Chapter Twenty-Three
Jinnie
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“Y OU CAN HAVE A SEAT ,” the judge says to me.
I nod. I’m not sure if I can stand. My legs feel like limp noodles. But I do. I keep my chin up as I walk back to the table. I don’t even look at Sam. He can kiss my ass. I hate that I had to say all of that in front of Jack and the other people I don’t know sitting in the gallery. I’m humiliated. Ashamed. Having to actually admit to getting played by Sam guts me.
It’s the truth that I’ve long accepted, but it doesn’t make it any easier. Jack is looking at me when I finally meet his eyes. He doesn’t smile. But I can see the anger burning there. I love that he tried to stand up and defend me. It was sweet. It tells me he’s in my corner.
I sit down and face forward.
“I’d like to call Sam Crawford to testify,” his attorney says.
I don’t know why I’m surprised when Sam walks to the witness stand like he owns the room. He straightens his stupid navy blazer, adjusts his tie, and flashes that smile that makes him look like a used car salesman. I want to laugh. Or roll my eyes. Or both. But I keep my face neutral and my hands folded tightly in my lap.
That stupid smile worked on me. I’m not proud of it, but I can see it for what it is now.
“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?” the clerk asks.
“I do,” Sam says, clear as day.
I don’t scoff out loud, but the noise I make in my head is deafening.
He doesn’t know the meaning of the word truth.
His lawyer starts her questions.
“Mr. Crawford,” she says like he’s talking to a wounded puppy, “can you tell the court what led you to enter into a marriage with Ms. Parker?”
Sam’s chin lifts slightly. “I fell in love with her.”
What the hell? I almost choke. I want to throw something. Or possibly throw up. He looks at the judge with this pathetic little frown, like this is a Lifetime movie and he’s the misunderstood male lead.
“I gave up a lot to be with Jinnie,” he continues, gaze flicking toward me with this faux sincerity that makes my stomach twist. “I walked away from a startup business. It was doing well, had traction, but I couldn’t focus on both. I wanted to be there for her. Start our life together. I knew a long-distance relationship wouldn’t work. I left my studies, my business, and my friends to move to be here with her. Jinnie was... needy. She says I was always attentive. I was. That’s what she needed. If I didn’t text for an hour, she’d get it in her head I was leaving her.”
I feel like I’m going to be sick. My stomach churns as Sam speaks, his voice dripping with this fake sincerity that makes my skin crawl. He’s painting himself as the victim here—the selfless hero who gave up everything for me. And I can see it working. The judge’s expression is neutral, but I can feel the room shifting, the way people are looking at him like he’s some kind of martyr.
“Jinnie was... complex,” he says, his tone softening like he’s trying to sound understanding. “She needed a lot of reassurance. I thought I could give her that. I thought if I showed her how much I cared, how committed I was, she’d feel secure. But no matter what I did, it wasn’t enough.”
I clench my fists under the table, my nails digging into my palms. He’s twisting everything. Making it sound like I was the unstable one, the needy one, while he was just trying to save me from myself. My chest tightens, and I have to remind myself to breathe.
“The wedding... it wasn’t part of the plan,” he continues, shaking his head like he’s still baffled by it all. “But Jinnie wanted it. She said if we didn’t get married, she wasn’t sure she could trust me. She said she needed that commitment to feel safe.”
My jaw drops open slightly, but I snap it shut before anyone notices. That’s not how it happened at all. He’s lying. Straight-up lying. I wanted to slow things down, to figure out what we were doing. But he kept pushing, kept insisting that marriage was the only way to prove how serious he was. I felt trapped, like if I said no, he’d leave, and I’d be the one to blame. Now, hearing him spin it like this, like it was all my idea, makes me want to scream.
“And after the wedding?” his lawyer prompts, her voice dripping with false sympathy.
Sam sighs, running a hand through his hair like he’s carrying the weight of the world. “Things were good at first. We were happy. But then she started pulling away. She’d get distant, and when I tried to talk to her about it, she’d shut down. She didn’t want to meet my friends or family. She even started avoiding hers. I didn’t understand it. I thought maybe she was having second thoughts about us.
“And then there was the property,” Sam continues, his tone shifting slightly, like he’s stepping into dangerous territory but trying to sound casual about it. “Her parents have this land—a lot of land—and Jinnie talked about it constantly. She said it would be hers someday and that we could build our future there. I mean, who wouldn’t want that? A place to settle down, start a family... But when I brought up the idea of taking over the property, she got defensive. She said it wasn’t hers to give. I thought maybe she was testing me, seeing if I was in it for her or the land.”
I can hardly believe what I’m hearing. This isn’t just a lie—it’s a full-on rewrite of history. Did he not just take an oath? I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from shouting at him. He’s making it sound like I was the one obsessed with the land, like I dangled it in front of him as some kind of prize. The truth is, he brought it up constantly, always prying about my parents’ finances, their plans for the property, how much it was worth. But now he’s flipping the script, and it’s infuriating.
“I tried to make it work,” Sam says, his voice cracking just enough to make it sound convincing. “I really did. But Jinnie, she just kept pushing me away. She started accusing me of using her, of only being interested in her family’s land. I didn’t know what to do. I felt like no matter how much I loved her, it wasn’t enough.”
His lawyer nods sympathetically before turning back to him. “And when did you decide to leave?”
