Previously…
– Despite Rosie and Travis’s outrage that Molly and Brent had included Gabrielle in their secret wedding, the social worker testified that the entire event was aboveboard and Gabrielle did not appear affected.
– Rosie grew increasingly desperate not to lose custody of Gabrielle.
– Sabrina told off Robbie after finding out about the way he’d broken Christian’s heart. Robbie remained convinced that he could have a chance with Sabrina.

“Now, Mrs. Taylor… you were also charged with assault in the fourth degree, were you not?”

Inside the King’s Bay District Courthouse, Molly Taylor sits on the witness stand, dressed in a muted gray pantsuit with a plain white blouse underneath it. She wears minimal, tasteful jewelry, and her dark brown hair falls to just below her shoulders; the style choices she has made for today are very deliberate, meant to project exactly the right levels of seriousness and femininity. She knew that today, of all days, every aspect of her character would be under the greatest of scrutiny.

“Yes, I was,” she says. “The charges were dropped, however.”

Conrad Halston waits a few beats, casually pacing over the courtroom’s tired linoleum floor. Molly gazes out at the eyes watching the scene: Brent, seated behind the plaintiff’s table with their other attorney, his niece; Travis and Rosie, their bodies stiff with tension at the other table; their attorney, Jaimie Thompson, who appears ready to pounce; Tim and Claire, who clutch hands as they watch the testimony play out; and Paula, who appears ready to burst from the anxiety of the ongoing trial. Jason offered to come show support “in a totally neutral way,” as he put it, but Molly insisted that he go to work. The fewer bodies in this room, the better. That’s why she is also relieved that her sons are back on campus at King’s Bay University. And she can’t even bring herself to look over at Judge Barnett right now.

“But why were you charged in the first place?” Conrad asks, a hint of challenge to his voice that Molly knows is part of the routine. Nervous as she is, being on this stand discussing these events, she knows that Conrad and Elly were correct about being the ones to bring up these incidents first. This way, the judge’s initial perception of them will be from Molly’s perspective.

“I went to the hospital to try and talk with Dr. Longo about the night Gabrielle was born,” Molly explains. “Of course, at that point, I still thought I’d had a son who died at birth. But I wanted answers about all the gaps in the story of that day.”

“How did that result in fourth-degree assault charges?”

“Dr. Longo refused to speak with me,” Molly says. “And I… I fully admit that I lunged at him. I was so desperate to understand anything that happened on the day that our baby supposedly died.” Despite having rehearsed this testimony, Molly feels a very real surge of emotion swelling inside her as she recalls the anguish of that time. “It was not my finest moment, and it’s something I still regret. I was also suspended from my position at work because of that incident.”

At their table, Rosie leans over to Travis. Under her breath, she says, “This is all so calculated.”

Travis shrugs. All their preparation with Jaimie has made him aware of how weirdly choreographed so much of court proceedings are.

“We’ll get our turn,” he quietly replies to his wife.

“You were suspended from work?” Conrad says to Molly. “On what grounds?”

“I’m one of the most prominent executives at Objection Designs,” she explains. “The board decided that my charges would reflect negatively on the company’s image.”

“But those charges were dropped, you said?”

Molly nods. “After Dr. Longo died by suicide and had that note delivered to my husband and me, the whole thing was dropped. He had been the one pushing for charges.”

“Ah,” Conrad says, again taking his time by pacing a few steps back and forth in front of the witness stand. “Then, as far as the courts are concerned, your record no longer reflects that unfortunate incident?”

“That’s right. I regret losing my cool, but they were extreme circumstances, and I hope that the way it eventually resolved shows how out-of-the-ordinary it all was.”

Conrad offers her a reassuring smile. “Very well. Now, back to that note you received from Dr. Longo…”

Behind the plaintiff’s table, Brent glances over at Elly.

“She nailed that,” Elly reassures him as they settle in to continue watching the testimony.

—–

A gloomy sky hangs over the campus of King’s Bay University, portending the rainy fall and winter to come, even though students are just arriving back on campus for the new school year. Sabrina Gage zips up her red hoodie as she exits one of the academic buildings and sets out across campus for the parking structure.

