***Trigger Warning***

Although my anxiety is sky high, I fake a smile. I refuse to get Brexton worked up before he faces the scariest day of his life. Well, besides the day he met Brant. The last thing I want is my anxiety to overflow onto him.

I'm a nurse, life or death situations are nothing new to me. In fact, I usually play a crucial role in keeping people alive. I guess this is scarier because I'm not able to give him medicine and make it better. A ventilator won't keep Brexton from being charged with eight counts of rape and first degree murder. I'm utterly worthless in this situation and I hate it.

I silently pray as I fix Brexton's tie. "Do you want to do another practice run?"

He chuckles. "It's okay, I don't want to seem too rehearsed."

I take a step back and admire the gorgeous man before me. "I swear if you admit to killing anyone, I'll kill you."

A smirk forms on Brexton's lips. "I think my lawyer would help you."

He sighs. "Are we sure about this? Lying in court is a big deal. I may not have wanted to, but I did kill those girls."

I take his hand. "You were forced to. You don't deserve the prison time. None of those girls would want that."

His eyes look so sad it hurts to look at them. "I still did it. I still shot them."

"To save your sister! If you confess, Jeremiah will be out in no time and he'll do the same thing over and over again. He's not the type of dog to learn new tricks." I mumble against his chest. "Do it for his future victims."

This seems to inspire him. I'm happy to see the sadness in his eyes dissipate. "I'm doing this for his past victims too. Inara. Ryan." His gaze pierces through me. "You."

I have tried my best to put the idea of me being a victim out of my mind. As if pretending it's not a thing will make it not a thing. "I'm not a victim, I'm a survivor. So are they. I feel like the luckiest women alive to have you guys. I'd go through it all again to end up here."

Brexton's smile grows wide. "I'm so proud of you Stormy."

"Thank you." I feel myself blush. "I'm proud of you too."

"Oh my gosh, you guys are taking forever!" Inara busts the door, eager to get us moving.

I laugh, not able to be mad at her when I see how gorgeous she looks. "I was just fixing his tie. We're ready now."

She stares at me wide eyed, then turns to Brexton. "She's way out of your league bro."

He walks out the door. "I know. Can you please stop reminding her?"

She shrugs. "Anyways, let's go before she yells at me for saying that."

I playfully bump into her as I walk out the door, doing my best to ignore the feeling of impending doom.
———————————————————————————

I shift uncomfortably and thank my lawyer. I hate everything about being on trial. All I want is this day to be over and to be as far away from all of this as possible.

Inara comes into the room, her expression unreadable. "Do you want to know who just showed up?"

I don't, but it's probably best to be prepared.

I nod.

She closes the door behind her. "Mom and dad."

I clench my fist. This was already going to be hard enough without all his drama. "Why did he even bother coming? I told him I don't want him here."

I don't want somebody who's lying to me by my side during something this important. I still have no idea why he wants me to marry Stephenie or what kind of family secret he's been keeping and I'm starting not to even care.

She grabs my shoulders and forces me to face her. "He's your dad, he wants to be here to support his only son. I know he's got a lot of faults, but he wants to be here for you now. That should count for something, right?"

I avert her gaze, feeling uneasy. She doesn't get it. We didn't have the same dad. Her father was loving, warm, present. My father was unavailable, cold, filled with unachievable expectations for me. I don't believe he wants to change, I think mom made him come. My mom is the glue of our always fractured family. I think lately Inara has been following in her footsteps. I also think Inara feels guilty for being his favorite, as if it's her fault.

I suck in a deep breath. I have Lyra, Inara and my mom here for me. It's time to stop pitying myself. Having my dad here might make me more nervous, but that doesn't compare to the calm those three bring me.

"Right. It was nice of him to come." I say slowly, the words sound strange coming out of my mouth.

She lights up. "That's the spirit! I have a good feeling about this. I think this might be a fresh new start for us."

I want share in her enthusiasm so badly, but I can't. So, I fake it. "Me too."

Her body language says she has something she's dying to tell me. "I am so positive this is going to go well that I got you a gift."

I raise an eyebrow. "You got me a gift?"

She rubs her hands together excitedly. "You
are coming with Lyra, Ryan and I to Australia."

My heart skips a beat. "What? What do you mean?"

"When I first met Lyra, I promised her I'd buy her tickets to go to Australia to visit her family if she dumped her loser ex. Life has been too chaotic to let me keep my promise...until now. To make it up to her, I picked up a few extra tickets."

"I just told Lyra, she's thrilled we're coming with her."

I'm overwhelmed with emotions; excitement, surprise, curiosity, pride. "You bought all of our tickets? With your own money?"

She nods. "Duh."

"Inara, I'm paying you back."

"I know. You're going to pay me back by winning this trial." She doesn't wait for my response before exiting the room with a hair flip.

Not even two minutes later, I hear a slight knock.

"Come in." I say, expecting my lawyer. Who I'm met with is much worse.

"Hey son." My father smirks. "We need to have a little chat."

Great. Of course he's chosen right before I'm about to walk into the courtroom to talk. "About?"

He crosses his large arms over his chest. "I'm going to testify."

My heart drops into my stomach. "What? What could they possibly ask you?"

His smug face doesn't falter. "If you confessed to me that you murdered those girls."

Now, I too cross my arms. "My lawyer would've known about that. There's no way she'd allow that."

He laughs. "She would if she thought I was going to say you told me Jeremiah did it. She's under the impression I'm going to help you out."

