Michael came back from the dangerous tour, and I had never seen him so exhausted in my life. Physically and mentally.

"Jeni— God, how Ive missed you..." he practically fell into my arms, " That whole tour all I wanted to see was you and the kids.
" Hey, have you eaten today?" he shook his head, " I don't even remember the last time I ate."
" Michael you need to eat something. You've already got so much going on right now you cannot afford to not take care of yourself. I know this allegation has been hard on you but with the stress your body is succumbing to you need to get regular nutrients."
" I know, I know...I'll eat later okay? I promise, but I need to talk to you about something."
I sighed, " Okay well, shoot—talk and eat. Mani! Mani!"
" Shhh, I'll eat later, okay? I'm just not hungry right this minute," he chuckled, " This is important."
" Okay then, go ahead."
" Please don't be mad at me." He laughed nervously.
" Now why would you say something like that to me, Michael?"
" I-I just want you to hear me out. I don't wan't you to get mad, I hate it when you're upset."
" Go on."
" I settled the case with Jordy."
" You wh-"
" Listen, Listen! I settled it because we would have had to deal with this for years! A decade at that! And I don't want it to be long and drawn out. We have a family to raise, Jeni. We have five kids, I don't want them to grow up in this mess. It's not fair to them at all. I want them to have the best life they can, any normalcy they can get. And I never wanna see or deal with Evan ever again. I just hope this helps us start new, I felt like I was sinking Jeni...I had to do something before I really worried myself to death."

I could not believe what I was hearing right now.

He settled the case. $25 million to that family.

It angered me for so many reasons. The fact that Evan clearly set us up. He was going to get produced or force the money it would take to get produced and be successful with his film endeavors.

And he won.

He made a complete fool out of Michael. Out of me. Out of our family.

His eyes began to water, and his voice began to shake as he cried, " Jeni, I'm begging you....please. Please say something."

"I-" I couldn't even think of what to say, " You really let him win, huh?"
" W-What do you mean?"
" Michael he used you! And we fell into his trap..."
" You know I was just trying to help Jordy and nothing else!"
" And for the rest of your life you're going to have the press on your neck...because he ruined your reputation! And you do realize that you settling the case just makes you look guilty, Michael! It makes you look like you actually did it!"
" B-But I'm not...I mean...I just wanted it to be over Jeni. I just wanted it over... I couldn't take it anymore!"
" You could loose your long time endorsements...your partnerships...did you even think of that Michael? Did you think of the long term affects this could do to your career!"
" No I didn't! And I don't care!" He nearly shouted, he was choking up from his tears, "I just wanted to protect you and our family..."

Never in our 20 years of being together had we fought like this. And it hurt. It hurt seeing him in so much pain...I tried to keep him level headed but he always lead with his heart and sometimes it would get him in trouble. But I knew him. And I hated to see his kindness perceived as anything else than pure.

" I'm sorry Michael." I could feel tears coming, " I really am."
" Why are you sorry?"
" Because none of this would have happened if I would have just produced him when he asked in the first place...I could have stopped all of this from happening. It truly is my fault..."
" Don't you for a second believe that garbage Jennifer. It is not your fault. You didn't know what he was planning, nobody did. You were being honest with him, and he stabbed both of us in the back. So please...don't say that."
He wiped the tears from his face, and I wiped his. He giggled a bit as we looked at each other's glossy eyes.
" I'm sorry for yelling so much. God, I hate fighting." I said softly, kissing his hand.
He chuckled, " Im sorry too. I wouldn't ever dream of going through what we're going through right now but there's no way I could even survive it without you. I love you so much." He kissed me softly, and held me in his arms.
" I love you too."