Chapter 98 Game Over

• The ringing in Ryan’s ears refused to subside, no matter how hard he tried to stop it. He had prepared himself for this possibility, had known that it would be the most likely outcome of this whole thing, especially considering the recent events, but still, he had held out some hope that it would not be as he had feared. He was awfully wrong. His chest felt tight, as though he was going to have a heart attack any minute now. He only vaguely heard the judge’s voice over the roaring in his head as the woman droned on and on, while Craig’s family jubilated on their side.
• If only he had known, he would have pleaded hard for Anna and Noah to accept joint custody with him, or he would have even bought them off, except that he knew that they would never agree to be bought off. It galled him to admit that they actually loved their grandkids and were doing what they thought was best for the children. There was no way he would have accepted Anna and Noah’s demands that he handed the kids over to them, without fighting. He had fought but had drastically failed, and now, he was to give the kids up. Damn Angela to hell and back. This was all her fault. Had she not done what she did, maybe he would have had a chance, but now, all that he had were visitation rights. Actually, he should never have informed Craig’s family about the kids, as far as he was concerned, but it was all too late now, and there was nothing that he could do about it now.
• He had tried in the past weeks to plead with Anna and Noah that they take the case out of court, but they had vehemently refused, no doubt because they could clearly see that things were going to be in their favor. They did not want to hear anything short of Ryan giving them full custody of the twins, as they claimed that he was reckless and even though he loved the twins, clearly did not live a lifestyle that favored them. Apparently, the court agreed with them. Unlike before when he would have drunk his head off to drown his sorrows, this time around, Ryan remained sober, his pain and anger firmly kept under wraps. He put on a happy face for the twins, who were unaware that their life as they knew it, was about to change drastically. It was still a wonder how the whole thing had still remained private and hidden from the media, but he hoped it remained that way.