A/N: My penname is now NALEYAAF23. And there is a poll in my profile to vote for the next Naley story. Thank you all for the awesome reviews. And thanks to my beta: Leeese.


Chapter Eleven

After a few minutes of comforting Brooke, Haley grabbed her purse again and pulled out her cell-phone. "I'm going to call social services," she told her. Brooke suddenly stopped her again. "Brooke, I have to call them and tell them that your mother has been abusing you."

"They won't care about a sixteen-year-old teenager," Brooke protested. "They care more about the little kids. Besides, I'll be out of the system in a year or two anyway. Why do you think that I haven't told anybody until now? The only two people who know about this are Mouth and Millie. I begged them not to tell anybody."

Haley sighed and decided to get more information about the history between mother and daughter. "How long has she been doing this to you?" she asked as she settled down on the couch next to Brooke.

Brooke didn't answer for a moment. "She has been doing it ever since my dad left. He left when I was just two or three. I haven't seen him since. My mother blames me for him leaving because I wasn't what he wanted, which was a son." Haley then understood why Victoria had doted on Ryan so much and why Brooke was glaring at her mother and baby that day when Peyton brought Ryan by the school. "On the nights she really beats me, I always stay home sick the next day to recover from my wounds."

Haley shook her head in disbelief. She couldn't believe that her boss was this cruel to her own daughter. "How have you survived all these years?" she asked in amazement. Now that Brooke had confessed about her abuse from her mother, she wanted to get as much information as she could before calling social services or the police.

Brooke sighed. "I don't know," she admitted. "I usually go over to Millie's house, but I knew my mother would find me there and force me to go back with her. So I decided to go to a place where I know that someone would be able to help me. I looked up your address and snuck out of the house."

Before Haley could answer, they heard a knock at the door. Haley got up from the couch and walked over to the door. She pulled it open and was surprised when she saw two men in uniform. She could tell that they were the police. "May I help you, officers?" she asked.

"I'm Officer Stevens and this is Officer Jones. Ms. James, you're under arrest for assault and kidnapping," Officer Stevens said as he forced her to turn around. She tried to protest as he slapped a pair of handcuffs across her wrists and read her her rights. However, he ignored her as he brought her outside.

Haley hoped that Brooke could straighten the misunderstanding out. She didn't even pay attention to the neighbors who had gathered outside to see who had been arrested. As she was being taken to the police car, she saw Nathan and Rachel push their way to the front of the crowd.

"What the hell is going on here?" Nathan demanded as Haley was being placed in the passenger seat.

Officer Stevens didn't even let Haley explain before he shut the door. "We're just doing our job," he told him. "That's all." He didn't say any word as he got back in the driver's seat. Nathan watched helplessly as the vehicle drove away.

"Well, I always thought that Haley couldn't be trusted," Rachel said. Nathan glared at her before he headed back to the house. Rachel was right behind him. She didn't say anything else until they were back in their house. "Now that we're up, can we discuss about what happened earlier?"

Nathan scoffed at her. "What is there to discuss? You clearly have different ideas about marriage and family than I do. So it is just best for us to separate and divorce before you manipulate me or my family any further."

"So you're going to throw away three years of a perfectly good marriage just because I lied to you one time?" Rachel exclaimed angrily. Nathan didn't even want to hear it. "Ok, I admit that I was thinking about an abortion, but I didn't get one."

Nathan gave her a look. "The only fucking reason that you didn't get one was to save your own ass. You knew that if Haley told me about what you were planning to do, you were afraid that I would start questioning your honesty about other things." Rachel waited for an example. "Why the hell would you think of getting an abortion? Was it really because of me and my dreams of having a family? Or are the rumors true about you cheating on me and ending up pregnant with someone else's baby?"

Rachel quickly cut him off. "Trust me. This baby is yours. And if you don't believe me, we can always get a paternity test done to prove it. If you weren't the father, I would have aborted it right away."

Nathan could tell by her tone that she was telling the truth. He didn't know how long that would last though. "No, we don't need a paternity test. But I do need some space from you." Rachel was about to protest when Nathan didn't let her interrupt him. "I don't know if I can trust you right now." He then corrected himself. "Actually, I know that I can't. You really hurt me, Rachel. And I don't know if I can forgive you for this."

"I can't tell you how sorry I am," Rachel replied. "It just that I was hoping we would have a few more years together before we had children."

Nathan shook his head in disbelief. He had heard that excuse far too many times over the last year or so. "I'm starting to think that Lucas was right and you never wanted children in the first place," he said as he turned to his wife. "You just said that to please me, didn't you?" he demanded. Rachel didn't have a chance to respond before Nathan continued. He made her face him. He wanted her to confess the truth. "Tell me the truth, Rachel. You had no intention to get pregnant, did you?"

Rachel knew that she had no choice but to tell him the truth. "No, I didn't," she admitted. Nathan couldn't believe his ears. He was angry, hurt and disappointed. He barely listened as Rachel continued her words. "I don't want this baby either, but I'll deal with it until the baby is born. But after this, I don't want any more kids. You'll be ok with that, right? I make you happy by having our child. Then you can make me happy by supporting my decision in getting a hysterectomy."

Nathan gaped at her. He couldn't believe the words that came out of her mouth. He glared at her as he spoke. "Are you fucking kidding me? Do you really think that I will stick around after what you just said to me? I would love a divorce, but I guess I'll settle for that year long fucking separation thing. And since you don't want the baby, I would be happy to take him or her off your hands once it is born. Because I'm not staying with you just for our baby's sake," he told her before he headed to his bedroom and slammed the door.

