Chapter 36: Chapter 36

Cassandra's POV

Desmond gestured something towards Mr. Wright and he composed himself immediately. "I understand that, but my client wishes to hold a one-to-one discussion," said the lawyer obviously under pressure from Desmond who glared relentlessly at me, trying to scare me into submission. I refused to meet his gaze and with mom and Julian by my side, I knew I was safe.

"We are all her family. I'm her fiancé, we have no reason to entertain your client's every whim and wish. It's better to raise the point directly now so that we can leave. My fiancee is pregnant with my second child and I don't want to stress her further," said Julian with a very patient yet stern demeanor. I noted the way they were stressing that I was expecting his second child. A ray of hope touched my heart and I prayed more that it would soon be over and I wouldn't have to part with my baby. Although I wanted to punch Desmond and his wife in the face, I kept quiet and showed that I was unwell indeed. His wife too had the same expression on her face as Desmond and I wondered why they were taking such pains to get Max's custody.

"No, this isn't acceptable. Family members cannot stay. This is between me and Cassandra. so if you would excuse us, I would like to deal with this as quickly as possible. I'm a busy man and I don't have all day to waste," gritted out Desmond impatiently, losing his patience totally.

"Then we have to object to the presence of outsiders before we start any discussion. Since this is a personal discussion, it would be wise not to do so in front of the police constables who are accompanying you, Mr. Reid," said dad as Desmond glared at him but not left with a choice, he finally sent his men away.

"What about now?" he asked angrily, staring at dad as if ready for a battle if he disagreed.

"Since Mrs. Reid is accompanying your client, we will have the meeting only in the presence of Ms. Daniels's family," said one of their lawyer directly to Mr. Wright who sighed, flailing his arms in the air helplessly.

"Okay, let's come to the point. As we all know that Ms. Daniels here had an illicit relationship with my client and has a son out of that relationship. She has forcefully kept him away from my client who is his biological father, which is a crime in itself. Now my client wants full custody of his own son," said Mr. Wright, his shrewd eyes penetrating into mine. My blood boiled at the insinuation and I stood up. If I could I would have murdered Desmond as well as his lawyer then and there but mom's hand on my wrist stopped me and made me sit back and not lose my patience.

"Excuse me, you have wrong information there it seems, Mr. Wright," said Stefan as Adrian and Julian collected all the photocopied proofs to state that Julian is Max's real father and handed them to Stefan. "The proofs that we are going to submit state that Maxwell Henderson is the son of Cassandra Daniels and her fiancé Julian Henderson," he said as they submitted the photocopies of Max's birth certificate and paternity test report. I was surprised that they could produce so many documents in such a short span of time. One look at Desmond's shattered face made me want to jump with joy. It served him right to challenge my family.

"I have information from my client that Ms. Daniels called him to beg him to take responsibility for her unborn child, which was his," said Mr. Wright, "I can provide proof of a phone call that took place. So it would be wise to just hand the custody of the child to his father," warned the lawyer but dad, Julian, and his brothers looked unperturbed while my face paled not knowing what they would do now. I repented having called Desmond that day out of panic.

"I have proof that Ms. Daniels' drink was spiked by your client and she was physically abused and ra*ed by him, on that dreadful night when her father died and she went to the pub. Her fiance was away at work at that time. She thought the pregnancy was the result of the abuse, so she called him, but later the paternity test proved that Max's real father is Ms. Daniels' fiance, Julian Henderson," said our lawyer handing the pub's CCTV footage to show Desmond harassing a drunk Cassie. My eyes popped out seeing the proof which I had no idea existed. How dad got hold of it after so many months was beyond me! Not that I cared since Desmond's face mirrored the shock he felt. He might never have expected this in his worst nightmares.

Desmond's face fell and he looked half-dead already while his lawyer's eyes widened with surprise when he saw the video. "We have evidence of the abuse as well which if leaked to my friend, the Police Commissioner of New York City Police Department, will make your client lose his job as well as behind bars," said dad, threatening them more.

"My client Ms. Daniels and her fiancé Julian Henderson have been together for a long time and are waiting to tie the knot after Julian completes his studies. We have proof of that too," said our lawyer as Mr. Wright put a hand to massage his forehead while Desmond looked scared, eyeing the ring on my finger.

The woman who accompanied him stood up, "You lying bitch, how did you convince these people to support you? Did you sleep with all of them?" She yelled at me while my jaws dropped at the insinuation. She looked like a bit*h but I had no idea that she could hold so much hatred for me. I was seeing her for the first time!

"Mind your language ma'am. We're having this discussion recorded. So if you really don't want any legal action taken against you, we would advise you to refrain from speaking something about which you are not sure of," said Tristan making the woman sit down meekly beside Desmond and I gaped at Tristan. I had no idea he could look so scary since I always saw a goofy and fun-loving side to him.

"We have proof that Mr. Reid is suffering from a Sexually Transmitted Disease, Chlamydia which has resulted in his infertility. That is the sole reason why he wants custody of Max, thinking him to be his own blood but sadly Max has our blood running through his veins and we will fight hard for what is ours. So if you forget your claims about Max and stop harassing Cassandra, we will forget about this entire episode. But you have to give us in writing," said dad. Mr. Wright nodded and Desmond looked down in despair.

It was clear that we could convince Desmond and his wife to forget about acquiring custody of Max. So a written legal document was signed that they would never lay any claim on Max, that they would never harass me in any way. So the case was dismissed and we parted ways.