Stay tuned to the end for a little appreciative surprise:) and don't forget to let me know how you feel about it.

Aria's POV
"Mr. Garret here will receive 90 days of community service, along with paying a certain amount of fines that will include any hospitalization that has taken place with Ms. Jones. The victim will also have the opportunity of taking out a restraining order against the defendant-"

"That's ridiculous!" I heard a few men shout from the audience.

"Order. Order in the court! The decision is final." Judge Marshal announced. "Case dismissed." She spoke, striking the gavel on the sound block one last time before leaving the courtroom.

"Wait a fucking minute. I didn't hear jail time in there." Lacey hissed, finally letting go of my arm. I sighed deeply, running my hands carelessly through my hair as I tried to get a cap on my anger. In all honesty, he was facing more charges than I actually thought he would.

I couldn't lie though, I was hoping we had nailed him enough for jail time.

We all stood up and packed our things. The audience was released first into the courthouse. Lacey's head hung low as we made our way out of the courtroom. "Listen to me." I spoke, turning to her. "That sentence in there? It's just the beginning." I admitted.

"What do you mean?" Lacey asked, her eyebrows scrunching up in confusion. I moved to answer her, but my eyes caught sight of the back of a man entering the men's bathroom.

"I'll tell you when I return." I replied, slipping away from Lacey and Max, to follow the man into the bathroom.

I watched as Steve bent down and captured some water in his hands, before splashing it onto his face.

"Steve Garret." I spoke, leaning against the paper towel dispenser. He jumped slightly as he became aware of my presence.

"What do you want?" He barked out, continuing to wash his face.

"Or should I say, Pat Gonzales?" I asked. His body froze up completely. His hands remained under the running water from the faucet.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He whispered at me, the anger now replaced with something else. Fear.

"You see, Mr. Gonzales, I'm a very thorough lawyer. This trial today had nothing to do with your past life, oh no, you managed to fuck up that situation all on your own with your liability known as Bud Light. But understand, this trial was only the beginning." I spoke.

He had completely abandoned the act of washing his face as he began to draw nearer to me. "How did you discover my identity?" He asked, stalking closer. I took a few steps back until my back hit the wall.

"You did a very good job of covering up the fact that you're supposed to be dead." I commemorated.

"And I'm willing to take even more dire precautions to keep it that way." He replied, moving closer until we were standing face to face.

"I'm sure you are." I nodded, struggling to keep my actions and voice as steady as possible while my heart beat practically best out of my chest. "But something troubles me. How can a man as bright as you, forget to check if all the stalls were actually empty in here?" I asked. His eyes grew large as he backed up away from me and started checking underneath all the stalls. He then kicked one open, and his body froze completely.

He slowly raised his hands, backing up out into the middle of the bathroom as an agent advanced him with his gun drawn.

"You see, Mr. Gonzales, I might have been checked for wire taps before the trial started, but these government official men weren't at the trial. Everything that has been said in this bathroom, has been recorded. Why, you might ask? Well, regardless of how quickly the federal bureau can uncover your true identification, a confession always seems to speed things along." I replied, watching as the man cuffed him.

"Are you okay, Ms. Lane?" The agent asked while he secured Mr. Gonzales.

"Never been better." I replied, holding open the door for both of the men.

~

"Explain everything to us." My mother demanded, as we all sat across from each other in my dining room area.

"The trial wasn't just to bring Lacey's abuser to justice. While that was a part of it, it then became something more when we discovered Steve Garret's true identity. The night before the trial, after Chris left, I was approached by an agent. He requested my help in getting a confession out of Mr. Garret and I complied." I explained, opening up the box of pizza we had ordered.

"So you followed him into the bathroom and coaxed it out of him." Lacey nodded, pulling a slice out from the box.

"Yes. A confession would help their case run through quicker. I knew the sentence he would receive would be injustice, hell, I was surprised he even got that many community service days, or that he had to pay any fines. What his sentence did though, was give the FBI a platform from which to continuously nail the guy into a coffin. The charges will pile up." I replied, pulling a slice out for myself.

"So we got the bad guy?" Nick asked, as he sat in Chris's lap with pizza sauce smeared all around his mouth.

"We got the bad guy." I nodded, sending him a wink before we dug in.
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As I looked around the table at Lacey, my Mother, Chris, and Nick, it dawned on me.

This was now my family. It may have taken a horrible relationship... Leaving a man at the alter as I pulled an already packed suitcase off that lush carpeted floor, and bought a one way ticked to Portland, Maine, to finally find something I could call my home. It took getting lost, to finally find myself, as cheesy as that may sound.

This town, out in the middle of buttfuck nowhere, was my home. I finally realized my statement earlier was more honest than I thought...

... I really had never been better...

"Aria?" Nick asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, kid?" I answered.

"Have you and my father gotten freaky in the sheets yet?" I choked on the chunk of pizza that was currently trying to make its way down my esophagus.

"Nick!" Chris scolded, swiveling the child in his arms to face him so he give him a stern talking to as my mother and Lacey laughed uncontrollably. I couldn't help but join in.

Yep, I'd never been better.

-----------------------
This wraps up The Artist's Amour. There will be an epilogue coming in the near future, but I just want to thank you all for reading and voting. You guys are seriously amazing! Now, who would I be, if I wasn't working on something else to give you guys? I have this series I've been working on, where I sort of modernize some Fairytale stories. They will all be BWWM because I'm down with the Swirl Life. Let me know if you guys would like to see that! I have a few chapters already written.

"The Man Behind The Beast." (THIS STORY HAS BEEN POSTED:))

it's about a woman who becomes a cold hearted Mafia Boss's cook. When she discovers about his illegal tendencies, her love might inevitably be the one thing to save him from his destruction. A war is looming on the horizon.

Can she learn to love him in time...

Can she learn to love the man behind the beast?

"Silenced."

This one is about a Marine Biologist who ventures off the coast of New Zealand and stumbles against the discovery of mermaids as well at the lost city of Atlantis. She trades her voice (decides to stay silent and not tell the press about her discovery) in exchange for working with a government agent to excavate the site and uncover the truth about these mythical creatures.

When she gets word of what the government is willing to do with this information...

...can she stay silent?

The other names for the stories I have started writing are:

The Bad Girl Stole The Stage: Alex finds herself in a predicament where she must choose between jail time and community service at a prestige ballet academy. Her biggest challenge yet is trying to to fall for the CEO's son. (This one is posted!!)

She's Not Asleep, She's In A Coma (a doctor meets a patient who has fallen into a mysterious coma for a few months. He begins to talk to her about his problems, opening up to her... Little does he know, she can hear him)

We're All Mad Here (A volunteer arrives at a mental ward and falls for a woman he strikes a conversation with. Her insight into the human psyche fascinates him, but he's quickly pulled out of that fascination, when he discovers she's actually an inpatient)

She'll Bring Honor To Us All (This one is posted and finished!!!!)(Agent 27 has been dormant within the deep forests of Montana, living out a life of peace and solitude. When Commander McGary issued the activation of this agent to help in a terrorist attack, there's 2 things he didn't account for:

1.) Agent 27 is a female

2.) Agent 27 is drop dead beautiful

Let me know what you guys think, and which one you wish to see first! Thanks again for reading ❤️