Chapter 5 - The Deposition Trap
On Wednesday, the day before the custody hearing, Dad's high-priced attorney, a man named Marcus Vance (no relation to Sarah), demanded an emergency pre-trial deposition. They wanted to question me under oath in a private conference room, hoping to break my confidence before we ever stepped foot in front of a judge.
Mom didn't want me to go, but Arthur advised that showing resilience now would destroy Dad's claim that Mom was brainwashing me.
The conference room on the twelfth floor of the downtown law building was freezing cold. The walls were lined with dark mahogany wood, and a large oval table sat in the center.
Dad was sitting on one side of the table, dressed in a sharp charcoal suit. He looked older than he had at the gala; dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his hair was slightly unkempt. Brenda wasn't there—her lawyer had strictly advised her to stay away from any legal proceedings related to the family court case.
I sat between Mom and Arthur. Sarah Vance sat at the end of the table as the court observer.
Marcus Vance cleared his throat, adjusting a pair of gold-rimmed reading glasses. "Chloe, I want to remind you that even though this is an informal setting, you must tell the truth. Do you understand?"
"Yes," I said clearly.
"Great," Mr. Vance said, leaning back in his leather chair. "Now, Chloe, let's talk about the night of the fundraiser. You testified to Ms. Vance that your father watched Brenda put that plastic bracelet on your wrist to hide a bruise. Is that correct?"
"Yes."
"Isn't it true," Mr. Vance continued, his voice smooth as oil, "that you actually fell off your bicycle two days prior while playing at your mother's apartment, and Brenda was simply trying to keep you from feeling self-conscious about a minor scrape in front of hundreds of strangers?"
"No," I said instantly. "I don't even own a bicycle. Dad sold my bike six months ago when he moved into his new apartment."
Mr. Vance paused, his pen hovering over his notepad. He glanced briefly at Dad, whose jaw twitched nervously.
"I see," Mr. Vance said, quickly recovering. "Well, setting the bicycle aside, isn't it true that your mother told you what to say when she arrived at the hotel? Didn't she tell you that if you blamed your father, you could come home and live with her again?"
"No," I replied, looking directly at my father. "Mom didn't say anything to me until after the social worker took me away. Dad was the one who gave me a script."
"A script?" Mr. Vance scoffed lightly. "Chloe, your father is a loving parent who—"
"He made me practice in the bathroom mirror," I interrupted, my voice growing stronger with every word. "He said if I didn't say Brenda saved me from Mom, he would send me to a shelter. He rehearsed it with me five times in the car, and he told me he'd buy me an iPad if I smiled for the cameras."
The room went dead silent.
Arthur didn't say a word. He just sat back, letting my statement hang in the heavy air of the conference room.
Dad suddenly leaned forward, his calm demeanor shattering. "Chloe, stop this lying right now! Tell them the truth! Tell them how crazy your mother was during the divorce!"
"Mr. Hayes!" Sarah Vance snapped, standing up from her chair. "You will not address the child in that tone, nor will you attempt to intimidate her during a official proceeding!"
"She's my daughter!" Dad shouted, his face turning red. "Elena is destroying my life! She leaked those financial documents to the press, she set up that scene at the gala, and now she's using my own kid against me!"
"You destroyed your own life, Richard," Mom said quietly from beside me. She didn't raise her voice. She didn't shout. "You used our daughter like a prop to build a fake charity, and when she got hurt, you tried to paint over it with glitter."
May you like
Dad opened his mouth to scream at her, but Mr. Vance grabbed his client's arm, pulling him back into his chair and whispering fiercely into his ear.
Sarah Vance made a long note on her pad, stood up, and looked at Arthur. "We're done here. This deposition is concluded. I will be submitting my final recommendations directly to Judge Miller tonight."
