Chapter 14
When the judge announced the verdict, Julian’s mom went full–on drama queen. She flopped onto the floor, wailing and screaming.
“This is a sham! A witch hunt! They think they can get away with anything because they have money and power! There’s no justice!”
“Emily! You married into this family! You’re one of us now, for better or for worse! How dare you accuse your husband?! You’ll burn in hell for this!”
The judge had seen it all before. He just motioned for the bailiff to haul her out.
“What are you doing?! Get your hands off me! Police brutality! Help!”
The bailiff ignored her theatrics.
“Ma’am, you’re in contempt of court. You could face up to three years in jail.”
Julian’s lawyer, bless his heart, tried to reason with her, but she just turned on him.
“We paid you good money! You’re supposed to be on our side, not theirs! Did they get to you? Did they pay you off?!”
The lawyer just shook his head. He can’t fix stupid.
I’ve seen some crazy courtroom antics, but this was next–level.
As they dragged her out, Rosemary was still yelling about the judge being unfair.
Back at the house Julian and I used to share, I called a cleaning service. I had everything that belonged to him and his mother tossed out like yesterday’s trash.
Except for the gold jewelry I’d bought for his mom.
I’d bought it for her partly to win her over, but mostly because gold appreciates in value. I
could pawn it and make a nice profit.
Ten days later, Julian appealed the verdict.
11:25
Too Late to Say Sorry
67.7%
My lawyer and I had expected that.
A slimy snake like him wouldn’t miss a chance to slither out of trouble.
Just before his appeal, my lawyer and I took a trip to Julian’s hometown in Nowheresville, Kansas. We learned that after Jessica gave birth to Ethan, she and Julian had a small ceremony and threw a party for the locals.
So, in their hometown, they were considered married, and everyone knew Ethan was Julian’s son.
Julian was just another guy working out of state, leaving his wife and kid behind, coming
home a few times a year.
With this new evidence, we could add bigamy to the charges.
At the hearing, Jessica was there.
But when we presented our evidence, she denied everything.
She even claimed Ethan wasn’t Julian’s son and demanded a paternity test.
Julian, Rosemary, and I were stunned.
If Ethan wasn’t Julian’s, that was a whole new level of messed up.
This was turning into a real Jerry Springer episode.
