Page 56 of Ashes of Us

“I turned thirty-three in March,” Danica confirmed her age and then took a deep breath.

“Alexander and Cassandra West gave me a job and took me in after my foster family kicked me out when I turned eighteen. They paid for me to go to university, let me live rent-free in their apartment over their garage while I studied and worked part-time in the hotel. I regarded them as my family.” She cleared her throat and swallowed the lump that rose as she explained her relationship with Alexander and Cassandra.

“When I told Jasper how much money Alexander left me, he demanded to know why Alexander was giving so much money to an ‘orphan they never even adopted.’”

“So, it was a substantial sum, then?” Perella asked, his quiet voice carrying in the silent courtroom. “I'm not going to ask that you disclose the amount,” He reassured her, shooting a warning look at Mathers, making it clear he wasn't allowed to ask how much either. “Just a yes or no answer.”

“Yes,” Danica confirmed, very happy he didn't ask her to elaborate on it. She knew Jasper had told his father, but she didn't think he had told his mother; she would have had something to say about it, regardless of what Jasper wanted.

“And what happened after he accused you of having an affair?” Perella seemed satisfied with everything she said so far, and Danica felt her nerves ease a little. He was sticking to his word in the chamber and being a neutral party who just wanted the facts, not the drama.

“I was angry,” Danica admitted. “Angrier than I've ever been before.

I couldn't believe he thought I would cheat on him with a man old enough to be my grandfather, that he thought I would do that to Alexander's wife, whom I adored.

I needed space before I said something I'd regret, and I tried to walk away, but he grabbed my upper arm, hard enough to leave bruises, to stop me.

He yelled that I couldn't walk away from him and started to call me something, but before he got it out, I turned and slapped him. I hit him hard enough to leave a mark on his face.” She felt heat rise in her cheeks and dropped her gaze, looking down at her hands and wondering if she would ever stop feeling the weird mix of pride and shame whenever she remembered hitting him.

“That seemed to snap him out of his anger, and I was able to tell him off for accusing me.

He tried to apologize, but I walked away.

He didn't follow me, and I heard him leave about twenty minutes later.

I thought he was going to his parents' place, and I shut off my phone so I wouldn't have to listen to his mother berate me for hitting him when she saw the mark on his face.” She finished the story of the fight and looked back up at him.

“He came home around four in the morning and begged me not to leave him. I agreed to stay as long as we got couples counselling to work through the issues we clearly had and were ignoring.”

Perella nodded again and turned to Mathers. “Do you have any questions about what she just told us?”

Mathers stood up. “Just a few.” He approached the stand and came to a stop in front of her. “Were you having an affair with Alexander West?”

“No,” Danica replied firmly. She had expected that question, especially since the Judge seemed to take her word that she wasn't fooling around with a man who was more than twice her age and hadn't asked it. “I saw him as a father figure and friend, that's all.”

“Very well.” Mathers looked very disappointed that she didn't admit to an affair but seemed to understand Judge Perella wouldn't allow him to badger her about it. “And you had no idea where your husband went that night? He didn't tell you after you decided to work on things?”

“No.” Danica shook her head. “Like I said, I assumed he was going to his parents' house. We did share locations, but I’ve never tracked him.

I thought we both needed space to calm down so we could have a rational discussion later.

He never mentioned it after, and I didn't have a reason to ask.” Her answer must have surprised him because he raised both his eyebrows as he studied her face.

“He accused you of cheating and then left you home alone, and you didn't think you had a reason to ask where he was all night?”

Danica shrugged, maybe it made her an idiot, but she had no reason to believe Jasper was anywhere but at his parents' house.

“I didn't have a reason to think otherwise.

We always gave each other space to process things, and as I mentioned, he always went to Amy and Cecil's after a fight.

I need to be alone to process my emotions, and he needed to talk them out with someone.

He apologized and said he didn't mean what he said before he left, so I figured it was the same as before.”

