"As long as greed is stronger than compassion, there will always be suffering." Rusty Eric

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XXXVI. Money Talks

Noah had never been more afraid in his life than when Sophie had called him in tears. Never could he have imagined what she was to say, and in that moment, and the days after, Noah could have killed Beck with his bare hands.

Who the hell did he think he was to put an innocent woman through something so cruel? What the hell was he getting out of it? He certainly didn't want Maddie, so what was the reward?

Noah had asked his attorney for the best family lawyer in the UK. He had recommended Olivia Hayes. She was a cutthroat shark, apparently, and often represented celebrities in their divorces and custody battles. She charged five hundred pounds and hour, and Noah was happy to pay whatever to ensure that Sophie went through this experience entirely unscathed.

Despite being frustrated that his mom, Tally and Vanessa coming had held him up at LAX, he was glad that the noise they created was a distraction for Sophie. Tally was even taking vacation days to be there for Sophie, not that Noah expected anything less of his sister.

Joy had wanted to take Sophie out for dinner the following evening, to treat her after her ordeal, but Sophie had to work. It came as a shock to Joy just how much Sophie did indeed work.

"Double shifts five days a week, and night shifts on weekends," Noah told his mom in their suite at The Savoy.

Vanessa had been papped at Maddie's school the day before, so instead of babysitting at Sophie's flat, Maddie was hanging out in their hotel room. The three were in Tally and Vanessa's bedroom watching a movie. Maddie's choice, of course. She was the first kid either of them had cared for together, even if it was only babysitting. While Tally taught all day, she'd never been responsible for a kid properly before.

They were enjoying it, and Noah was confident they would be good moms one day.

Joy's eyes went from the closed bedroom door back to Noah. "What about the song from the movie?" she asked. "Isn't she getting paid for that?"

"Of course," confirmed Noah. "But I negotiated a contract based on box office royalties, streaming and downloads. She'll get a much more lucrative cut that way."

Joy nodded in understanding. "Well, can't you help her out in the meantime?" she asked. "The poor thing shouldn't have to be working herself to the bone."

Noah stared at his mother, honestly annoyed that she thought he honestly didn't care enough to help. "Jesus, Mom, your faith in me is heart-warming," he said sarcastically. "Sophie's been on her own since she was nearly eighteen. She's taken care of Maddie by herself all these years, finding a way to pay for her therapy and everything. She's proud, and not at all in a bad way. I respect her work ethic, her integrity ... honestly, it's part of what made me fall in love with her."

Joy conceded. "Fair enough," she granted. "It just hurts me to think that she's having to work all these hours with this on her mind ... meanwhile that rat bastard is probably getting drunk on lite beer with his loser friends, laughing about this whole thing. Honestly, how his mother could let her son disrespect a woman in this way is beyond me. I'll tell you something, Noah, if this were you, you wouldn't survive a goddamn walloping from me."

Noah gritted his teeth. "He is a fucking asshole," he seethed. "What he's put Sophie through all these years ... to do this now?"

"Ordinarily I'd be asking you to mind your language, honey, but in these circumstances, I think it's necessary," Joy allowed, shaking her head.

"What kills me is that this is all my fault." There was a huge pile of guilt in the pit of Noah's stomach, knowing that Sophie was going through all of this because he was in her life. The look in her brown eyes as she told him she was terrified was enough to slowly bleed him to death. She was terrified, because at the end of the day, she'd been charged with a fucking crime.

One that A: she wouldn't have committed had he not flown her to the States.

And B: she wouldn't have committed had they not been together.

But the guilt didn't take away his logic. He knew that he and Sophie had a right to be together. They were free adults who could do whatever they wanted. Sophie hadn't had a boyfriend since Beck, and he saw it as a privilege to be in hers and Maddie's lives.

"Oh, sweetheart, it's Beck's fault ... what else would a moron with a name like that do with his time except for try to ruin his ex-girlfriend's life with her wonderful, handsome new man?"

Noah scoffed, feeling like he did on prom night when his mom tried to give him a self-esteem pep talk. "Mom, I'm not feeling insecure," he retorted. "But fucked if I'm going to sit here and bitch when I could be going out there and fixing this." He got to his feet abruptly, and Joy followed suit with a shocked look on her face.

