Soon rumors spread across town with cruel speed because people whispered that I was a gold digger who had manipulated an old man for property. Fortunately many neighbors who had known Harold for years refused to stay silent and began collecting letters, photographs, and personal stories that proved how clear minded he had been when he chose to marry me.
At the court hearing my attorney presented a video that Harold had recorded months earlier while sitting in his favorite armchair near the patio.
His voice filled the courtroom speakers as he spoke calmly.
“I married her because I wanted to and that child is my son because I decided he would be part of my family,” he said firmly. “I did not come into this world to leave money behind because I came here to leave love and a family.”
The judge announced that the final ruling would be delivered two weeks later, and those fourteen days felt longer than any period of my life because I lived with the constant fear that the house could be taken and my son might even lose his father’s last name. On the night before the verdict I received an anonymous phone call from someone who refused to identify himself.