Chapter 109 Me Dada

Chapter 109 Me Dada
"We didn't know she was going to give the baby away!" the father pleaded to the judge, pointing frantically at Leona and Owen. "If we had known, we would have taken her! She needs to be with her blood!"
Vance stood up. He didn't pace; he didn't raise his voice. He simply opened a file.
"Your Honor, I am submitting the petitioners' extensive Child Protective Services history into evidence," Vance stated smoothly. "It details exactly why Tiffany was permanently removed from their care fifteen years ago. They are legally unfit. Furthermore, Leona Stark is blood. But she will be the first to tell you that blood does not make a family. Stepping up when it matters makes a family."
Judge Reyes looked down at the massive stack of irrefutable legal documents, and then over to the completely dismantled petitioner's table.
"The evidence presented today is abundantly clear," Judge Reyes declared, her voice echoing with finality. "The biological mother signed away her rights legally and willingly. The petitioners have provided absolutely no grounds to disrupt this established family unit. This petition is entirely baseless. Case dismissed."
Bang. "Bullshit!"
The sudden, aggressive shout shattered the room. Tiffany's strung-out boyfriend leapt to his feet from the gallery directly behind the petitioners' table, his face flushed with angry, erratic energy.
Judge Reyes pointed a sharp finger directly at the man. "I will have you thrown out of here, young man."
"It's still bullshit," the boyfriend muttered, glaring wildly at the judge.
"Bailiff," Judge Reyes ordered coldly. "Please escort this gentleman out of my courtroom. He can sit outside to wait for his party."
The bailiff—still slightly red-faced from his snorting match with Olive—happily grabbed the struggling, cursing man by the arms and dragged him right down the center aisle, slamming the heavy oak doors shut behind him.
At the respondent's table, Owen pulled Leona into his side, pressing a triumphant kiss to her cheek. They had completely scorched the earth.
The heavy doors slammed shut behind the struggling boyfriend, plunging the courtroom back into a stunned, breathless silence.
At the petitioner's table, Tiffany's parents sat frozen in absolute defeat, their cut-rate lawyer hurriedly shoving his legal pads into his briefcase. Tiffany just sat staring blankly ahead, the reality of the judge's final ruling crushing whatever misguided hope her parents had dragged her there with.
At the respondent's table, Owen let out a slow, heavy breath. He stood up, towering over the mahogany table in his tailored suit, and immediately reached down to help Leona to her feet. He pulled his wife into his side, pressing a firm, triumphant kiss to her temple.
Behind them, the entire "Olive Green Army" began to stand, a united, untouchable wall of wealth and devotion.
Diane stepped forward from the first pew. She didn't hand Olive to Leona; she handed the squirming toddler directly to Owen. He easily caught the little girl, settling her securely on his hip and against his chest.
Completely unfazed by the heavy, lingering tension in the room or the defeated family watching them from the opposite table, Olive immediately found the most interesting thing within her reach: Owen's silk tie. Her chubby little fingers grabbed the expensive fabric, twisting it playfully.
As she pulled the tie up, the custom button caught her eye. Olive stopped, her dark eyes widening as she stared at the glossy picture of her own smiling face hidden behind those crooked, oversized designer sunglasses.
Olive reached up and popped her pacifier right out of her mouth. Her face broke into a triumphant, gap-toothed grin. She tapped her chubby little finger excitedly against her own picture on the button, and then pointed right up at Owen's face to make sure he was looking.
"Me, Dada!" Olive announced proudly, her bright, happy voice echoing perfectly across the quiet, courtroom. She patted the picture of herself on his chest again, absolutely thrilled. "Dada, me!"
At the petitioner's table, Tiffany flinched as if she had been physically struck. She looked up, her hollow, tear-filled eyes locking onto the devastatingly beautiful scene. She watched the formidable billionaire—the man her parents had just accused of buying a child for control—completely melt.
Owen's terrifying courtroom glare vanished entirely. He smiled, his devastating dimples flashing, and he covered Olive's tiny hand with his, pressing it gently against the pin right over his heart.
"That's right, sweet pea," Owen whispered back, his deep voice thick with absolute, overwhelming adoration. He didn't even glance at the table across the aisle. "That's my beautiful girl right there."
He pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead. "Let's take you girls home."
Tiffany let out a ragged, silent sob, her shoulders completely dropping. She had abandoned a terrified infant on a cold porch, but Owen Stark had caught her. Seeing Olive look at that man with such absolute, unfiltered love was the final, undeniable proof. Owen was her father in every single way that mattered, and she was exactly where she belonged.
With Olive resting happily against Owen's shoulder and Leona's hand tucked securely in his, the CEO and his wife turned their backs on the ghost of Chad's past.
The sea of olive green moved in absolute, victorious unison down the marble hallway, stopping in front of the bank of polished brass elevators.
Owen kept one arm wrapped securely around Leona's waist, while his other arm held a happy, babbling Olive against his chest. Diane and Thomas stood right beside them with Hazel, the entire family finally letting out a collective, exhausted breath as they waited for the elevator to chime.
But before the doors could open, the heavy doors of the courtroom clicked open one last time.
Tiffany slipped out into the hallway. She was completely alone, shivering slightly in the cool air of the courthouse. She wrapped her thin, trembling arms tightly around her own torso and took a hesitant step toward the waiting family.
As she approached, Owen immediately tensed. His frame shifting instinctively to put himself between the addicted woman and his family. But Leona gently rested her hand on his chest, holding him back.
"Leona," Tiffany whispered, her voice cracking as fresh tears spilled over her pale, drawn cheeks. She looked absolutely broken. "I... I didn't really think my parents would try to take her."
Leona stood perfectly tall, the olive-green ribbon in her long braid swaying against her back. The absolute finality of the courtroom had erased any lingering fear, but looking at the woman who had abandoned her niece on a porch, a fierce, protective anger flared in Leona's chest.
"But you knew they were trying for grandparents' rights," Leona stated, her voice sharp, cold, and entirely devoid of sympathy. "And yet, you still showed up here today with them. You still let them try to drag me and my husband through the mud."