Chapter 10 - MY TURN TO TESTIFY

The assault hearing happened twelve days after the shaving.

Linda arrived wearing navy blue and carrying a Bible.

Ryan wore a suit I had paid for.

I wore my uniform.

Not as a weapon.

Because I had come directly from duty.

Linda’s attorney objected to the hallway video.

The judge overruled him.

The footage played.

Clippers buzzing.

Linda entering.

Ryan behind her.

His whisper:

Keep going.

The courtroom became painfully quiet.

“Did you consent to having your hair cut?”

“No.”

“Were you awake?”

“No.”

“Why did you shave the rest yourself?”

I looked at Linda.

“Because she took away my choice. I took it back.”

The prosecutor paused.

“What did your husband say afterward?”

“Hair grows back. He said maybe I would learn to obey.”

Ryan looked down.

Linda did not.

She stared at me like I had betrayed her.

The judge extended the protective order.

Linda was ordered to stay away from me, my workplace and the house.

Ryan received the same restrictions.

Outside court, reporters waited.

I said nothing.

Then Ryan pushed through the crowd.

“Grace!”

“I need to talk to her!”

“You have a no-contact order.”

“This is my wife!”

“Actually, that is currently disputed.”

Ryan’s face changed.

He knew.

Melissa had been found.

Too late.

Ryan shouted, “She abandoned me!”

By evening, Melissa’s attorney had filed copies of the marriage certificate.

Bigamy became public.

Ryan lost his job the next morning.

He blamed me.

Again.

Then the bank contacted Sarah.

Blackridge Capital had started foreclosure proceedings on my house despite the disputed mortgage.

Someone had supplied them with a notarized affidavit claiming I personally confirmed the loan.

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The notary was Linda.

And she had never been licensed as one.