Page 110 of Papers Don't Lie

He nods. “Good.”

“But that doesn’t mean I’ll shut up this time. Enough is enough,” she says, getting up to her feet.

“Fuck no,” Kiaran says, and I shoot him a look because even if he’s not aware, Lacey is here, and she is still a damn child.

“Esme, it’s not worth it. They’ll…” Raven tries, walking to her sister and placing a hand on her shoulder.

“What?” My wife raises a brow. “They’ll lock me up again? Because they can’t do that anymore, Raven, and that’s something you and our sisters need to learn.”

At that, Raven opens her mouth, but no words come out of it.

I sit up and put a hand on Esmeray’s back, trying to show off my support. I know she’s not going to do anything crazy because she’s not the type to hurt anyone willingly, but if she needs to speak up to set herself free, then so be it.

That or I’ll go to her parents’ house myself and do something stupid.

“Give me your phone.” She stretches her hand to her sister, and even if Raven is hesitant, she does it. Esmeray quickly dials her mom’s phone number, and her mom picks it up immediately.

“How dare you?” Ray says through gritted teeth, stepping away from us. “What makes you think I’d give you my child after everything you’ve done to us? It’sinhumanto ask that. I don’t give a shit about the money you lost because of Carter. You’re not getting anything else from me, Mom.”

I don’t know how I managed to keep my cool and not drive to their house and snap their heads off. They wanted us to sign a renewed contract where we were supposed to pay for the loss theysufferedafter we broke the contract and Esmeray married someone else, even though she was forced to do so. On top of that, when we make a child, and if it's a girl, we are expected to give it to them.

Like that will ever happen.

We owe them nothing, and even if at first, I accepted their stupid rules no matter how hard they lacked logic, I did it for Esmeray. Now that I have her, they mean nothing to me.

My fingers clench in a fist next to my body. The fucking nerve.

“I don’t care,” Esmeray snaps. “I never want to see you again.” Her voice shakes now, and when she returns the phone to her sister, she comes directly to my arms and collapses there.

“My lawyer is taking care of this right now,” I tell her, feeling how her chest rises and falls with rapid breaths.

“There’s nothing he needs to take care of,” Tristan says, getting up to his feet and buttoning his coat. He steps up to Esmeray, who takes a step back from my arms but still lets me hold her. “They don’t have your signatures, so you don’t need to worry about that. The only thing he should do is make sure the first contract isn’t available anymore. Then you’re free.”

Esmeray nods, smiling. “Thank you.”

“And you can get a restraining order against them,” Kiaran adds.

My wife gulps, picking at her cuticles as a faint smile grows on her lips. “I never thought it was going to end up here, but I feel like I don’t have a choice. I can’t let them do to any other human being what they did to us, no matter if it’s my child or not.”

“You have our support, Esmeray,” Tristan says, patting her on the back.

“What you guys did for me was… Not even my own parents tried to…” She looks up at Lacey. “You know.”

I don’t know what it’s like to be in her place, at least not fully. Despite our mother’s absence, we had each other and Dad, which was more than enough. We got through everything together, and no matter what happened, we knew we could rely on each other.

Esmeray, though, was raised by two people who shouldn’t be called parents, and her sisters had their hands tied because they were too afraid of them. That’s still not an excuse, but I don’t want to tell her that.

“I’m sorry," I whisper in her hair, kissing the top of her head, and Raven comes behind her, caressing her sister’s back.

My wife shakes her head, one of her hands caressing my cheek. “Don’t be.” She smiles, even if it’s shaky. “They were never my family.” Esmeray gulps, looking around. “You are.”

EPILOGUE

ESMERAY

One year later

Being in love is a strange feeling. Not because of the way it manifests, but because of how long it lasts and burns if you’re with the right person.

---