Chapter 9 - I Take Back My Name
I filed for divorce under my maiden name.
Grace Whitmore.
Seeing it on the petition made me cry.
Not from grief.
From recognition.
The next morning I stood before reporters outside the courthouse.
I had not planned to speak.
Then someone shouted, “Mrs. Sterling, do you want to destroy the Sterling family?”
I stopped.
Cameras rose.
“I don’t want to destroy anyone.”
The crowd quieted.
“I want the truth recorded correctly.”
I looked straight into the cameras.
“My husband cheated on me.”
“His mother assaulted me while I was eight months pregnant.”
“My husband watched.”
“Everything that happens after that will be decided by evidence, courts, and their own choices.”
A reporter shouted, “Are you using Damian Cross to take revenge?”
“No.”
I placed a hand over my stomach.
“I’m using the law to protect my child.”
Then I walked away.
That clip spread farther than the ballroom video.
May you like
Because for the first time, the public did not see me on the floor.
They saw me standing.
