Read Online Cascade by Claudia Hall Christian - Free Book Online

a
friend in LA, he’s not going to work again. His life is effectively
ruined. He hired a PR firm to help repair his
reputation.”
    The lawyer indicated the papers.
    “ This is probably part of that
reparation. You said he’s suing Valerie?”
    “ Yes,” Blane said. “For defamation
of character.”
    “ If he looks like the victim, he
can win sympathy. He’s not stupid.”
    “ So harass me to repair his
reputation? But everyone will know every detail of what a jerk he
is!”
    “ Yes, but he can say he was ‘out
of his mind.’” the lawyer nodded. “Coming to his senses, he
realized he couldn’t live without his child.”
    “ You’re saying he doesn’t plan to
win this case,” Blane said. “He plans to go through the motions to
make it look like he’s decent fellow?”
    “ It’s all about ego,” the lawyer
said.
    ~~~~~~~~
    Monday morning — 10 A.M.
     
    “ Thank you, sir,” Aden said to the
corrections officer.
    He was led to a small room with a plastic
picnic table in the middle. Uncomfortable with being locked inside,
he looked at every wall before sitting down at the table. He’d come
to the Denver Women’s correction facility to talk to Nuala. He
hoped she would be reasonable.
    But, he assumed she’d be her crazy
self.
    Aden sighed.
    Aden stood when the corrections officer led
Nuala into the room. Nuala furrowed her brow at him and sat down at
the table. They glared at each other for a moment before Aden broke
the silence.
    “ I received your request to have
your parental rights restored,” Aden said.
    “ Ah. And I thought you came
because you loved me.” Nuala sneered.
    Aden’s face pinched with his disdain for her.
Remembering Jake’s suggestion to be kind but firm, he let out a
breath.
    “ You do not want custody of our
children.”
    “ And how do you know that?” Nuala
asked. “You don’t know me at all.”
    “ In ten years, you’ve never made
it through an entire visit. Not once,” Aden said. “Come on, Nuala,
you never ever wanted these kids.”
    “ I changed my mind,” Nuala said.
“My psychiatrist says I’m bipolar. That’s why I do drugs and
stuff.”
    “ You’re not making sense. You’re
bipolar so you should have our children? That’s the dumbest thing
I’ve ever heard.”
    “ My rights were violated. You had
no right to take away my custody. No right. Those kids need their
mother.”
    “ Like a hole in their
heads.”
    “ Bipolar disorder is genetic. Who
will be able to help my babies when they get bipolar?
You?”
    “ Your babies? The babies you tried
to prostitute less than six months ago?”
    Aden and Nuala returned to glaring at each
other. Determined to get this resolved, Aden tried another
approach.
    “ How were your rights
violated?”
    “ A mental illness is a disability.
My rights were terminated without consideration of my disability.
My lawyer is from National Association for the Mentally Ill. He
says I’ll get my custody back.”
    “ Nuala, you never wanted kids, any
of your kids. You’ve lost parental rights on all of them. Why come
after our kids?”
    “ I would need some support, you
know. It’s going to be hard to stay clean when I’m out. And you
have lots of money.”
    “ Money. This is about
money?”
    “ Yes. I mean no! That’s not all
it’s about.” Nuala tried for charming. “I love my Nash and…
um…”
    “ Her name is Noelle,” Aden
said.
    “ Noelle.” Nuala smiled. “I have a
little brain damage from the drugs.”
    “ When will you be out of
prison?”
    “ Six years,” Nuala said. “With
good behavior.”
    “ Why don’t we deal with this in
six years?”
    “ Because my baby Nash will be
eighteen by then and...”
    “ Noelle.”
    “ Noelle will be sixteen. That’s
too late.” Showing more gums than teeth, Nuala smiled. “When my
rights are restored, they will visit me in prison at least once a
month.”
    “ So I’m supposed to bring our
children to prison so you can ‘parent’ them? Is this