Chapter 15 - DEREK'S DEPOSITION
Derek's deposition took place four weeks before my due date.
By then, my ankles were swollen, Grace kicked hard enough to move the fabric of my shirts, and I could no longer sit comfortably for more than thirty minutes.
Nina told me I did not have to attend.
I chose to go.
Not because I wanted to watch Derek suffer.
I wanted to hear whether he could finally say the truth when every answer was under oath.
The conference room was colder than I expected.
Derek sat at the far end of the table beside his attorney.
He looked at my stomach once and then avoided it.
A court reporter sat between us.
Nina began with simple questions.
Name.
Address.
Employment.
Date of marriage.
Date of separation.
Then she asked about the vasectomy.
"Why did you schedule the procedure?"
Derek shifted.
"We had agreed we didn't want children."
My hands tightened in my lap.
Nina looked at a document.
"Had you and Sarah discussed reconsidering that decision before the procedure?"
"Maybe casually."
"Do you remember discussing a future child during a trip-planning conversation three weeks before the procedure?"
"Not specifically."
Nina slid a text-message exhibit across the table.
It was a conversation between Derek and me.
I had written: MAYBE ASHEVILLE CAN BE OUR LAST BIG WEEKEND BEFORE WE START TRYING FOR REAL.
Derek had replied with a heart and the words WE'LL TALK WHEN I GET HOME.
He stared at the page.
"Does that refresh your memory?" Nina asked.
"We talked about a lot of things."
"Did you tell Sarah before the procedure that you intended to go through with it?"
"She knew I had the appointment."
"That was not my question."
Derek's attorney objected to form.
Nina rephrased.
"Did you tell Sarah the appointment would result in a vasectomy that day?"
Derek looked at the table.
"No."
The word was quiet.
Nina moved on.
"At the time of the procedure, were you involved romantically or sexually with Jessica Cole?"
Derek's jaw tightened.
"Yes."
My chest hurt even though I had known for months.
Truth can still wound after it stops surprising you.
"When did the physical relationship begin?"
"March."
"What date?"
"I don't remember."
Nina placed the hotel statement beside him.
"Does March twelfth refresh your memory?"
He looked at his attorney.
Then back at the page.
"Possibly."
"Did you use marital funds for that hotel?"
"I used a credit card."
"A marital credit card?"
"It was in my name."
"And paid from marital income?"
He did not answer immediately.
"Yes."
Nina continued.
"Did you tell Jessica that you and Sarah were emotionally separated?"
"We were having problems."
"That was not my question."
His attorney objected again.
Derek finally answered.
"Yes."
"Did Sarah know you considered the marriage emotionally over?"
"She should have."
"Did you tell her?"
"Not in those words."
I looked down at my hands.
That was Derek in one sentence.
She should have known what I never told her.
Nina introduced the clean-reason text messages.
Derek stared at them.
"Did you write these messages?"
"I don't remember every text I've ever sent."
"The forensic report indicates they originated from your account and were preserved on Jessica's device at the time."
"Then I guess I sent them."
"What did you mean by needing a clean reason so Sarah would look like the person who broke the marriage?"
Derek's face reddened.
"I was venting."
"About what?"
"My marriage."
"Were you planning to leave Sarah?"
"I was considering it."
"Before she announced the pregnancy?"
He hesitated.
"Yes."
The word entered the record cleanly.
I felt Grace move beneath my ribs.
Nina asked the next question.
"When Sarah told you she was pregnant, did you believe a vasectomy made it impossible for you to be the father?"
"Yes."
Nina turned a page.
"Had you undergone a semen analysis before that date?"
"Yes."
"What was the result?"
"There were some sperm present."
"Motile sperm?"
Derek looked at his attorney.
"Yes."
"Were you cleared as sterile?"
"No."
The room felt suddenly smaller.
Nina continued.
"Did you know you had not been cleared when you accused Sarah of infidelity?"
Derek's attorney objected to the characterization.
Nina rephrased.
"Did you know you had not been cleared when you asked Sarah who the father was?"
"Yes."
I stopped breathing.
There it was.
Not in an email.
Not in a clinic note.
Not in Kevin's text messages.
From Derek himself.
Under oath.
"Why did you accuse her?"
Derek looked at me for the first time.
His eyes were wet.
"Because I panicked."
Nina waited.
"What were you afraid of?"
He looked away.
"That the baby was mine."
The answer surprised even his attorney.
I saw the man's head turn slightly.
Nina did not react.
"Why would that frighten you?"
Derek swallowed.
