Feeling Guilty
Chapter 35
Phillip’s POV
When we heard the voice, we all turned to see who spoke. I was glad someone had heard it all go down. I already knew that Dina was the one at fault. I was happy to see my sister, Erin, standing there smiling at Dina. She wasn’t a big fan of Dina’s. Neither was my mom. I wish I had listened to them instead of going after Dina. I fell for how attractive she was, never realizing that there was nothing to base a relationship on. I learned that the hard way. But Erin would tell the truth regardless. She was an honest person.
“I didn’t see you in there. Why are you lying, Erin? I don’t believe you. You love your brother and
never liked me when we were together. So why would anyone believe you?” Dina asked.
“It is our job to determine what happened. We do that based on evidence, not your word. Let
us do our job,” a man in a suit stated as he walked up with two uniformed officers.
“I want this woman arrested for assaulting me,” Dina lost no time as she cried out like she
was the one who had been wronged. She held her hands out to show the blood on them and
then gestured to her dress.
“We will need both parties to come with us to the station to make an official statement. I
heard that there was a witness, so if you three would please come with us. I promise we will
get this straightened out quickly,” the man in the suit assured us.
“Detective, this is a copy of the video. I had the manager attach all the pertinent feed he
thought you would need. It is all on this disc,” my grandfather said as he walked up and held a
disc out to the man in the suit.
“There were no witnesses in the bathroom,” Dina alleged.
“I was in the bathroom. I don’t have to prove it to you Dina, that will be proven on the video,”
Erin refuted as she looked at Dina with a sneer.
One of the officers led the way to the station in a patrol car, with the detective driving his
vehicle and the second patrol car following at the back of the group. An older man, who looked utterly embarrassed by the incident, drove Dina. I guess her father brought her to the event. She completely ignored him as she ran up to Phillip as soon as we exited the SUV.
“Where is your car, Phillip?” Dina asked.
“Anything that involves me is none of your business. We are done. I don’t ever want to see you
1/4
+8 Point:
Feeling Guilty
again. What you did tonight was disgusting, scaring him like that,” Phillip told her as he opened the door to get Corbin out. I was angry, as Corbin was still so upset that he wouldn’t let go
of Addison’s hand. I knew that this was not normal behavior for him despite not knowing him for long.
Bryson and Evan pulled up behind my SUV and immediately came over to us. The minute Corbin saw Dina standing behind me, he leaned away from me and begged his mother to get him out of the SUV. He was terrified of her, and I was outraged. What had she done? She had traumatized a small child. I knew she was a gold digger, but she is clearly much worse than that.
“You better get a good lawyer because we will not let this slide. You have terrified him. We are not going to let you go,” Bryson told her as Alexandra and Nash stepped up behind them. Corbin’s crying and apparent fear told us that she had gone way too far in the bathroom.
“My sister has a mean right hook, doesn’t she?” Evan asked Dina with a laugh.
“I was the one who was wronged here. She was the one who assaulted me. The truth will
come out. She will end up being the one that is punished,” Dina snapped at him before turning on her heel and walking away.
Erin, Addison, and Dina were all taken to different rooms. Mr. Dawson had called their attorney
on the way here. He was speaking to Addison privately in her room. Corbin had been terrified
of being separated from Addison and had refused to let her go. He was in there with them.
Alexandra and Mrs. Gwendolyn were very concerned about him.
The detective went into another room to watch the video. He was gone for about ten minutes.
I lost track of time. I sat in my hair, bent over with my head in my hands as I tried to stay calm
and wait. I felt a great deal of guilt over this. I didn’t know that she would be there tonight, but I
probably should have assumed she would be. She was a leech and tried to glom onto
whatever wealthy member of society she could. I recognized her date. He wasn’t as
successful as my family or Addison’s, but he would be able to take good care of Dina, and that
was all she cared about.
We all sat in the central area. It was late, and the station had fewer people than I thought
would be there. Erin had told me not to worry, but how could I not? This was all my fault. I
knew how manipulative Dina was. I just hadn’t seen her there. I was so focused on Addison
that I didn’t pay attention to anyone else. This was on me, but I don’t know how I could have prevented it, as it went down in the women’s restroom. I am sure Dina had been watching Addison. Waiting for an opportunity to try to confront her.
