Nine Divorces, One Last Stand

e y

court

red and twenty-five day

time Mark Thompson h

t straight in my chair, my hands folded neatly in my lap, feeling the judge' s tired gaze wash ov

, his voice flat with routine.

and this was just another stage. He was handsome, charming, and he k

ed sincerity. He then turned slightly, allowing the single reporter in the back row to get a better

younger than me, with wide, innocent eyes that were currently fille

per on the witness stand

ah is with child. My child. It would be morally wrong to force us to r

paper, his expression un

Thompson, you

rk or Sarah. I just

e is this, Y

o slid a tablet across th

black-and-white video. It was from a surveillance c

ng at my clothes, his face buried in my shoulder. His voi

een begged, his words slurred. "Please, don'

rabbed my head, his fingers tangling in my hair, and tore at my earlobe with his teeth. It

reen, taken the next morning. My earlobe was swollen, brui

for a long moment. He took off

looked directly at Mark,

arriage," the judge said, his voice now laced with steel. "They are the actions of a

ed the g

smissed

his confidence fully restored, wrapped a protective arm arou

a sneer twisting

ebrate too s

celebrati

at. "I' ll keep fighting. I' ll keep filing unti

A small, stupid part of me still believed that one day he would see my wo

died a few

his wife, his prop. I drank, maybe a little too much, trying to num

ach. It felt like a hot poker was twisting in my gut. I b

, gasping for air, and found Mar

y stomach. "Something' s wrong. Yo

His focus was entirely on

ng, baby?" h

she whimpered. "And this stree

t now." He opened the car door fo

me double over. "I think... I think I hav

look at me, his eyes

aking it

was cold,

knows how much you can drink.

iver' s seat and s

something. Stop

rring with the blinding pain.

Just obey, or I' ll file for divorce again at the next

n the dark, empty street. The pain was a roaring fire

isappearing taill

pty air, the words tasting like blood a

painfull

-