“That document is notarized!” Keith found his voice, though it was an octave higher than usual. He surged to his feet, clutching the edge of the table. “She signed it. Seven years ago. It’s over, Grace! You’re wasting a legend’s time!”
Catherine didn’t even turn to look at him. She simply reached into her briefcase and pulled out a single, laminated page.
“Mr. Simmons, the law is a structure,” she said, her voice echoing with a cold, architectural authority. “If the foundation is poured with salt, the entire building is condemned. You might be interested to know that I personally drafted the Simmons-Vargas amendment to the New York Domestic Relations Law in the late nineties. It specifically defines the parameters of ‘spousal coercion’ regarding the withholding of essential medical and familial care.”
She tapped a button on a remote, and the courtroom’s projector hummed to life. Large, high-resolution images of text messages filled the screen.
“These were recovered from a legacy server,” Catherine explained, her ice-blue eyes finally flickering toward Keith. “The night before the wedding, you sent my daughter a message stating that if she didn’t sign the waiver for the Fifth Avenue property, you would cease payments for her grandmother’s specialized cardiac care. You also mentioned, quite colorfully, what would happen to her cat if she didn’t ‘fall in line.’”
The courtroom went cold. Judge Henderson’s eyebrows shot up into his receding hairline. He leaned forward, peering at the screen with the intensity of a man watching a train wreck.
