Diana tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the trial to begin.

She couldn't wait to see the bastard go behind bars and get the punishment he deserved. With the case of abuse she filed against him in addition to his charges of fraud levied against him by his partners, Michael was sure to be put away for quite some time. She was relieved to be honest, he had put she and Benjy through so much, his present ordeal only seemed befitting.

She had refused that Benjamin attend the trial. Despite the ass Michael was, he was still the boys father and no matter how much he neglected Benjy, he was always going to be her little boys hero. The judge entered the courtroom and Diana dutifully rose and sat back down. A few moments later, her crazy ex-husband was brought into the courtroom. The rest of the trial went by in a blur. While her lawyer was busy battling her case, she was staring at Michael with all the hate she could muster. Michael was given 18 months jail time.

Hell yeah!

Diana thanked her lawyer and walked out of that courthouse a free woman.

She quickly hailed a cab and made her way to her condo unit.

Ever since the divorce, Diana had moved out of the mansion she shared with her husband. She walked through the door and heard Benjy and her best friend Stelly in the kitchen.

"Stelly?", she called

"Momma", Benjy squealed, " Where did you go? "

"Um... Momma had to go take care of some very important stuff baby", Diana replied

" Hey Benjy, why don't you go play with your legos and let your momma and I make dinner, ok?".

"Ok Aunt Stelly. Bye momma", with that he ran off into his room.

Diana took a seat at the counter while Stelly stirred her famous soup.

" So how did it go? ", Stelly asked, " I hope the sick prick got some good jail time "

"18 months", Diana replied

Stelly nodded, " It's not much but it's something "

"At least he can't hurt you again", Stelly said

"Yeah"

"You're so strong D. Most people would have given up but you fought and got you and your baby out of there"

"Thanks Stels", She said with a grateful smile. Her friends words helped to greatly uplift her spirit.

"Btw, your dad called. Said he needed to see you in his office. Apparently he has a business proposition for you", Stelly said, " What do you think he wants this time?"

Diana thought about her words. Her father was not a kind man. Very far from it actually, so him wanting to meet up with her could not be good news. . I only hoped I would be able to brave whatever it was. "Honestly Stels, I don't care. I let him rule me for so long. I practically gave him the go ahead to ruin my life. But not anymore. I don't care what he has to say to me or who he wants to sell me to this time. I just give a f*ck anymore"

"So you're not gonna go?", she asked

" I am, but just to prove to him that he doesn't rule me anymore, that even though he ruined my life I still came out alive. I wanna prove that I'm the one thing he never wanted me to be, that I'm free"

**********

😘