“Did you and your husband fight often?” Danica stopped herself from rolling her eyes as Mathers latched onto how they handled their arguments.

“Objection.” David stood up, looking annoyed. “Relevance.”

“Whether or not they fought often shows the state of their marriage and how much trouble it was in,” Mathers responded quickly.

“I'll allow it.” Perella overruled David's objection with a wave of his hand. “Answer the question, Mrs. Preston.”

“Define often? We were together seven years and married for five, of course, we fought.” Danica held out her hands helplessly; she honestly didn't know how to answer his question.

“I would nag him about keeping the house tidy and the fact that he often spent his entire check before his next payday and would have to ask me to cover his part of the bills.

He disliked that I'm a work-a-holic who struggles to relax and that I refused to quit and find a job in another hotel.

But they weren't serious fights, they were...” She trailed off as she tried to find the word to describe their disagreements accurately.

“Little... spats.” She ran her hand over her head, smoothing her hair down before rubbing the back of her neck.

“We would step back before things escalated and come together when we were calm to find a compromise or solution that worked for us.”

Mathers frowned, his shoulders slumping as Danica described the way they handled their fights.

“No further questions.” His voice was dejected, and he turned to sit back down.

Perella turned to David and asked if he had anything he wanted clarified.

David said no, and Perella thanked her for her testimony and told her she could go back to her seat.

When she sat back down, David smiled at her and squeezed her shoulder.

“You did great.” He praised her quietly as Perella called Dr. Lin back to the stand and gave her a rundown on what she was allowed to speak about now that they had the context for why Danica and Jasper were fighting.

“Mr. Mathers, you may ask your questions but remember to keep them limited to what happened following their fight on the night in question.” Perella sat back and waited as Mathers checked his notes, then stood up and approached the witness stand.

“Dr. Lin, did you and Jasper Preston discuss the fight in question and what happened after he left his house that night?”

Danica noticed the doctor looked very uncomfortable and felt her heart sink as the woman nodded briefly. “Yes, we did.”

“And did Jasper's retelling of the event match Mrs. Preston's?” He pressed when she didn't elaborate.

Danica had a feeling Dr. Lin was going to be a difficult witness for Mathers.

She seemed determined to protect Jasper's confidentiality, which Danica was grateful for.

She wouldn't let Mathers try to sneak around the Judge's rules.

“Yes, it matched almost perfectly.”

“Almost perfectly?” Mathers folded his arms and raised his eyebrow. “Care to expand on that?”

“I meant I heard the story from Jasper's perspective, so it wasn't exactly the same as Mrs. Preston's, but the major points all matched.

He found out about the inheritance and when he heard the amount, he accused her of cheating, she tried to walk away, he grabbed her, she slapped him and then left the garage.

He couldn't believe what happened and froze for a while, then left.

He was planning to go to his parents' house but changed his mind on the way and went to his cousin's place instead.” Danica could hear very faint irritation in the doctor's voice as she elaborated on what she meant and glanced worriedly at the Judge, wondering if he was going to say something about her hostility, but he either didn't notice or didn't care and was watching carefully.

“So, he admitted he thought she was cheating based on the amount?” Mathers seemed to realize she wasn't going to give him much more without very specific questions and decided to move on.

“From what Jasper described, it seemed Danica's relationship with the Wests was under almost constant scrutiny from a few family members, and most of his issues with their closeness stemmed from the things they were saying, even if he always defended her when they would say things. When he heard the amount, everything those family members kept saying to him came back, and he accused her of having an affair in a fit of insecurity.” Dr. Lin didn't name the family members, but Danica had a feeling she knew who it was, and the way the doctor's eyes rested briefly on Amy confirmed it.

Of course, Amy, Geri and Frannie were behind the remarks.

She sighed and shook her head in disappointment, wondering what Amy's endgame was.

She was always so open and welcoming to Danica's face, and hearing she was secretly undermining her and Jasper's marriage and relationship was like a kick to the stomach.