“Sabrina! Wait!” a voice shouts from behind her.

Instinctively she turns, even as her mind is identifying the voice and telling her to run. Before she knows it, however, Robbie Wimbiscus is hurrying toward her.

“Hey,” he says, brow already furrowed in confusion.

“Hi,” she replies curtly. All she wants is for this interaction to be as short and painless as possible.

“Thought I’d see you in that Digital Editing class.”

Sabrina looks down and pushes a lock of her raven-colored hair out of her face. “I had to transfer out of that. Schedule stuff.”

“Oh. Bummer. I saw your name on that first e-mail the prof sent out and thought we might get the chance to work together. You know, now that some time has passed.”

Her head snaps up in shock. “Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, we had the whole summer to cool off, and–“

“Robbie, I want to make this as clear as I can,” she says, trembling at his sheer audacity. “I transferred out of that class — a class I really want to take, by the way — because I saw your name on that e-mail.”

“Okay, Sabrina. That’s a little dramatic. I know we had a disagreement–“

“Disagreement?” she shrieks, and out of the periphery of her vision, she sees a few heads turning to look at them.

Robbie holds up both of his palms. “See, this is what I wanted to avoid. You’re getting hysterical.”

“If you wanted to avoid it, why did you come running after me?”

He takes a single step back and looks around in an exaggerated fashion, swiveling his neck this way and that.

“You’re the one making this weird,” he says.

“Hey!” someone calls out, and within seconds, Christian Taylor has inserted himself between the two of them.

“What the F is going on here?” the sophomore asks, as Sabrina and Robbie stare one another down.

—–

When Conrad returns to his seat, his questioning of Molly concluded, Jaimie rises from her chair at the other table and strides slowly toward the front of the courtroom.

“I just have a few questions for you, Mrs. Taylor,” the attorney states.

Molly dips her head in an uneasy nod.

“In 2016, you stood trial for the murder of Philip Ragan. Is that correct?” Jaimie asks.

“Yes,” Molly says. “Like I said when my attorney was questioning me–“

Jaimie steamrolls right over the statement, continuing, “You were ultimately cleared of those charges and sentenced for a different crime, correct?”

“That’s correct.”

“What was that crime? And what sentence did you serve?”

“Perjury. In the second degree. I was fined $5,000, which I paid immediately, and served a year of probation, which I completed without incident.”

“Second-degree perjury… that’s a felony, isn’t it?”

Molly tries her best to control her reaction, not to show her frustration on her face. She and Conrad carefully choreographed their exchange to avoid mentioning this fact explicitly. Sure, the judge has access to it in the case files, but something about naming herself as a convicted felon in open court causes a jolt of fear inside Molly.

“Yes, and I regret my actions every day.” Molly’s eyes cut over toward Conrad, who gives her an encouraging look. “At the time, I felt so guilty that someone I’d been in a relationship with had hurt my family so badly. Philip Ragan killed my brother and my father. He nearly killed my niece. My mother shot him in a fit of grief. When I realized that she’d blacked the whole thing out… I made a spontaneous decision to take the blame so she wouldn’t have to suffer any worse than she already was. I know it was wrong — but I take full responsibility for a misguided choice to save my own mother.”

A long, uncertain moment passes as Jaimie seems to gather her thoughts. Molly braces for the worst.

“I think most of us can understand that kind of impulse,” Jaimie says, and Molly cannot help but react with visible surprise. The last thing she expected from the opposing counsel was even a veneer of compassion.

“You must have been stunned when you learned the truth about Philip,” Jaimie continues. “For someone you thought you knew so well to hurt your loved ones so terribly…”

She trails off, and Molly cannot help but fill the silence: “It was horrible. Yes.”

“I’m sure.” Jaimie stops walking and squares her body toward the witness stand. “You obviously had no idea about Philip’s secret identity, I presume.”

“Of course not!”

“And you and Philip were engaged. Is that correct?”

Molly feels a creeping sense of dread even as she answers, “Never officially. No.”

“But you had discussed marriage.”

“I… I suppose we had. Yes.”

“Had you been engaged before, Mrs. Taylor? To anyone besides your current husband?”