I don't let him see how freaked out he's making me. "That isn't the case though, is it?"

He narrows his eyes. "That depends on you."

"Why didn't she tell me about this?"

"I asked her to let me be the one to tell you and the nice lady agreed."

Feeling defeated, I ask. "What do you want?"

He uncrosses his arms and steps closer to me. "You to marry Stephenie."

In that moment, I realize I have no choice. I have to tell him I'll marry Stephenie. "I can't really say no, can I?"

He shakes his head. "Not unless you want to never see anyone you love again."

"What a thing for a father to say." I scuff.

As I start to see red, a plan forms in my mind. The tickets Inara bought us might be my saving grace. After the trial, I'm never coming back to this place. I'm going to move to Australia.

"It's the only way. It's not my fault you got yourself into this mess."

"Why are you so obsessed with me marrying Stephenie?"

He turns to leave. "I'm not talking about this here. You're either marrying her or going to jail. I'd suggest the former."

I'm really sick of not getting answers, but now is not the time to fight with him. "I already told you I'm going to do it."

"That's the smartest decision you've made in your entire life." He mumbles as he finally goes.

Relief floods through me when he's gone and before I know it, I'm sitting next my lawyer in the courtroom.

With a stern look on her face she says, "Don't look nervous, that implies guilt."

I nod and try to look more calm.

She sits, opens her briefcase and rummages through the documents she's prepared. "Don't forget to allow your emotions to show while speaking of the victims. You don't want to come across as too cold either."

That would be impossible not to do. "Okay."

It feels as though I'm watching myself from above for the first part of the trial. I'm aware that I'm taking an oath to tell the truth, but I can't feel myself doing it. I watch Jeremiah do the same and try not laugh, knowing that nothing, not even an oath, could make him honest.

I come back to earth when I see Harper walk to the stand. She says her name and also swears an oath.

My lawyer told me she'd be here. She'll get a lesser sentence if she cooperates, so of course she's here. I still don't like the idea of her having any part in the outcome of this trial.

Jeremiah's lawyer, a stern little man, gets to question her first. He paces the floor, staring at her every so often. "So, can you tell me how you know Mr. McGomery?"

She nervously fidgets with her hair before answering. "I worked with his sister who I was really good friends with."

I don't feel sympathetic at all when she gets choked up talking about their friendship in the past tense.

He stands in front of her. "How would you describe your feelings towards Mr. McGomery?"

My palms feel sweaty, I already know where this is heading.

"Umm, I think very highly of him. He's a great guy."

"By him, you mean Mr. McGomery, correct?"

He's trying to intimidate her. I go to stand but my lawyer tightly grips my wrist and subtly yanks me back down.

"Correct."

"Would you say that you have any romantic feelings towards Mr. McGomery?"

My lawyer nods at Harper, encouraging her to go on. "I guess so, yeah."

Jeremiah's lawyer rubs his prickly chin. "Uh huh. Well, I certainly think if I had a crush on someone for years I'd want to help them over someone I'd just met. Especially if I was close friends with their sister. Wouldn't you agree?"

My lawyer doesn't miss a beat. "Objection leading!"

Jeremiah's lawyer interrupts her. "No worries, I'm done."

My lawyer scuffs as she makes her way to Harper. Her approach is much gentler. She gives Harper a small smiles as she asks. "How do you know Mr. Hartley?"

She plays with her hands, looking down as she responds. "I used to work at a strip club he owned."

"Were you there the night of the murders?"

"Yeah, I was."

"Can you tell me what you remember about that night?"

Harper sucks in air as though she's struggling to breath. "Yeah. Brant, I mean Jeremiah...whatever we're calling him. Mr.Hartley went ballistic after his business deal fell through. As one of the men he was doing business with backed out Inara, Ms. McGoemery got out of the chains he had her in and tried to escape. So, he shot her and decided he couldn't let any of us live because we'd go to the police. He thought he killed her."

My lawyer once again, didn't miss a beat. "What was his business deal? What was he selling?"

"Umm, the ten of us there that worked for him. I guess for sexual acts."

"He told you that was his plan?"

"Indirectly, as he was talking to his clients."

My lawyer's face falls. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, that's awful. What happened next?"

"Jeremiah shot all of the other girls. For some reason, he spared me, told me I was his favorite. Mr. McGomery came in, he'd found out about Mr. Hartley's plan and was coming to save his sister. What he walked into was a blood bath. He managed to save his sister, but unfortunately the rest of the girls were too far gone. Mr. Hartley saw this as a get out of jail free card."

She's lying. I knew she was going to, but hearing it is nerve-racking. I look at Lyra, who's already looking back at me. I feel much calmer.

The hate radiating off Brant has got to be affecting Harper, but I guess that's what happens when two narcissists get together, they betray each other. 

My lawyer's voice draws my attention back in front of me. "How did Mr. Hartley saving you make you feel?"

"Grateful. Guilty. I felt like I owed him my life. It also made me a little uneasy, like I had to keep him happy or he would kill me too."

"Uh huh. Well, I certainly think if I was afraid someone was going to kill me, I'd want to help them over someone I had a little crush on. Especially if they spared my life."

Brant's lawyer went to object but she stopped him. "No worries, I'm done."

To say I'm impressed is an understatement. I'm so glad she's on my side.

The stern-looking lawyer asks Jeremiah's judge to bring out his next witness.

I hear Lyra gasp as Jessica makes her way to the witness stand.