Sam hesitates for a moment and looks down at his hands as if he’s struggling with the memory. “When I realized it was never going to work. It was the hardest decision of my life. I gave up everything to be with her. I had nothing to return to, but I knew my happiness was on the line.”
I glance sideways at Jack. He looks like he’s trying to hold back a snort.
The attorney nods solemnly. “So, would you say you suffered financial hardship as a result of this relationship?”
“Yes,” Sam says simply. “I made sacrifices for love.”
It takes everything in me not to leap to my feet and call him names.
“That’s all I have,” his lawyer says.
Mr. Langley is already getting to his feet. He approaches the bench. He straightens his cuffs, stepping up like he’s been waiting all day for this moment.
“That was quite the story,” Mr. Langley says.
“It’s what happened,” Sam says.
“I have a few questions.”
Sam shifts in the witness seat. For the first time since he sat down, he doesn’t look so smug.
“Mr. Crawford, you say you gave up a business. Could you provide the name of this business?”
“Uh,” Sam fumbles, eyes darting. “It didn’t really have a formal name yet. We were still in development.”
“Was this business registered with the state?”
“No, but—”
“Any proof of income? A business plan? Partners?”
Sam swallows. “No. But I—”
“So to clarify,” my lawyer says, pacing now, “you gave up something that didn’t legally or professionally exist?”
Sam’s jaw tightens. “It was going to exist.”
“Right. A business you never filed for, never made money from, and can’t document.”
The courtroom is dead silent. I sit up straighter.
“And this sacrifice, was made out of love?”
Sam nods, slowly. “Yes.”
“Interesting.” My lawyer stops in front of the judge. “Because I have evidence that while Mr. Crawford claims to have been head-over-heels in love with my client, he was also married to someone else.”
My breath catches. Wait. What?
Sam blinks. The judge leans forward. Even Sam’s lawyer looks at him with a ‘ what the hell are you talking about?’ expression.
“Objection,” Sam’s lawyer says, jumping up.
But my lawyer raises a folder. “I have proof. A legal marriage certificate. Sam Crawford married a woman named Regina Harmon in Vegas six months before he married my client. I have copies of the certificate and photos.”
He walks the evidence up to the judge like he’s presenting a birthday cake.
“Your Honor, this not only calls into question the legality of the marriage to Ms. Parker—it may render it void entirely.”
The judge adjusts his glasses. “Let me review this.”
The silence in the courtroom is electric. Sam is twitchy now, his mouth opening and closing like he’s trying to form words and failing spectacularly.
I stare at him. Six months before me? That would’ve been just before he started love-bombing me. Just before the flowers and the gifts and the sudden push for a Vegas wedding.
“Oh, my goodness,” I whisper.
Then, as if this circus needed more clowns, the door at the back of the courtroom opens and my lawyer’s clerk hurries down the aisle with a manila envelope in his hand.
He passes it to my lawyer, who opens it, scans it, and looks back at the judge. “Your Honor, we have new evidence that deepens the concern.”
The judge sighs. “Let’s hear it.”
My lawyer walks back toward the front, holding up a few pages. “According to Nevada state records, not only was Mr. Crawford married prior to the ceremony with Ms. Parker, but there is no record of divorce or annulment for that marriage. Which means he was still legally married at the time of the ceremony with my client. The marriage in question—between Sam Crawford and Jinnie Parker—was never valid under law.”
I feel like I’ve been dropped into an episode of some wild courtroom reality show. I’m half expecting the bailiff to shout, “You are NOT the legal spouse!”
The judge blinks once. Twice. “Mr. Crawford, do you have any explanation for this?”
Sam stands abruptly. “This is ridiculous! She—she’s just bitter! She’s making this up! That’s... false. Doctored photos. Lies!”
“I’d advise you to sit down,” the judge warns.
Sam doesn’t. “She’s twisting things! That marriage to Regina didn’t mean anything! It was a mistake!”
The judge’s voice sharpens. “Mr. Crawford, I will hold you in contempt if you don’t control yourself.”
“I loved Jinnie! I was trying to start over! They’re attacking me because they know I’m right!”
The judge pounds his gavel. “Mr. Crawford, you are in contempt of court. And a bigamist, apparently. Bailiff—remove him.”
Two bailiffs step forward. Sam starts yelling. “This isn’t over! You’re all blind! She used me! This is all about the property, admit it, Jinnie! You wanted your parents’ land for yourself!”
Jack bolts upright beside me. “You shut your damn mouth—!”
“Jack,” Aggies hisses, grabbing his arm. “Let the man dig his own hole. He’s clearly good at it.”
The judge shoots Jack a warning glare, but before anything else can explode, the bailiffs start dragging Sam out. He’s still hollering, trying to shake them off like a toddler being carried out of a grocery store tantrum.
“I want a new lawyer! This one’s useless!” Sam yells, gesturing wildly toward his shell-shocked attorney. “You’re fired!”
He’s still screaming when the door slams shut behind them.
The courtroom exhales all at once. A wave of whispered conversation follows, like everyone’s been holding their breath and now it’s safe to gossip.
The judge removes his glasses and rubs the bridge of his nose. “Well. That was... eventful.”
A soft ripple of laughter rolls through the room.
“I’m prepared to make a ruling,” the judge continues. “In light of the new evidence, I declare that the union between Jinnie Parker and Sam Crawford was never legally binding. Therefore, no annulment is required. There was never a marriage. There is nothing to annul. Furthermore, Mr. Crawford’s request for financial compensation is denied in full.”