Molly’s eyes flare wide as she looks over at the plaintiff’s table. She sees Brent, Conrad, and Elly all staring back at her with grave expressions that she cannot quite decode. She knows that she cannot lie right now, but whatever Jaimie Thompson is planning, it feels bad.

“Um,” she begins, cautiously. “Once.”

“And who was your fiancé?” Jaimie asks.

“His name was Craig Simmons.” All Molly can discern from her husband and their attorneys at present is that she should answer only in facts, and as briefly as possible.

“But you and Mr. Simmons never married, from what I gather. What was the reason for that?”

Molly draws in a breath, as she feels her heartrate beginning to accelerate. “He… he passed away.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Jaimie says, but there is something gleaming behind her solemn expression that only amplifies Molly’s anxiety. “And I hate to ask you this, but how did he die?”

“He was… um…” Molly’s attention flickers around the courtroom, noticing the alarm on Paula’s face and the absolute sternness from both Rosie and Travis. “He was shot.”

“He was shot? I’m so sorry. Was the killing ever solved?” Jaimie asks.

“Objection!” Conrad declares, springing to his feet. “What is the relevance of this?”

“I’m attempting to establish Mrs. Taylor’s relationship history, which I’m sure you would agree is relevant to her judgment,” Jaimie says to the judge.

“Overruled,” Judge Barnett announces, and Conrad drops back into his chair.

“Mrs. Taylor,” Jaimie continues, “could you please describe for the court the circumstances under which your late fiancé was shot and killed?”

“He, um…” Molly swallows hard. “He had a… a mental break. He was shot by the police in the act of — of committing a crime.”

“What kind of crime?”

In the audience, Paula gasps and then leans forward to whisper to Brent.

“Where is this going?” Paula asks him in a hushed voice.

Brent clenches his jaw. “I don’t know.”

“Mrs. Taylor,” Jaimie says when Molly fails to respond, “was your first fiancé shot in the act of breaking into your home in order to harm you?”

The feeling of terror that was floating around Molly moments ago now solidifies into a cast, freezing her body. She realizes the trap that she has been walked into.

“Yes,” she says, knowing that she cannot lie about something that is on public record. “He was.”

—–

“Robbie, just leave her alone,” Christian says, exasperated. His black backpack hangs off his shoulders as he wheels around to block Robbie from getting any closer to Sabrina.

Robbie rolls his eyes. “Christian, this is adults’ business. Let us talk.”

“We have nothing to talk about,” Sabrina says, her hand held close to her mouth as if alarmed by her outburst. “Robbie, I don’t want to talk to you.”

Robbie’s angry gaze flips toward Christian. “Have you been running around bad-mouthing me?”

“I didn’t have to,” Christian says. “Sabrina’s with my uncle. And you freaked her out enough–“

“Cut it out,” Robbie interrupts him. “You’re being so over-dramatic for no reason.”

“Stop it,” Sabrina says, more forcefully than she usually speaks.

Both men look at her with surprise.

“You invented this entire relationship between you and me in your head,” she tells Robbie. “I was never interested. I’m– I’m with Jason. I didn’t want to go on a date with you. I wanted to make friends who had common interests, in a town where I don’t know a lot of people, still. And you made it really weird.”

After a charged moment, Robbie says, “You’re the one making it weird.”

“Just stop,” Christian says, punctuating the statement with a loud sigh.

Robbie shoots him a sharp look. “I’m sorry you got your feelings hurt, Christian. That’s a tough life lesson to learn. But this is between adults.”

“No, it’s not,” Sabrina interjects. “The only adults I see here are Christian and me.”

“Don’t get all conservative now that you know I hooked up with a guy,” Robbie says.

“I don’t care if you were — involved with someone of the same sex,” Sabrina says. “I care about the fact that it was my boyfriend’s nephew, who’s barely a legal adult, and you treated him like garbage, and you have refused to take no for an answer from me over and over.”

Robbie stares back at her for a long moment, his eyes gleaming with disdain.

“You have no idea what you’re missing out on,” he spits.

Christian takes Sabrina’s arm. “Let’s go,” he says.