"What do you mean?" she demanded to know.

"I mean I'm going to go and talk to Beck and find out what the fuck he wants from Sophie and find the most painful way to give it to him," snapped Noah.

"Are you insane?" Joy demanded to know, latching onto Noah's forearm. "I thank God I came with you, because I think I was meant to stop you from doing anything so royally stupid!"

Noah sneered angrily. "The guy's problem is with me, Mom. I'm going to go and fix it." He shook her off of his arm and started towards the door.

"And what if this hurts Sophie's case, huh?" challenged Joy as she darted after him.

"Sure as hell can't make it any worse." Noah grabbed his wallet and the hotel key from the hall table and left the suite, slamming the door behind him.

***

Noah had a copy of the custody form thanks to the fact that he was the one being billed for Olivia's time. This meant that he had a copy of Beck's address. He was sure that he looked like an absolute nutcase on the train, but he didn't care.

Beck lived in a grotty looking flat in South London on the lower level in a terraced house, on a street where they all looked the same. Noah marched straight up to the door as soon as he saw the right number and he pounded on it three times with his fist.

Noah could hear the faint sound of a soccer game on the TV inside the apartment, and the faint noise of squeaking floorboards as someone crossed a floor.

The front door to Beck's place opened, but it wasn't Beck who stood at the door, but one of his friends. Noah recognised him as someone who used to frequent Pete's with Beck.

He was wearing a stained t-shirt and a stupid look on his face. "What do you want?" he asked, his words slurring a little, evidently drunk by the beer he held in his hand.

"I want to speak with Beck," Noah said firmly. "Is he here?" he demanded to know.

His friend nodded and turned his head. "Oi, Beck!" he shouted over his shoulder, before he left the entry, leaving the door wide open. Noah didn't enter, though.

Beck emerged from somewhere within the apartment, probably also watching the game as he wore casual, dirty clothes, and was carrying a beer. He rested it on the front window ledge as he folded his arms across his chest, a smug smile teasing at his lips.

Noah wanted to punch it right off of him.

"Came running, did you?" he taunted.

Noah wouldn't be goaded. "Why do you want custody of Maddie so badly?" he demanded to know. "All of a sudden, why?"

"She's my kid," retorted Beck. "Not yours. Whether you like it or not, Maddie is mine, made by me and Soph."

"Yes, I took middle school sex-ed," you fucking moron, Noah neglected to add, "I'm well aware how a kid is conceived." Even though he'd never admit it, he really didn't want to picture Sophie and this dick for brains together. "My question is why now? Why do you want to be involved?"

Beck scoffed. "You just don't like that Soph is always going to be tied to me. No matter what you do, you'll know I got there first."

Oh, now Noah was really going to punch him. What the fuck did he want to do, piss on Sophie? Did he really want to mark his territory that badly?

"Do you not understand that this is Sophie's life that you're screwing with?" Noah asked in disbelief. "This isn't a game. This isn't something to do to get back at her, or me. Do you get that?"

Beck rolled his eyes and stepped down onto the front path, puffing up his chest to mask the fact that Noah was a head taller than him. "I have rights," he sneered. "Rights to my kid, and rights to her mum."

It took every ounce of self-restraint that Noah had to keep his fist balled at his side. "You don't have rights to Sophie," he said sharply. "You never did. You can't have a right to a woman, and if you think that way, you're never going to find someone to fucking tolerate you. Furthermore, if you wanted to have rights to Maddie, then you would have made an effort to be in her life from the day she was born, not from when I became involved in her life.

"There's no such thing as a part time dad. A real dad shows up to the point where his reliability is boring and predictable."

Noah was still angry, but he honestly felt like he was the first man to have this discussion with Beck. His own father certainly hadn't, and he honestly couldn't fathom why this guy didn't see it.

But Beck was either too stubborn, or too damn dense to see Noah's point. Instead, he laughed. "You ride your white horse all you want, mate. Doesn't change the fact that Maddie is my blood, and not yours. I'll get what I'm owed, and you can't do a thing to stop it. Soph will see me all the time ... and you know what's going to happen when she's coming round here ..." he taunted again.

