Let Me Love You Again
Chapter 94

Nate

We walked into the social worker’s building, Maya and I were holding hands, while in front of us was my father with Zeke and Chris who would be our legal representatives.

Maya wore a pair of dark glasses and walked silently beside me, almost as if she wanted to hold onto me and support me when I couldn’t do it with myself.

“Do you know if Axel is here?” I asked Zeke and Chris.

“He should be in the building, I don’t know where. Lucas said social workers took him from the group home and brought him here,” Chris said, clutching his briefcase.

I clenched my teeth and Maya’s hand as we headed for the elevator.

“When you see Brad, don’t say a word, don’t complicate things, let us talk to his lawyer and the judge, okay?” Zeke said once the doors closed.

I sighed and leaned against the elevator wall, closing my eyes.

“I don’t know if I can keep from smashing his face in,” I admitted.

“The situation is quite delicate already this way, do not complicate things even more,” my father said.

Maya put her forehead on my chest, “Please Nate,” she said in a whisper.

I sighed and kissed her on the forehead. The moment the elevator doors opened, we all walked out, and I grabbed Maya’s hand again and pulled her behind me. At that moment, I had one goal: to get my son back.

But I knew that in order to get it all out, I had to be rational and use my head. I couldn’t afford to give in, I couldn’t afford to reason with my heart, and I had to make sure that something like this never happened again.

A lady pointed us to a room and we went in that direction.

Zeke and Chris walked in first, right after they walked in my dad and then me and Maya. We both hung on the door, the room was rectangular and on the left side there was a window that filtered the sun’s rays and gave a wide view of the Philadelphia skyline; in the centre of the room, there was a dark wooden table, on one side there was sitting him. Brad.

Sitting next to his lawyer, they were whispering, while I wanted to smash his face. Maya squeezed my hand imperceptibly and I sighed and walked to the opposite places where he was sitting. I sat next to my father and Maya next to me.

I put my elbow on the armrest of the chair and my chin on my hand. I remained impassive, trying not to look at him in the slightest to prevent my nerves from blowing out.

Zeke and Chris pulled the paperwork out of their briefcases. We were all silent while we waited for the judge to arrive.

Maya looked down at her skirt as she continued to smooth it with her hand, avoiding anyone’s eyes. I put my hand on her thigh, trying to calm her down, even for a moment.

First to speak was the piece of s**t’s lawyer.

“I’m sorry to meet some of the best lawyers in the best firm in town under certain circumstances. I’d like to make it clear that it wasn’t my client’s intention to go through with this, and neither was I. That was definitely not the intention when we applied for a hearing from the judge,” the lawyer said.

“With all due respect, but we all know that in the cases with minors in between, the first to be called are social workers,” my father replied with an icy calm.

“The intention was not to take the child from Miss Sheppar”

“Mrs Dare” I corrected him with clenched teeth “And yet the child was taken from her” I added as icy as my father.

“I think it was all an unfortunate misunderstanding”

“Misunderstanding?” I said, “Pray that the child has no repercussions for all that he has experienced”.

“I didn’t want any of this to happen, I just wanted a chance and my rights,” the piece of s**t suddenly said.

“You lost your rights when you left,” Maya replied, looking up, “I already told you.”

“Not in the eyes of the law,” the a*****e replied.

“Even in the eyes of the law,” Chris said, slamming the file onto the table.

The a*****e and the lawyer frowned and answered when the room door opened and a man dressed in a suit and tie came in, followed by one of the women who had come to us to pick up Axel.

If a look could kill, the woman would have been dead already.

The man sat at the head of the table, and next to him the woman took place. The judge opened the file of the case and began to read.

“Good evening, gentlemen, I am Judge Brown. I have personally appointed myself to your case. I can assure you that the minor, Axel Dare, was cared for in one of the best family homes,” he began to say and felt Maya tighten the armrest of her chair. I put my hand on her thigh, trying to calm her down.

“This brings us to the first question,” Zeke began to say, “Why was the child taken from his parents, from his environment under a request not made by anyone and with the presence of a valid and signed adoption months ago?” said Zeke icy.

The judge sighed “Unfortunately the cases of minors are always very delicate. The first thing you try to do is safeguard the good of the child”

“And to do that, you take him away from his mother and feed him to strangers?” Chris intervened.

“I am aware that many times the methods of social workers are not always respected by public opinion, but I can assure you that you always look for the best for the child” replied the judge.

“Why was such a drastic measure taken when the documentation is in order?” asked Zeke again looking straight into the eyes of the judge.

“The adoption certificate was not yet available in the database, Miss Sheppar had no job, and since the request had been made for Maya Sheppar, the civil register was not consulted, so the worst was thought. I repeat it was all a big misunderstanding,” said the judge.

“What adoption certificate?” the piece of s**t’s lawyer intervened.

The judge pulled out some documents “The gentleman here present, Nathaniel Dare, husband of Mrs Maya Dare, adopted the baby Axel Sheppar, sharing custody with the lady and giving his name to the minor, Axel Dare” said the judge, passing the documents to the lawyer.

“Which can lead us to sue you for removing the child from his parents without any legal basis to do so, you can be prosecuted,” my father said with his hands crossed in front of his mouth.

The judge and the social worker swallowed.

“What does adoption mean in my case?” the dickhead intervened.

I looked at him icily.

“It means that you have no right to the child, either now or ever, you can’t claim even 5% of the custody and not even a deal for the split of parties, birthdays, or even child support. Nothing,” I said looking at him.

The a*****e gritted his teeth and looked at his lawyer, “Is that it?” he asked.

The lawyer nodded, “Adoption is open to challenge, in this case, it is the parents’ decision to decide whether or not you can see the child. They are not obliged to consent to your requests until he reaches the age of majority and can choose for himself”.

The piece of s**t put his hand on his face, “Can’t you do anything? Not even after Sheila’s case?”

I frowned, not knowing what he was talking about.

“You can ask for a review to see if they are appropriate for the child but, after this mistake, I believe that the necessary investigations have been made” replied the lawyer looking at the judge who nodded.

“The assistants were at Mr Dare’s house, they made the necessary checks and found that the environment is great and there are no problems,” said the judge.

“Where’s my son?” Maya suddenly asked.

“Mrs Dare a little patience we must first…” began to say the judge.

“Where’s my son,” she said with clenched teeth.

Never go up against a mother in search of her baby.