"Because I had already told Jessica I was leaving."
My throat tightened.
"And because I had the procedure."
"Why did the pregnancy interfere with your plan to leave?"
His voice became barely audible.
"It made everything complicated."
Nina placed the clinic note in front of him.
"At 9:18 a.m. on the morning Sarah told you she was pregnant, did Queen City Urology tell you that your prior analysis showed motile sperm and that pregnancy remained possible?"
"Yes."
"Did you understand that?"
"Yes."
"Did you return home and tell Sarah you might be the father?"
"No."
"Did you apologize for accusing her?"
"No."
"Did you move in with Jessica that night?"
"Yes."
"Did you later tell family members that Sarah had cheated?"
Derek rubbed his forehead.
"Yes."
"Did you make a social-media post referring to a lie being removed from your life?"
"Yes."
"At the time of that post, did you know the clinic had told you pregnancy remained possible?"
His face had gone gray.
"Yes."
I felt tears fill my eyes.
I did not wipe them away.
Nina picked up the transcript of the recorded call.
"Did you tell Jessica that the timing of Sarah's pregnancy could give you a clean exit?"
Derek's attorney leaned forward.
"Objection to characterization."
Nina asked instead, "Did you make the statements on this recording?"
The audio played.
Derek's own voice filled the room.
The timing couldn't be better, Jess.
Then the second line.
I get out clean, and she gets to explain the baby.
The recording stopped.
Nina looked at him.
"Is that your voice?"
Derek closed his eyes.
"Yes."
"What did you mean?"
For a long time, he said nothing.
The court reporter waited.
His attorney whispered to him.
Finally, Derek looked at me.
"I meant that if people thought the baby wasn't mine, they wouldn't blame me for leaving."
My chest tightened painfully.
Nina's next question was almost gentle.
"Did you know at that time that the baby could be yours?"
Derek stared at the tabletop.
"Yes."
No one moved.
For months, I had wanted that answer.
I had imagined feeling vindicated.
Instead, I felt grief.
He had known.
That was worse than ignorance.
Ignorance could have been corrected.
He had chosen the lie after correction arrived.
Nina moved to the financial transfers.
Derek admitted moving joint savings after separation.
He admitted using some funds for the townhouse.
He denied trying to hide money through Jessica's business account, but acknowledged initiating both transfers.
Then came the insurance cancellation.
He called it an administrative mistake.
Nina showed the online confirmation requiring three separate acknowledgments.
His explanation changed to frustration.
Then the anonymous workplace complaints.
At first, he denied sending them.
Nina introduced the forensic image from Marilyn's laptop.
She showed the browser session, the drafts, and a saved password associated with Derek's personal account.
His attorney requested a break.
They left the room for fifteen minutes.
When Derek returned, his shoulders looked lower.
Nina asked again.
"Did you submit an anonymous complaint to Sarah's employer?"
His voice was flat.
"Yes."
"Did you know the allegations of fraud, theft, and substance abuse were false?"
"I was angry."
"Did you know they were false?"
His attorney closed his eyes.
Derek whispered, "Yes."
The word landed harder than anything else that day.
Because the pregnancy accusation could once have been explained as panic.
The workplace complaint could not.
It was written months later.
After the ultrasound.
After the semen report.
After the first DNA result.
He knew I was telling the truth by then.
He tried to hurt me anyway.
The deposition ended after four hours.
When the court reporter left, Derek remained seated.
Nina packed her files.
His attorney spoke quietly to him.
I stood slowly because standing had become a negotiation with gravity.
As I reached the door, Derek said my name.
I stopped but did not turn around.
"Sarah."
His voice broke.
"I'm sorry."
I closed my eyes.
For months, I had wanted those words.
Now they felt too small.
I turned toward him.
"Which part?"
He stared at me.
He could not answer.
I nodded once.
"That's what I thought."
Then I walked out.
In the elevator, Nina stood beside me in silence.
When the doors closed, my knees began shaking.
She reached out to steady my elbow.
"Are you okay?"
I pressed one hand against my stomach.
Grace kicked hard.
"I don't know."
Then another pain tightened across my abdomen.
This one did not feel like a kick.
It wrapped around my back and stole my breath.
Nina's face changed.
"Sarah?"
The pain eased after thirty seconds.
I tried to laugh.
"Probably Braxton Hicks."
Then another contraction began before the elevator reached the lobby.
Nina looked at the floor indicator.
"How far apart were those?"
I gripped the rail.
"Less than three minutes."
Her expression went pale.
May you like
"We're going to the hospital."
