contractually agreed to pay for it, she wouldn’t even be responsible for that. Well, she wouldn’t be responsible for anything financially because I’d take care of it, but still.
“Sunshine,” I called softly, gently gripping her chin. I tilted her head and forced her eyes to lock with mine. “Can you hear me?”
Her eyes blinked rapidly and brows wrinkled as she looked at me. She’d just let me in yet was looking like she didn’t even know I was here.
“Carson?”
“I’m here, baby.”
“Can you help me,” she pleaded, voice breaking as she sobbed. “P-please. I can’t pay him that. I got it, but if I paid him that, I’d have nothing.Please.”
The more she pleaded, the more my heart ached.
“Shh, you won’t have to pay him a motherfucking thing,” I assured her, pulling her into my arms as she cried harder. “And you don’t have to ask. Of course I will help you.”
“I can’t believe he’s doing this to me,” she cried, holding me tighter as I carried her to her bedroom. I tossed the papers on the table in the living room on the way. “This hurts. I neverwould’ve done something like this to him if the roles were reversed.Ever!”
I usually prided myself on being able to say the right thing, but in this moment, I didn’t know what the fuck to say. Several things ran through my mind, but they were mostly things I wanted to say to her bitch ass ex. I remained silent until we were in her room. After I undressed her, I took my clothes off and got in bed. I wanted to handle this immediately, but I felt like she needed me here right now more than anything else.
“I know this hurts. I know there’s nothing I can say to take that emotional pain away. Regardless of how the relationship ended, you trusted him, so I understand you feeling betrayed by his actions. This isn’t the man you loved. This is a man with a bruised ego. He’s not doing anything but trying to make you pay—literally—because he knows he has no other way to hurt you.” When her head lowered, I lifted it by cupping her cheeks. “I won’t let him hurt you this way either. Okay?”
Sniffling, she nodded. “Okay,” she said just above a whisper. “Thank you, babe.”
Smiling, I gave her a tender kiss. “I’m sorry. I feel like this is my fault. If I would have left you alone?—”
“Absolutely not.” Her hands wrapped around my wrists. “I’d pay any amount of money to be away from him, and I’d double it to keep you in my heart and life. He’s an immature child who’s acting out because he didn’t get his way. My feelings are hurt but I’ll be okay. I still don’t regret leaving his ass. In fact, this stunt is just further confirmation that I made the right choice.”
I was glad she felt that way, and already, she was starting to sound and look like herself. I sent the crew a message in our group chat so we could strategize the quickest way to end this. A part of me wanted to beat his ass and deal with the assault charge that I knew would come, but since Asia had already put eyes on me, this wasn’t something I could handle myself.
As Venus rested against me, I massaged her scalp until she fell asleep. I took that time to check and see what my brothers had been saying.
Kaos: Bet. I blocked the time on my schedule so I’ll be there.
Zander: Yall can just let me know when we pulling up on the nigga.
Tristan: As much as I wouldn’t mind tagging that ass, we already in a little heat because of Asia.
Me: That’s what I was thinking. I was going to go to try and find him today but changed my mind.
Tristan: Ima call Tyler. He gone beat his ass.
I laughed quietly. There was no doubt in my mind that Tyler, Taj’s brother, would do just that. The man didn’t care who wanted smoke—he gave it with no hesitation. In fact, Tyler didn’t bring smoke; he brought fire. And it was always worse if it was in the defense of a woman. Even if all Tristan did was tell him Trevor was trying to sue Venus because she left him for me, he’d be ready to pull up.
