My ex made this strangled sound.
“She listens to me,” Andrea continued. “Even when she can’t buy me things. When she says no, she explains why.
She doesn’t make me feel like I’m supposed to pay her back by choosing her.”
She wiped her face with the sleeve of her hoodie.
“She remembered my birthday when we were eating ramen for dinner,” she added. “She doesn’t need receipts to prove she cares.”
The courtroom went completely silent.
The judge looked at Andrea for a long moment. Then at the receipts.
Then at my ex.
“I’ve heard enough,” he said.
He kept primary custody with me. He called my ex’s behavior “coercive” and “deeply inappropriate.” He warned him that using money to influence Andrea could affect his visitation if it continued.
I didn’t even catch all the legal words. My ears were ringing.
All I really heard was: she stays with me.
When it was over, we walked out into the hallway.
My ex brushed past us, whisper-yelling to his lawyer about appeals and bias and how “this is ridiculous.”
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