g between them, the way twins sometimes move in perfect, silent agreement.
⸻
Desiree smiled as though she’d already won, clearly expecting some small, tearful plea for reunification.
⸻
Milo faced the judge first.
Then he turned toward his mother.
He drew a deep breath.
⸻
“She only wants the money.”
⸻
The entire courtroom went completely silent.
⸻
Judge Alvarado sat forward slightly. “Young man, can you explain what you mean by that?”
⸻
Milo’s hands were shaking, but his voice stayed steady. “Three weeks ago, she was in our kitchen. She told Grandma to give her fifty-one percent of the tea company, or she’d take us out of state. Theo and I heard the whole thing through the doorway.”
⸻
Desiree’s composure cracked instantly, her attorney’s hand moving to her shoulder, though he clearly had no script prepared for exactly this moment.
⸻
“That’s not true,” Desiree said quickly. “He’s confused. He’s been coached.”
⸻
“I wasn’t coached,” Milo said, turning to face her directly for the first time since walking to the center of the room. “You said ‘give me fifty-one percent, and I’ll withdraw the case.’ Grandma said no. You said, ‘Say no, and I’ll take the boys out of state.’ I remember it exactly because Theo and I looked at each other the second you said it.”
⸻
Theo, beside him, finally spoke for the first time. “She hasn’t called us in ten years. Not one birthday. Not one Christmas. She showed up with a lawyer before she ever once asked how we were doing.”
⸻
Judge Alvarado turned to Desiree’s attorney. “Counselor, I’d like to hear a response to this allegation before we proceed any further.”
⸻
Desiree’s attorney requested a brief recess, conferring quietly with his client in the hallway outside for almost twenty minutes while the rest of us sat in tense, uncertain silence.
⸻
When they returned, his composure had shifted considerably, the confident framing from earlier in the hearing noticeably absent.
⸻
“Your Honor,” he said carefully, “my client would like to request a continuance to properly address these allegations.”
⸻
