His sudden outburst of emotion had caused him to raise his voice, drawing the attention of the other customers in the quiet café.
If John went on like this, he might actually start a physical fight.
I glanced at Jared, who still appeared calm and composed. He hadn’t taken John’s threats seriously, or maybe this entire situation was completely within his control.
The rest of the café’s patrons were made up of small groups of two or three people who would occasionally look over at us. They were just being a little nosy, but there was nothing particularly strange about our surroundings.
Was this the calm before the storm? I had no clue what tricks Jared had up his sleeve, but I knew one thing for sure—being too reckless might cause more trouble than we needed.
After having come to that conclusion, I reached up and pulled John to sit back down in his chair.
I forced a fake smile onto my face, softening my tone as I spoke. “You said you wanted to take this case to court, right? I’ll happily agree to that, and I’ll make sure we see this to the very end. As a lawyer, I can tell you definitively that you do have primary custodial rights as Summer’s biological father. I also know that I have a huge disadvantage due to my marital status. I’m assuming your lawyer told you all of this, too?”
“So what if they did?” Jared shrugged, unlocking his clasped-together hands and spreading his arms wide in a motion of defeat. “I’m just a doctor; of course, I have to leave these sort of things up to a professional lawyer. I might as well let you in on a little secret—the country’s best child custody lawyer has already accepted my case. I won’t lose this time, Scarlett. I suggest you turn a blind eye and back off, and stop preventing me from seeing Summer again. If not, you can’t blame me if you have to hear my lawyer reveal some particularly unpleasant things about you while in court.”
I let out a cold scoff.
The mere mention of a “professional child custody lawyer” wasn’t enough to scare me off.
“I don’t know who your lawyer is, but I already feel sorry for them,” I fluttered my eyelashes innocently. “They won’t be earning their legal fees this time.”
Jared blinked owlishly at me. I could nearly see the gears turning in his head, wondering what I was up to.
Leaning forward with a laugh, I said, “I am sure you have not told the lawyer the whole truth if you’re feeling so confident in them. But of course, who would willingly admit that they nearly killed their own child? I can easily dig out Summer’s old medical records from the time she underwent surgery at the hospital, as well as your criminal history. And I can safely assume that everyone else who is suffering because of having worked at the Crest family’s factories will be more than happy to be my witnesses in court and testify against the evil, selfish piece of trash you are!
“Don’t even get me started on custodial rights! If you’re really Summer’s father, let me ask you this. Why did you bring her to the chemical plant even knowing that it was polluted, and cause her to suffer from an incurable disease? She trusted you, but you left her in such a desperate, painful situation! According to Article 261 of the Criminal Law, I can sue you for negligence and throw you back in jail where you belong!”
For the first time in my life, I felt that I’d been right in choosing to become a lawyer.
I hadn’t considered my words properly nor gotten my thoughts in order before I went on that rant, but I’d successfully recited the correct article effortlessly and rendered Jared speechless.
I secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he had nothing to tell me.
What had I been so worried about? Someone like him had long since lost the right to be a father to any child; thinking that he could take Summer away from me was nothing more than a far-fetched daydream.
Exchanging a meaningful look with John, we both got up from our seats.
I’d barely taken a few steps before stopping in my tracks, giving Jared a sidelong glance. “You can’t always forget the past and start anew, Jared. You are so wrong to think that way; the truth is, you have to pay the price for your grave mistakes. This is my only and final warning to you—Summer is Macy’s daughter as well as mine. She has nothing to do with you, so don’t try and humiliate yourself any further. If I see you anywhere near her, I’ll make sure to bring down hell upon you.”