The detective went in to speak with Erin first. He was only in there for about six minutes and
2/4
+9 Points
Feeling Guilty
came out. He then went to talk to Dina. He was in there with her much longer, about fifteen minutes. Then he did the strangest thing. After allowing Dina out of the room she was in, he went into Addison’s room. But he didn’t ask her anything. He stood at the door and told her she was free to leave. Addison stood up with Corbin in her arms as the attorney exited the room. I was glad that Corbin had finally calmed down and was happy again.
The moment Addison stepped out of the room. Corbin saw Dina. He immediately grabbed his mother around the neck and started crying again. Loud, pitiful sobs filled the room. It was painful to see and made my heart clench in anger. I don’t hit women, but I wished that Addison would punch Dina again for what she did to scare Corbin.
“He is an eyewitness against you, too, Ms. Coleman. Children are very honest, especially at this age. I just wanted to see his reaction to you. It is obvious that you attempted to hurt them both while you were in there with them. That is what my report will reflect and what the evidence presented against you confirms. I would suggest getting a good lawyer, but I doubt it will do any good after they see the evidence against you. You are all free to leave. The report will be available tomorrow afternoon,” he announced before walking away. I felt the weight lift
slightly. The two officers stayed behind to escort us out.
“I don’t care what he said. You assaulted me, b***h, and you are going to pay. I won’t let this
go,” Dina stated as she approached Addison.
“Ma’am, I suggest you leave before you get arrested and have to stay the night. You might
want to go to the hospital and get your nose checked out,” one of the officers told her. Dina
froze mid–step and nodded at him as she changed direction. I don’t know if she forgot where
she was or that her nose was broken, but she immediately left with her date.
Corbin still didn’t settle well, and Addison had to sit in the back seat with him to keep him
calm. I was fuming. How could she do that? She knew there was no way I would be taking her
back. I have told her that on numerous occasions. I was just glad that Addison had walked
straight to my SUV to secure Corbin in his car seat. She could have ridden with her aunt and uncle, or her cousins, but she chose to ride with me. I breathed a sigh of relief that she didn’t
seem to blame me for this. But the guilt over what Dina had done was weighing heavily on
- me.
“I’m so sorry, Addison,” I told her as I drove them home. My eyes met hers in the rearview
mirror.
“It wasn’t your fault, Phillip. She is a very jealous person. She told me that she has been warning other girls away from you since you broke up with her. That may be why you haven’t found the right girl yet,” Addison replied.
3/4
+8 Point
Feeling Guilty
I was shocked to hear that Dina had done that, but I needed to correct her, “No, Addison, I’ve found the right girl. I am just waiting for her to accept me at the right time. I didn’t notice that Dina had done that, as I stopped dating after I broke up with her. I am disgusted that I fell for her lies. I haven’t been interested in anyone enough to ask them out in over two years. I didn’t want a repeat of what happened with Dina to happen again. If Corbin needs anything, just let me know. I won’t allow his mental health to be harmed by her. She is vicious, and I wish I had never dated her,” I replied honestly. I was very sincere about what I had just admitted.
Addison whispered, “Thank you,” and kept running her fingers through Corbin’s hair. He was so tired and had cried himself to sleep. I will not allow Dina to get away with this. First thing Monday morning, I was going to make sure that she couldn’t approach me, Addison, or Corbin again. There were going to be consequences for her actions.
Once I got back home, Erin stopped me. “Hey, I heard Dina talking to Addison, so I started recording them. The detective was pretty happy about it. It showed who the aggressor truly was. Addison tried to protect Corbin as best she could. I had just gone in to use the restroom when the door opened again. I guess that was Dina entering. I was unable to get straightened up before it was over. That was why I could just run out,” Erin told me with a flush to her cheeks. I knew she was embarrassed at revealing why she was there.
“I appreciate it. I know that Addison does, too. I knew Dina wasn’t a great person, but I never thought she would go so far as to try to harm a child. I felt terrible about it,” I admitted.
“It was not your fault. You are a thousand times better option than the man with her. He’s old enough to be her father. You did nothing wrong. She did. She is just trying to find someone willing to fund the lifestyle she wants. She cares about what she can get out of people. You want the whole package–someone to love, who loves you back. That is why Addison is so perfect for you. She has the same drive and ambition as you. She will be a perfect sister–in–law,” Erin said with a smile.
I sure hope Erin is right about that.
