Chapter 6

That night, I started working on my third video.

This time, I was going to talk about the hotel records from the court ruling.

Anna had redacted all the hotel names, leaving only the dates, the number of times, and the court's official statements.

I sat down in front of the camera. "On the third day, I'm once again apologizing to Mr. Charles Pierce."

Halfway through, there was a sudden knock at the door.

The knock was heavy.

I stopped.

On the monitor, I saw Charles standing at the door with his mother, Raina Pierce, right beside him.

Raina was dressed in a dark red coat, holding a bag of fruit, her expression stern and clearly displeased.

I didn't open the door. Instead, I pressed the intercom button. "What do you want?"

Raina started shouting into the camera, "Julia, why do you have the nerve to ask? You messed up my son's life. Come out. Don't hide in there like a coward!"

Charles stood next to her, frowning. "Mom, keep your voice down."

Raina raised her voice more. "Why should I keep my voice down? She has no shame, and the Pierce family still cares about its reputation."

I hit record on the door camera. "If you say one more thing, I'll call the cops."

Raina paused for a moment and then started pounding on the door. "Go on, call the cops. I'd love to see if they care about a mother-in-law putting her daughter-in-law in her place."

So, I called the cops.

Charles got nervous and quickly pulled Raina away from the door. "Mom, stop it."

I gave the dispatcher my address.

When Raina realized I was actually calling the cops, her bluster faded.

She pointed at the camera. "You ruthless woman. Charles was just a little too close to a coworker. How can you ruin his whole life over that?

"Every man goes out for a business dinner and does that. You can't let it go, can you? Are you trying to make Lily grow up without a father?"

I stared at the screen.

That was how they thought.

If a guy screwed up, it was okay.

But if a woman dared to call him out, she was blamed for wrecking the family.

The cops showed up fast.

Raina immediately switched gears, plopping down on a chair in the hallway and dabbing at her eyes, pretending to cry.

She said, "I wanted to see my granddaughter, but she wouldn't let me in, and then she called the cops on me to scare me."

I opened the door and showed the cops the security footage.

The footage had it all: Raina banging on the door, hurling insults, and making threats.

After watching the footage, one of the cops said seriously, "Because it's a family matter doesn't mean you can come over and cause trouble."

Raina flushed with embarrassment. "But I'm her mother-in-law."

"Doesn't matter. Mothers-in-law have to follow the law."

Charles stood off to the side, his face dark and tense.

I pulled out my phone. "Officer, I need to file another report. Last night, Charles reached out to my daughter and tried to get her to talk me into deleting the video I'm posting as part of the court order."

Charles whipped his head around to look at me. "Julia!"

The cop turned to him. "Calm down, okay?"

I didn't play the recording. I told them I had it saved.

The cop took notes and reminded both of us not to drag our kid into this mess.

Charles's face went from pale to flushed.

After they left, Lily came out of her room. Her eyes were red. "Does Grandma hate me?"

I crouched down to Lily's level. "No, sweetheart, she doesn't hate you."

Lily looked up at me, her eyes searching.

I hesitated, and then corrected myself. "She made a mistake, but that's on her, not you."

Lily nodded slowly.

After I got her to sleep, I sat back down in front of the camera.

That night, my voice was steadier than it had been the past two days. "It's the third day, and I'm continuing my apology."

After I finished going through the hotel records, I took a brief pause. "Let me state once again. All of this information comes directly from the court documents. Children shouldn't be caught up in adult disputes."

After I posted the video, the comments section was quiet for a few minutes.

Then, someone finally sent comments. [She's protecting her child.]

I turned off the screen.

For the first time, it hit me that this battle wasn't just about me.