Noah's eyes narrowed. "Okay, you want to talk rights, what's owed?" he clapped back. "How much do you make a year? About thirty-five grand?"

He'd gotten Beck's attention instantly the moment he'd started to talk about money. "How the fuck do you know that?" he growled.

"My lawyer is more expensive than yours," Noah snapped. "You've been paying Sophie two hundred pounds a month since Maddie was born ... but based on your annual salary, and the fact that Sophie has retained one hundred percent residential custody of Maddie since the day she was brought home from the hospital, you owe her ... oh, about three hundred and fifty-eight pounds and seventy-two pence a month."

And Beck took a step back as his eyes widened with shock. "What?" he gasped. "Three hundred and fifty-eight quid?"

"And seventy-two pence, don't forget that," said Noah curtly. "But that's not all, if my math is correct, and I'm fairly certain it is, Maddie is a hundred and two months old. A hundred and two times by two hundred is twenty-thousand, four hundred pounds. Not too bad." Noah nodded. "But considering you were grossly underpaying Sophie for Maddie's maintenance all these years, if you were paying the correct amount, you would have paid Sophie thirty-six thousand, five hundred and eight-nine pounds and forty-four pence."

Sophie had shown Noah the little dossier that the lawyer had prepared last night. Noah thanked God that this shark lawyer had been so thorough so quickly. She really was worth every cent.

"If I'm not mistaken, that's a difference of sixteen thousand, one hundred and eighty-nine pounds and forty-four pence. Will that be cash or credit?"

"Are you fucking mad?" Beck yelled, almost panting as such a colossal sum filled his head with panic.

"But ... she'syours, isn't she?" Noah said innocently, honestly being a teasing little shit in that moment. "You have rights ... obligations to pay for her maintenance ... and you can bet your ass that if you do anything other than be a fuckingangel to Sophie throughout these proceedings that I will sue you for every damn dime."

Beck owned his flat, but it was mortgaged to the hilt. He couldn't afford the additional maintenance, let alone a lump sum payment like that. He again could thank Olivia for her thorough work.

Beck was backed into a corner, and Noah could see the panic in his eyes as he tried to figure a way out. And Noah could hand it to him.

"Look, you and I both know that you don't want custody. You never wanted a kid, and I'm going to give you a way out. First, you need to accept that you and Sophie are never going to happen again. She's moved on, and you damned well need to have enough respect to let her. Second, Sophie's criminal charges," Noah clenched his teeth, visually knocking this guy's two front teeth out, "will be dismissed by the judge. So, when you both are in mediation, you are going to sign a document that excuses you from all parental responsibility, giving Sophie total authority, and you no financial obligation. No future maintenance, and you're off the hook for the sixteen grand."

Beck's face became neutral as he listened.

Could Noah push his luck? "If you contact your lawyer tomorrow and withdraw the C100 form and sign that agreement then and there ... I will pay your legal bills." Was it bribery? Probably. Was Beck greedy enough to take it? Fucking hopefully.

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Hope you enjoyed it!! 

It was announced today we're going back into lockdown. I'm freaking devastated. School holidays have been extended for a week to give teachers time to plan for remote learning should it go back to that. Can I ask all of you to cross your fingers and toes that doesn't happen!! I don't think my mental health could take remote learning again. It was the most mentally, physically draining thing I've ever done, and I'd miss my kids so damn much. 

What sucks is that my area has THREE active cases. And where I teach only has ONE!! And the whole bloody state has been locked down again for six weeks. And people have gone crazy panic buying again ...

I know I shouldn't be complaining when I see the numbers in the United States, and I know a lot of my readers come from there and know that I am thinking of you guys, and especially the front line workers. 

On top of that, today is the 7 year anniversary of my Bella passing away. I had a bit of a cry today, as I still love all my babies, even those who have passed on. I still look back on my author's notes  where I've written about them, and when I post this, I'll be going to the Epilogue of Becoming Jane where I wrote about Bella. Hug your little animals! Bella was only 4 and illness can come quick.

Vote and comment xx