The next morning, Nathan ate breakfast early and went to Haley's house to get her some clothes. He also checked on Jewel, who was happy to see him. He then drove over to the jail and bailed Haley out.

Haley was relieved to finally get out of there. She had had a rough sleepless night and now couldn't wait to get home. However, she knew that she had to talk to Victoria first. She did her best to remain calm as they left the building.

Nathan noticed the angry look on her face. He was just as angry as she was. "You know, I always thought it would be Lucas I would be bailing out of jail, not my friend and coworker. What the hell happened last night?" he demanded.

Haley was quiet for a moment. "I was arrested for assaulting Victoria and kidnapping Brooke," Haley replied. Nathan looked at her shocked, not to mention confused. "Brooke ran away from home and came to my house last night. I tried to explain that to the police, but they wouldn't listen. It took me awhile before I realized that Victoria had connections with the police. And she's convinced them that I assaulted her and kidnapped her daughter."

Nathan tried not to laugh. "Why would she do that?"

Haley let out a sigh before she spoke. "Because she is covering up the fact that she abuses Brooke."

Nathan raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You really think that our boss is so cruel that she would hurt her own daughter? That's ridiculous. I don't know what Brooke told you, but Victoria would never do that."

"Look, I know that it sounds crazy, but how else do you explain Brooke being absent from school all the time?" Haley asked as she and Nathan climbed in the vehicle and shut the car doors. "Or why I was arrested for assault and kidnapping when it was clear that Brooke ran away to my house?"

"Brooke is a troublemaker," Nathan replied as he started the car and started driving away from the police station. "She likes to skip school all the time. Besides, I've never seen her with any bruises or black eyes."

Haley couldn't believe her ears. "I didn't exactly have a chance to take documentation or take her to the hospital before I got arrested. But I'm telling you that Victoria is hurting Brooke. And I'm going to prove it."

"I really think that you're overreacting," Nathan replied. "And I'm sure your arrest was just a misunderstanding." There was a short pause before he spoke again. "It's not like with Rachel. She never wanted kids." Haley turned to him as he continued. "She doesn't even want our baby, but she is willing to go through the pregnancy for me. After the baby is born, she wants a hysterectomy." Haley didn't want to admit it, but she wasn't surprised. "Once I heard those words, I knew that our relationship was over. She moved out last night."

"I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want to hurt you," Haley replied.

Nathan gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you for being honest with me last night." He then let out a sigh. "At least someone can be."

Even though Haley was upset herself, she tried to cheer him up. "Well, maybe the divorce would be good for you two. From what I have seen, you guys haven't been doing anything but argue."

Nathan sighed. "Yeah, but I'll be a single father," he replied as they came to their street. He then groaned as he saw the familiar car in front of his house. He knew that Charlene would come by sooner or later, but he wished that it had been later. "Great. Here comes the lecture from my mother-in-law." He wasn't in the mood to deal with her right now and was ready for any excuse not to go home.

However, he saw that Charlene was impatiently waiting for him on the front porch. He knew that he had no choice but to face the music. He parked the car in the driveway as Charlene started walking over to them. "Wish me luck," Nathan told Haley before they climbed out of the vehicle.

She and Haley quickly exchanged greetings before Haley left the two alone. She didn't want Charlene to ask her questions. She just wanted to get home and take a long hot shower. She wanted to get the stench of the jail and her cellmates off of her. They hadn't been mean to her, but they had given her glares. She then wanted to take a nap. Her missed hours of sleep were catching up to her.

A few hours later, Haley felt more rested and was ready to confront Victoria. She was getting prepared to go out when she heard a knock on her door. She sighed and wondered who it could be this time. She opened the door and found Victoria. Haley couldn't believe that she would show up at her house after the stunt she had pulled. She wanted to shut the door in her face. Yet, she knew that she had to be polite. After all, she was still her boss.

"May I come in?" Victoria asked. Haley was quiet as she let her walk into the foyer. Haley closed the door behind her as Victoria spoke again. "We need to talk about what happened last night."

Haley didn't let her get another word in. She glared angrily at her. "There's nothing to talk about. You used your connections with the police station to falsely accuse me of assault and kidnapping. You may have covered up your secret this time, but I'm not going to give up. I will get Brooke out of your care."

Victoria chuckled. "I would love to see you try. You may not know this, but I have this whole town wrapped around my finger. I'm not just the principal of Tree Hill High School, but I'm well-liked and well-respected in this community. Nobody will believe a newcomer who just moved to town." There was silence before she spoke again. "What did Nathan say when you told him?" Haley didn't answer. "See, that proves my point. Now I'll make you a little deal." Haley turned to her with curiosity. She knew that whatever she was going to say was going to be interesting. "You forget all about this incident. In exchange, I'll drop the charges against you."

Haley gaped at her. She couldn't believe that her boss was blackmailing her to keep her mouth shut. "And what if I can't?" she challenged her. She wasn't going to back down from this.

"I will not only fire you, but I will get a restraining order to make sure you stay away from me and my daughter," Victoria replied. "And that is just the beginning. If you don't keep your mouth shut about this, I will make your life a living hell," she warned her. Haley just glared icily at her as Victoria started to make her departure. She turned back to Haley for a final time. "It's your choice, Haley. But I recommend you not to play with fire. Or you're going to get burned." She didn't say another word before she walked out the front door.

Haley just stood there in shock for a few moments. She couldn't believe that her boss was truly a cruel evil bitch. She didn't know how Brooke was able to live with her. Yet, she couldn't think about that now. She had to figure out a way of exposing Victoria for the heartless monster that she was without losing her job. She then realized that Brooke's life was more important than her job. She knew what she had to do. She picked up her cell-phone from the counter and started dialing the number for social services.