Amber paused. “She was upset at first.”
“Upset enough to get an abortion?”
Amber’s hesitation said it all.
“Damn it,” Cole ground out.
“She didn’t get an abortion,” said Amber.
“Did she want an abortion?”
“Objection,” said Destiny.
“I’ll rephrase,” said the lawyer. “Did she ever tell you she wanted an abortion?”
The silence was unfortunately long.
“Once,” Amber admitted.
“Did you talk her out of getting an abortion?”
“I gave her my opinion.”
“Which was?”
“That babies were always good news. And that she was going to be a wonderful mother.”
“Is it fair to say you changed her mind?”
Amber didn’t answer.
“Ms. Welsley? Is it fair to say you changed your stepsister’s mind, talked her out of getting the abortion she desired?”
“She wasn’t serious,” said Amber. “She was upset. She was newly married, and being pregnant came as a shock to her.”
“Did she make an appointment at an abortion clinic?”
“No.”
The lawyer waited.
“She didn’t.”
“Perhaps not to the best of your knowledge. But I can tell you she did make an appointment at an abortion clinic.”
A collective gasp went up in the gallery, followed by whispered comments.
The judge pounded his gavel, and the room returned to quiet.
The lawyer returned to his table, lifting a piece of paper with a flourish. “I have here a copy of an appointment card for Coco Henderson for the Women’s Central Health Clinic.”
“Where did you get that?”
“From the Women’s Central Health Clinic.”
“Coco obviously did not have an abortion.”
“Because you talked her out of it. Like so many of your stepsister’s childish, ill-informed impulses, had you not been there to persuade her otherwise, the consequences would have been catastrophic. She would have had an abortion, and Zachary would never have been born.”
The sick feeling of defeat was written across Amber’s face. Cole fought an urge to go to her. He wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her everything was going to be okay. But he couldn’t. And it wasn’t.
“That was a body blow,” said Luca.
There was nothing Destiny could do to counter the revelations. Both lawyers walked through closing arguments, but there wasn’t a single person in the room who trusted Coco’s judgment, nor was there anyone who truly believed she had her son’s best interests at heart.