Summer ran over and hugged Jackson tightly. “Mr. Jackson, it’s good to see you again!”
Jackson smiled as he stroke Summer’s head gently while the lawyer beside him started speaking professionally, “Ms. Stovall, I come to represent Mr. Jackson to discuss your child’s custody.”
I turned my back against Summer and whispered, “Don’t say this in front of the kid.”
Then, I gave a gesture to Mrs. Eriksen, signaling her to bring Summer upstairs. After that, the three of us sat down in the living room.
Jackson sat right opposite of me, with his arms crossed. He had been avoiding my eyes since arrival, while his lawyer was the one who did all the talking. “Ms. Stovall, you and Mr. Jackson are not blood-related to Summer, and both of you were friends of the deceased Ms. Markle. Mr. Jackson thinks that since you are starting to focus on your own baby, it will affect Summer’s childhood. He hopes that you will voluntarily give up your custody, then there will be no need to bring this to the court.”
This lawyer seemed to be an experienced one, as he knew they would not find any actual negligence in how I treated Summer in terms of the law. The only possible way they could win this was going after the emotional aspect. Normally for custody cases, the judge would also fully consider the emotional condition of the guardian.
I cast Jackson a cold glance and responded to the lawyer. “I don’t know if Jackson has told you that I, too, am a law major, and I just passed the judicial examination recently. So you can save all your professional moves on me. I have the ability to take care of Summer alone. As for my own baby, Summer has always wanted company. Thus it would not affect her in any negative way. My love towards the two of them won’t be biased.”
As I noticed Jackson was still sitting there indifferently, as if all these had nothing to do with him, I started to get furious. I deliberately turned the topic against him. “Jackson also has his own child. Can he guarantee he will treat Summer with a fair share?”
Both of them were obviously well-prepared for my accusation, as they did not show any reaction to my words.
The lawyer glanced at Jackson as if he was getting the latter’s approval. Seeing that Jackson nodded his head, the lawyer turned to me again and spoke firmly, “The child of Ms. Alder that you mentioned is not actually the child of Mr. Jackson. And Mr. Jackson can guarantee that he will never have another child. So he will love the two kids with all his heart. Is there anything else?”
I was befuddled at what I heard. “How could this be?”
Jackson did not lift his head but said with a low voice, “It has nothing to do with you. All you need to know is that I will love Summer more than you do. I will not let her stay in the battlefield of the Fullers.”
This upheaval had caught me off guard. Jackson’s lawyer had clearly noticed my confusion and started firing a bunch of questions at me. “When Summer grows up and finds out that she looks different from her sibling, how would you answer her? And most importantly, you went through miscarriage twice, didn’t you? And you even got kidnapped! Mr. Jackson doubts that you and Mr. Fuller are fit to be parents.”
My head was in agony until the moment they left. Jackson’s lawyer was undoubtedly a good debater, while every one of his words pierced through my heart mercilessly. As a lawyer, he was doing a brilliant job. But as another human, he was way too mean. I understood law too well to know that the kidnap alone could alter the judge and the jury’s decision.
Jackson had a wife, and even though they were not really wealthy, they still would be able to provide Summer a decent life. Hence, I knew I stood no chance, even if we were financially better off. Compared to a luxurious but risky lifestyle, the judge would probably prefer a normal yet stable life for the child.
