Rachel read them.
The first:
You have until Friday. 51% and this all goes away. Otherwise I’m taking my sons and starting over somewhere else.
Then the second:
If you really care about them, you’ll make the right choice.
Nobody moved.
The judge looked at Vanessa.
“Ms. Reed, did you send these messages?”
Her attorney whispered to her.
She hesitated.
Then said, “Yes, but they’re being taken out of context.”
“What context would change the apparent meaning?”
“I was angry.”
“Were you asking Mrs. Ellis to transfer fifty-one percent of her company to you?”
Vanessa looked at her attorney.
He couldn’t answer for her.
Finally, she said, “We had discussed business.”
“No,” I said before I could stop myself.
Rachel touched my arm.
The judge looked at me, then back at Vanessa.
“Did you condition withdrawing your custody petition on receiving a controlling interest in Mrs. Ellis’s company?”
