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Mason’s face was a furious mask as the audio played. “Objection!” Basil stood up. “No one informed us that this evidence would be presented! You can’t accept it!” “The order just came,” Gazca smiled, showing the judge a document where the experts confirmed the authenticity of the voice message, and which had been signed only ten minutes before. The judge took the document and read it thoroughly. Then he turned to Gazca. “Counsel, please play the audio again.” Gazca didn’t make him repeat it, and a second later everyone was listening to it again. “You fucking bitch! Are you fucking him!? Are you fucking that bastard right now, Andrea!? Did you forget what happens when you provoke me, bitch!? Do you want me to send the brat back to the hospital!? Huh!? Is that what you want!?” “Last time I only gave her some bad milk, but who knows what I’ll come up with now! I told you, you can’t get away from me! You’re never going to get away from me, because if you try, your brat is the one who’s going to suffer the consequences! Did you hear me!? Are you listening to me, bitch!?…” When the audio ended, the judge’s expression was grim. “Did you really do that? Did you make your daughter sick to manipulate Mrs. Brand?” he questioned Mason himself. “Of course not!… That’s false, it’s a manipulated audio!” Mason growled. “Don’t make me look like a fool, Mr. Lee, our experts have just confirmed that it’s a real audio and that’s your voice,” His Honor declared. Thank you for reading on LeeNovelas.com. “Well… they forced me. They threatened me to say that… I feared for my life!” Mason exclaimed, giving one last desperate kick. It was obvious that the judge didn’t believe any of that, but he still turned to Mr. Gazca, because he assumed that he had to have a defense for that. “The court experts determined through the message that was sent from Mr. Lee’s cell phone, that he was on the steps of the courthouse at that time,” Gazca smiled. “There are three cameras on the street that captured it, and none of them show Mr. Lee being threatened. Angry, yes, but not threatened.” The judge reviewed those photos with the date and time, and then looked at Mason. “Anything you want to add, Mr. Lee?” “Of course. Andrea is my wife and Adriana is my daughter, no one can take that right away from me. Remember. Read this novel only at LeeNovelas.com, not on other sites.” The silence became absolute in the room and then the judge spoke: “This court will take half an hour to deliberate.” Everyone left the room and Zack took charge of keeping Andrea and Adriana well away from Mason. They saw him gesticulating and arguing with his lawyer, but Basil Gagnon knew that he had no more aces up his sleeve. His entire strategy had been based on the fact that Andrea was a helpless woman, and he had already proven that this was not the case. However, it took more than half an hour for the session to resume.They were all on alert when the door opened an hour later and a guard called them back into the courtroom. They were all there, anxiously awaiting the final decision. The judge sat down in his chair and looked at everyone before delivering his ruling. “I have rarely had to hand down a ruling like this in my professional life, but I have just been in contact with the hospital that treated the minor and it has already been established that Mr. Mason Lee is a threat to the health of your daughter,” he declared. Zack took Andrea’s hand and squeezed it tightly. “Therefore, this court decides to remove Mason Lee from all parental rights related to the minor Andrea Brand. His parental rights, visitation rights, and recognition rights are hereby terminated. This court will immediately place a restraining order against both Mrs. Andrea Brand and her daughter Adriana Brand, and any further appeals to this ruling will be denied.” Andrea and Zack hugged each other tightly, relieved and happy, until they heard those screams. —You can’t do that to me! — Mason shouted, standing up. — I want another judge and a less useless lawyer! — he yelled, and the judge made a signal to the court guards. — Mr. Lee! — the judge exclaimed in a thunderous voice. — You will still have to face the charges that a prosecutor decides to file against you for harming the child’s health, or those that the lady’s lawyer files against you for attempted sexual abuse. So I recommend that you shut up and start saving for your next trial. Andrea turned to Zack and hugged him over the railing that separated her from the public. — We did it! — she whispered, and then looking at Gazca she added with a smile: Thank you. The lawyer smiled back and said: — You should know that this was not my doing. You two deserve credit for having the courage to fight against all odds and come out victorious. The two looked at each other in silence for a moment, unable to express their feelings but sharing that happiness as Zack brought his face closer to Andrea’s until their lips met in a kiss. “I love you,” she whispered as they hugged. “I love you too,” Zack replied. “We have our baby back now, and I won’t let anything or anyone separate us again.” Zack hugged her tighter, whispering in her ear how much he loved them, and sharing all the relief they felt at that moment. “God, I can’t believe it!” Andrea murmured as Milo brought Adriana to her and she held her while Zack hugged them. “I can’t believe no one will ever take her away from us again!” Zack kissed the baby and her brothers hugged them, congratulating them. “Fifteen days. That’s all we need for the sentence to be legally established and for all the new documents for Adriana to be given to you,” Gazca told them. “I’ll try to have everything ready as soon as possible.”Zack shook his hand in thanks and they all left the courthouse, but they were barely out on the street when Mason pushed his way through the crowd surrounding the building. “You won’t get rid of me that easily!” Mason shouted hatefully. “I swear I’ll get my revenge! This wasn’t my last word!” They both looked horrified at the man who had caused Andrea so much pain, but Zack just stood in front of her and the girl to stop her from getting closer.”Mason,” she said in a firm, unwavering voice, “the court has issued its verdict and you must abide by it. I remind you that we have a restraining order against you, so you better stay fifty meters away or I won’t answer.” As Basil Gagnon led Mason away, Andrea instinctively hugged Zack and he held her tight. They both knew that the man was dangerous and that he was willing to do anything to get his revenge, but Zack was no dove and he wasn’t going to let him hurt them ever again. “I don’t know how we got to this,” Andrea sighed. “Mason is behaving like a psychopath, what he was capable of doing to Adriana… that’s not normal… he can’t be right in the head.” “That’s why we’re going to leave,” Zack said. “We have to get away for a while, until everything calms down, Cupcake. In fifteen days we’ll have Adriana’s new documents and we’ll be able to take her back to Switzerland.” We can stay there for a while with my family until things calm down. Andrea didn’t want to leave work at that moment, but Adriana came first, and if she was honest she was very afraid of what Mason might do. “Okay. I know Mr. Nikola will love to see Adriana,” she replied and Zack sighed in relief. “Well, my love, now that we have custody of the baby, we are going to do something extremely important.” “What?” Andrea asked curiously. “Celebrate!” And indeed, by eight o’clock in the evening Andrea found a cocktail dress on her bed. She dressed and got ready and went out to replace all the Keller boys and Ben very willing. They took the children and headed to a beautiful restaurant in the center of the city. They were given a small room reserved just for them and enjoyed a wonderful night, full of laughter and funny anecdotes, delicious food and refreshing drinks. The kids soon fell asleep in their strollers and Andrea stepped out onto the balcony to get some fresh air as she watched Zack. He was also dressed for the occasion, in a perfectly fitted black suit and a crisp white shirt. He approached her from behind and put his hands on her shoulders. “Sweetheart, I need to talk to you about something very serious,” he said and she gave him her full attention. “I know this is something you’re reluctant to do, but we’ve been through some really tough things the past few days and the truth… the truth is I’m really scared of losing you.” “Zack…” “I know, maybe it’s just my insecurity but this… this would give my heart a lot of peace,” she said, taking a small box out of her pocket and showing him the same ring he had proposed to her with the last time. “Don’t tell me no, because this time I’m asking you seriously. And it doesn’t matter if we spend the rest of our lives just engaged… but tell me yes. Please, love, tell me yes!”