The Convenient Wife
by Kelly

chapter 35

What did one say when a federal judge asked you ON THE RECORD and
UNDER OATH to tell the truth about your feelings for the man you'd
married? In normal circumstances, it would have been easy. Hell,
Alexis thought, it should be easy even in these circumstances. She
could say a short, simple yes and Sonny would assume she was lying to
protect him; presto chango the whole hearing would be over. All's
well that ends well.

But somehow, when she opened her mouth, a short, simple yes did not
slip out. What did emerge was the truth. The truth that she'd wanted
to confess on an April night in his arms on satin sheets when their
worlds had collided and she had found her way home.

The truth that had lived in her for so long that it felt heavy on her
tongue as it was finally freed now…

"I've always loved him," she whispered. "Even when I didn't want to.
I loved him then and I love him still."

She closed her eyes on a sigh and wished she had the strength to look
at him. She felt his hand tighten its grasp on hers and was empowered
by the gesture. It was then that she lifted her eyes to his.

He looked…he seemed…it was like he was in shock. Then there was this
glimmer of something that looked like hope in his face, but she
couldn't be sure. Did he want her to be in love with him? Did he want
to believe she was telling the truth?

That possibility…just the chance that it could be so…made her
continue.

"I was always deathly afraid of marriage," Alexis found strength
enough to confess. "I even ran out on my first wedding. But then I
realized something with Sonny: for some reason I wasn't afraid to
join my life with his…because for so long….in fact, since before I
could remember…my life had already been joined with his. In so many
inextricable ways. So I wasn't afraid anymore. I just did it…because
it only mirrored what had already happened in my heart way before
that night in San Rafael. My life was already joined to his."

Alexis looked at the judge with complete honesty in her eyes. "So
yes, Your Honor, I love my husband."

Marion Long leaned back in her chair, staring intently at Alexis. At
long last, she expelled a sigh and nodded abruptly. "I believe that
you do," she said. Then she turned to Jack Grayson. "Well, gentlemen,
if there's nothing else, I have no choice but to find in favor of—"

"Just a moment, Your Honor," Ric interrupted, standing to his feet.

"Yes, Mr. Lansing?"

"I'm sure we were all duly impressed by Ms. Davis' monologue," he
sneered. "It really could have come straight from the pages of a
Harlequin Romance."

"Mr. Lansing—"

"But it isn't just Mr. Corinthos who has shown a pattern of
fraudulent behavior. Ms. Davis herself has been perpetuating lies on
legal documents. We have irrefutable proof of this and would like to
question her."

Alexis looked to Justus nervously. "What is he talking about?"

Justus shook his head. "I have no idea. Your Honor, no such evidence
was ever furnished to me."

"It only dropped into my hands this very morning," Jack responded,
turning to Alexis. "I wonder if Ms. Davis can explain it? Because I
have in my possession a DNA test that confirms that Mr. Corinthos is
the father of Ms. Davis' daughter, Kristina. Yet on the child's birth
certificate, Ms. Davis lists another father, a Mr. Ashton. I have
proof that Ms. Davis knowingly perpetrated this fraud. What's to say
that this marriage isn't just another one of those frauds?"

Alexis froze in her seat, her breath arrested somewhere between her
lungs and her mouth. Beside her she felt Sonny go rigid and turn to
her. She heard him breathe her name, just her name, on an anguished
sigh. "Lex?"

She couldn't even look at him. Couldn't watch the confusion cloud his
eyes. Couldn't watch them darken with pain.

"Lex, that isn't right…that can't be true…"

The hand that held hers tightened for a moment, as he held
desperately to hope. But when she didn't turn to him, it slowly
slackened. She actually felt the warmth in his skin drain away
leaving the appendage as cold as ice…until finally it slid out of her
grasp. That was when she finally looked over at him. He shifted away
from her…stared forward…his eyes shuttered like a house boarded up
against an approaching storm. She could not read the emotion there.
His mask of control was firmly in place. He was letting no one in…
especially not her.

Her heart fell to someplace between her feet. This was it. The moment
she had dreaded for so long. The truth that she had prayed would come
from her own lips when she was ready to share it. And now it was too
late. Tears flooded her eyes even as the abject fear flooded her
heart.

She realized right then that there were some times in life when one
stood at a precipice and faced a critical choice, and one wrong move
could never be called back.
Today in Kristina's room when he had been pouring out his heart to
their child…that had been her precipice. She could have taken the
leap and told him the truth. But she had stalled like a coward. He
would have been furious, sure. And so very, very hurt. But at least
it would have been she who had told him the truth her way. And
eventually he could have forgiven her.

But like this? His heart ripped open and laid bare in front of his
mortal enemy? This was a betrayal he would not forgive.

"Dear god…" Alexis whispered, her hand rising to cover her mouth.

Grayson was exultant. "If you allow their deceit to work, then you
are allowing Mr. Corinthos to undercut the justice system once
again," he declared at the climax of his sermon. "The people of Port
Charles deserve some protection from this man and his organization!"

Marion Long appeared to implode. "No, the people of Port Charles
deserve officials who can convict criminals on the merits of the case
not on character assassination. That's what this was. You know damn
well that this revelation has no bearing on this case!"

"It was our duty to inform the court that—"

"You brought this woman here to malign her reputation on the record;
and I have no idea as to why because it won't win you any points with
me!" the judge interjected.

Alexis stole a look at the two prosecutors. Jack Grayson was doing
his best to appear earnest and well-chastised. But Ric couldn't even
cover his self-satisfied smirk. This hadn't been about winning favor
with the judge. It was about her and Sonny. The ice that manacled
Ric's heart would not be thawed by the anguish Sonny was going
through nor by the tears in Alexis' eyes. Ric no longer cared about
anyone's pain but his own.

"You had no proof as to your allegations about this marriage," the
judge added. "The motion to invalidate it is absolutely dismissed."
She pointed a finger at Jack Grayson and Ric Lansing in
tandem. "You're looking at a fine and possible sanctions if I find
this was deliberate."

"Yes, Your Honor," they replied together. But the judge's measures
brought Alexis no peace. She knew that they were not the slightest
bit sorry. After all, their objective had been achieved.

Sonny finally turned his head and looked at her as if he had never
seen her before, his eyes a fathomless well of shock. Then he stood
and left without one word.

chapter 36