As Nikki shared, though she’s decided to speak out about this chapter, she wants to continue to protect her son’s privacy.
“I’ve been so shocked, like beyond words, and it’s been heartbreaking,” she explained. “You lose your appetite, you cry a lot. And then I also stepped up and made sure everything was okay for Matteo. And so it’s just been—I don’t even know what other words to use.”
But now, Nikki is focused on her road ahead.
“The one thing that I have realized disconnecting from the world, it’s when you know the truth, nothing else matters,” she added. “So when some of you would come to me and tell me what people were saying or what was out there, it would affect me in some way, but because I know the truth, and I actually lived it, it didn’t have a big effect on me.”
As she noted, “All I need to do is focus on my healing. I need to focus on Matteo’s healing.”
For his part, Artem has disputed Nikki’s account of their confrontation, alleging in his filed response that she was the aggressor during their confrontation in August. The following month, Artem spoke out, noting that the former couple’s son Matteo remained his main focus.