Page 131 of Wicked Refusal

“Why would they call her?” I whisper to Isaak in a panic, even though in my heart I already know. “She’s not even on the list!”

Before I’m even done speaking, he rises. “Your Honor?—”

I lose track of the argument that comes after. Something about lists and rebuttal witnesses and discovery and a thousand other things I couldn’t care less about. Right now, there’s only room for a single question in my mind.

Why is my own sister betraying me?

“Shit.” Nikita effectively summarizes my thoughts. “This is bad.”

“This is a disaster,” I murmur, gripping the table tight.

Cold dread claws at me as Ginny makes her ascent to the witness stand, trading places with Howard. Whatever argument we were making to keep her from testifying, we must have lost it.

“Ms. Collins.” Smithers stands again once Ginny is sworn in, happy as a clam. “Can you clarify what your relationship with the defendant is?”

She leans uncertainly into the mic, giving it a tap for good measure. “I’m her sister.”

“Her sister? Then you must know her fairly well.”

“I do.”

“And what is your sister like?”

Her gaze fixes on me. There’s pity in it, just a trace, but the venom drowns it out. “She’s a runner. The second things go bad, she bails. She’s done it to me; she’s done it to our parents…” Her voice fills with resentment. “And she’ll do it to little Eli, too.”

A flurry of objections follows. But whatever legalese Isaak is throwing at the other side right now, it cannot undo the damage that’s been done.

The judge heard her.

Everyoneheard her.

And it appears she’s not done yet.

With Smithers egging her on, Ginny launches into a tale of my flaws. How I abandoned my aging parents, forced her to put her life on hold to take care of them. How I never reached out to them in the five years I’ve been gone. Then she sings Brad’s praises for helping them find me in their time of need.

Isaak objects. Constantly, vehemently. She can’t get through a whole sentence without him interrupting, but it’s useless. He can’t make the judge unsee what she’s seeing: my own blood, calling me unfit to be a mother.

My heart sinks. Lower and lower, until there’s nowhere left for it to go. I space out halfway through her speech and don’t come back. I can’t bring myself to.

My sister wants me to lose custody of my child.If anyone had told me this an hour ago, I’d have punched them in the mouth, oaths be damned.

But Ginny presses on. On, and on, and on, until she’s torn me to shreds in the eyes of the judge. All while building up Brad by comparison.

The worst part of it is that she’s right about at least one thing: Ididleave them. I didn’t want to, but I did it. I left my baby sister to fend for herself, my parents to get sick without my help, and not once did I look back.

Maybe I truly don’t deserve to keep him.

When Isaak rises for his cross, I grab his sleeve. “Please, don’t.”

He looks at me like I’ve gone insane. “We need to respond to this.”

“You’ll eviscerate her.”

“That’s the plan, yes.”

I shake my head. “I don’t want you to hurt her.”

“Did you not see what she just did up there?”