I Married a Billionaire: Lost and Found(30)

"My apologies, Mr. Thorne," the judge intoned. "I certainly never meant to cross any lines. I'll see you at the trial." And with that, he was standing up and gathering his papers. I sat there on the hard wooden chair, completely stunned at what had just transpired. Ms. Greenlee looked like she'd been sucking on a lemon, even more so than usual. She rushed up to the judge, calling after him as he headed for one of the side doors - "Robert - ROBERT! Wait! I want to talk to you!" But he brushed her off with a gesture.

She came back to us, dejected.

"I'm sorry, Daniel," she said. "I've never known him to be so hostile. I never would have suggested this hearing if I thought…"

"It's all right," said Daniel, his face very grim. "I didn't really expect anything different."

But I could tell he was upset. He'd been hoping for a better outcome, of course - we all had. But the judge obviously had strong personal feelings about the case, for whatever reason, and we certainly weren't going to change his mind.

I could have sworn there was an actual cloud hovering over our group as we walked out onto the sidewalk and headed towards the street corner where John was going to pick us up, minus Ms. Greenlee, who broke off at the parking garage with a polite little wave.

"Well, it's nice to know he'll be the one conducting the trial," said Daniel with a hollow smile.

"Can't you petition the court for someone different, if you think he's biased?" Lindsey looked over her shoulder. "Shit, I should have asked what’s-her-name."

"Oh, no doubt," said Daniel. "But how will that look? 'I don't like this judge, please send me another.' Everyone already thinks I'm a rich spoiled brat who just gets whatever he wants. If I get a new judge, too, on top of everything?"

"But you're entitled to a fair trial," I said, as we climbed into the car. "Everyone is. It doesn't matter."

"How did it go?" John asked, gingerly.

"Not well," said Daniel. "Don't worry, you'll still get your paycheck," he added, which I assumed was a wry attempt at humor. It fell flat on John, who looked slightly offended as he pulled away.

"That's not what I'm worried about," he said.

No one responded.

I wished Daniel would just cave and ask for a new judge. This one had left a horribly unpleasant feeling in my chest, and in some way I couldn't quite explain, it was about more than just the things he'd said, and the way he'd talked to Daniel. He unnerved me on some other, deeper level I couldn't quite explain. I just knew things would be much better if someone else presided over the trial, but at the same time, I could understand Daniel's concern. He didn't want to look demanding and petty right off the bat, before he even had a chance to make a first impression in his trial.

I wondered how long the arraignment would actually take. I knew from following cases in the news that things like this often dragged out for years, and I simply couldn't imagine living through something like that. I knew I had no choice - I certainly wasn't going to leave him - but it already felt like we'd been slogging through a dismal swamp for God knew how long, and it was about to get worse.

"I really think it would be better," I said, trying again, more gently, "if you just got a different judge. I know it's not the best thing, for the sake of appearances, but this is ridiculous. You have to do something. You can't just lie down and take his abuse, he obviously dislikes you for some reason."

"Maddy, please."

I wasn't sure if that was meant to be Maddy, please let me make my own decisions or Maddy, please shut up, but either way, I was appropriately cowed. I sat back and stewed quietly in my own annoyance.

"For what it's worth, Daniel, I think she's right." Lindsey spoke up, finally. "You can't just let yourself be mistreated, no matter how you think it might look if you start complaining. I don't know why he was acting like that, but whatever the reason, you don't want him presiding over your trial. It's only going to make things more difficult."

"I just want some time to think things over!" Daniel said, more loudly than he needed to. "Is that too much to ask? Both of you, just keep your opinions to yourselves for a few minutes?"

We all sat in silence for the rest of the journey. Poor John, I thought to myself, absurdly. He looked like he wanted to disappear into his seat, or maybe spontaneously combust and never seen any of us again.

Once we were home, Daniel stormed up to the bedroom again and sequestered himself. I wandered aimlessly around the kitchen, and Lindsey turned on the TV in the living room, flipping through the channels so fast I was sure she couldn't possibly be processing what was on each of them.

"There's a channel guide, you know," I said, flopping down next to her on the sofa.

"Ugh. I don't even want to watch anything," she said. "I just want Danny to stop being such a shitheel. After everything we've done for him? He's still going to act like a whiny little baby when we try to give him some very well-placed advice."




"Well, he's under a lot of stress," I pointed out. I couldn’t believe I was defending him.

"Maddy, please." She shook her head at me. "I think he's been treating you worse than anybody. You don't have to pretend."