“Yeah. Let’s,” she agrees, and she averts her gaze from Robbie’s efforts to lock eyes with her as Christian spirits her away.

“Are you okay?” Christian asks as they hurry across the quad.

“I’m fine. Thanks for jumping in there,” she says. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Christian says with a note of confidence rising through his words. “I’m fine. I’ll be totally fine.”

Back where they left him, Robbie seethes as he watches the pair disappear.

“You’re gonna regret being such a bitch,” he mutters.

—–

In the wake of Jaimie Thompson’s questioning about Philip Ragan and Craig Simmons, a tense, loaded silence has descended upon the courtroom. 

“Where is she going with this?” Brent whispers to Elly. “Is she trying to make Molly sound like some kind of…” He can’t bring himself to finish the thought.

The redheaded attorney bites her lower lip for a moment before replying to her uncle, “She’s trying to prove that Molly isn’t a good judge of character, from what I can tell.”

They continue observing as Jaimie resumes her questioning.

“So,” she says, “you’ve been involved with two men who turned out to be homicidal maniacs?”

Conrad pops out of his seat. “Objection. Your Honor, counsel is using inflammatory language to make light of serious traumas that Mrs. Taylor has experienced.”

Judge Barnett’s thick, gray brows shrug as he contemplates this objection. 

“Your Honor, I’ll reword,” Jaimie says. “I promise this is relevant.”

The judge gestures for her to go on.

“Mrs. Taylor,” Jaimie then says, “you’ve been involved with not one, but two men who exhibited dangerous criminal tendencies?”

Molly gulps. “I wasn’t aware that Philip or Craig were… that they harbored those tendencies until after I’d become involved with them. I never would have gotten close to either of them had I known.”

“Very well.” Jaimie’s black pumps clack against the courtroom floor as she paces. “Is there anyone else relevant to this case whom you’ve been involved with?”

Confused, Molly hesitates before saying, “My husband, obviously.”

“Of course. Anyone else?”

“Objection,” Conrad declares again, standing as the word darts out of his mouth. “Relevance.”

“Your Honor, this is directly relevant,” Jaimie says, and then she turns back to Molly. “I’ll cut to the chase. You have a history with the late Eric Westin, don’t you?”

“What the hell?” Elly mutters behind the plaintiffs’ table. 

“I dated him very briefly. A long time ago,” Molly answers. “I wouldn’t even say dated, really. I went out with him. It was never a relationship–”

“But you did spend time with him on a personal level,” Jaimie says.

Molly purses her lips before offering a terse, “Yes. Briefly. A long, long time ago.”

In the audience, Claire leans over toward Tim and asks, in a hushed voice, “What does Molly dating Eric have to do with this?”

“I’m not sure,” he admits.

“Would you please remind the court of the role Mr. Westin played in the case we’re discussing today?” Jaimie asks.

Molly shoots a desperate look over at Brent, Conrad, and Elly, but they are unable to convey much in response.

“He kidnapped my daughter — Gabrielle — and Rosie Jimenez,” Molly says, gesturing toward the other party’s table. “I don’t know. It’s very confusing. My husband had a confrontation with him in that house before it exploded.”

“But it was never discovered why Eric Westin did what he did?” Jaimie presses. “Why he kidnapped a woman and child he had no connection to?”

Molly shakes her head warily.

“It stands to reason, then, that there must have been some connection between Eric Westin and poor Rosie and Gabrielle, right?”

“Objection!” Conrad cries out. “Leading the witness.”

Judge Barnett frowns but then raps his gavel. “Sustained.”

“Mrs. Taylor,” Jaimie goes on without pause, “has it ever been proven who hired Eric Westin to commit those kidnappings?”

Molly feels a hot ball of rage burning with herself. 

In the audience, Paula touches a hand to her chest. “This is madness,” she says to herself.

“No,” Molly manages to say.

“No further questions,” Jaimie says, before returning to the table where her clients are seated. Brent and Molly’s eyes fire daggers toward Rosie and Travis as the implications of what just transpired sink in.

END OF EPISODE 1196

Did Jaimie’s insinuations go too far?
Will Molly and Brent’s case take a hit?
Could Robbie become dangerous?
Discuss it all in the comments below!

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