BRUTAL

25. Valentina

"Liliana and her went to the bathroom. Court is about to start in five minutes."

"Is he going to get in trouble for the abuse?"

"Most likely all we can do right now is get a restraining order against him. That asshole has those two assholes as lawyers and they make me want to jump over the damn table and strangle them," I grumble.

"But after the divorce, when we do go after him for abuse we need hard concrete evidence."

"I have a couple of pictures of bruises on Mama. She would always make excuses about falling or being clumsy, so I would send them to Rory to make sure she was alright."

"Do you have the pictures?" I ask.

"It's on my old iCloud. I think I can log in and try to recover it," she says.

"Also, check the cameras at that event we went to in August. Mama and Alfonso went away for a bit and she came back with tears in her eyes and Alfonso looked angry," she adds.

I get out my phone and type out a reminder to do that.

"Shouldn't that video of him beating the shit out of her be enough?"

"It should, but I want to have more in case they don't let me use it in court. And because Alfonso is a sleazy bastard who will try to pay off the judge."

Jamila came out from the bathroom and spotted Aaya. She came over, "Aaya what are you doing here? Don't you have class?"

"I would never miss a chance to celebrate you getting a divorce, plus someone vandalized the school so classes are canceled until Monday. Troy is coming down tonight because he doesn't have a game this weekend."

"Why didn't he just come down with you?" I ask.

"He's being all lovey dovey with his girlfriend and they're completing a puzzle like a old couple that doesn't have anything better to do than die from old age," Aaya said with a grimace.

"He has a girlfriend?" I mumble.

"Well they haven't made it official yet or have had sex yet. But I have walked in on them doing foreplay on the couch, which brings me to my next question: Can you please get us a new couch?" She asks and grabs my hands.

"Order a new one with the card I gave you," I tell her.

A throat cleared behind us. "Court is about to start," Shannon said.

I put my hand on Jamila's back and she lets out huge breath and starts walking. We all file into the court room.

I ignore the looks from her sons and sit down. Aaya keeps looking over to the other side, "why are they glaring at us?" She whispers.

"Don't pay attention to them," I whisper and face forward. She nods and faces forward. We all sit quietly as the judge starts to talk and go over the case.

As the judge starts to go over things, Eren interrupts, "that won't be necessary. My client wants nothing from Mr. Rodríguez. She would just like for him to stay as far away as the restraining order states."

"Yes. I see. What would the restraining order be for?"

"Abuse your honor," Eren states.

Alfonso's lawyer stood up in a fit. Eren, Shannon, and his lawyers go back and forth a bit.

"Your honor we have concrete evidence that Mr. Rodríguez has been abusive to my client," Shannon stated.

They go back and forth and the judge allows the evidence. There was everything from the security camera footage, to threatening text messages, and even voicemails.

"Carlos is glaring at us like he wants to kill us. It's concerning," Aaya whispered to me.

"Aaya just ignore him," I whisper.

"I'm trying, but he's scaring the hell out of me. His eyes look dissociated."

"There's nothing to be afraid of," I whisper and grab her hand. "He's not going to hurt you."

"I hope this is over with soon because I want to celebrate by getting cake and drinking champagne until I puke."

"I don't think that's a good idea," I whisper.

She pouts, "why not? Champagne won't get me drunk. It's the glorified version of ginger-ale. I'll be fine."

"Just pay attention," I whisper and turn forward.

After a little back and forth Jamila was granted the restraining order. Alfonso's lawyers were obviously upset. Next we were onto what Alfonso wanted from the divorce.

Alfonso stood up, "your honor I would like to be compensated for taking care of Valentina Devora for the first six years of her life."

My brows furrow in confusion. "What the hell is he talking about?" Liliana whispers.

"Your honor we have DNA evidence that shows Valentina Devora is not his biological daughter. Mrs. Rodríguez clearly had an affair which also violates the contract and should reward him with at least four million dollars."

"Objection!" Eren firmly says. "The contract was only signed by my clients father and not her, so the contract is void. We also have evidence of Alfonso's infidelity before Valentina was even conceived."

Eren also turns and points to me, "My clients daughter never consented to a DNA test being done. So therefore what Mr. Rodríguez did was illegal and should be a felony."

"If it's true, good for you. You don't have a dick head for a father and technically you're only half siblings with them," Aaya whispered.

I stay quiet and look over. Carlos and Alejandro glared at me like their lives depended on it. I face forward and catch Jamila looking at me. She faces forward when I stare at her.

What the fuck is going on?

•TIME SKIP•

Court was finally over. Jamila was now divorced and she got a restraining order on Alfonso. We were walking to the parking lot when Carlos yelled, "hey Jamila!"

I put my hand on Jamila's back and urge her to keep walking, "don't turn around. Just keep walking," I tell her.

"I know you hear me!" He yelled.

I open the passenger door for her, then shut it when she gets in. "Hey Aaya!" He yelled.

I open the door for Aaya and hand her the keys, "start the car." I tell her and shut the door.

"Or should I say whores?" He asks as he walks closer. I get my gun from the trunk in case he tries anything.

"Hey Val! You still whoring yourself out to Rico?" I ignore him and get in the car, which obviously made him angry.

I put the car in drive and pull out of the parking lot. I stop for a moment and ask myself: Should I let this go?

Hell fucking no.

I floor the engine and drive straight towards him. "Val! Val! What are you-" Jamila cut Aaya off with a scream when I hit Carlos with my car.

He flies over my car and I hear him hit the ground with a yelp. I roll down my window, "that's what you get you stupid bitch! Call my sister or mother a whore again and i'll do way worse!" I yell.

"Oh my god we just killed Carlos!" Aaya yelled.

"Oh please. He's fine. Just a couple of bruised ribs. Now let's talk about what the hell they said about me having a different father," I say and turn to Jamila.

"Let's talk about that later please? This is too much for me today." Jamila said.

"Fine, we'll talk about it tomorrow morning."

I get a call on my phone from Fredrico. I answer, "Did you just hit Carlos with your fucking car?"

"Let's talk about this later," I tell him then hang up.

I rub my eyes and sigh.

It's only two in the afternoon and i'm already questioning my sanity.