Chapter Fifteen

Gabriella "You need to take a deep breath Gabriella. You can't make it so obvious that you're nervous or they might capitalise on that." Micheal gave me advice after noticing how nervous and scared I looked. I couldn't even control my breathing properly and I'm pretty sure my entire face looked like it was on fire. He shouldn't really blame me though for being this way cause never I have ever imagined myself actually being in front of a judge especially not as the accused and the fact that I'm sitting here right at this moment with so many eyes watching me and staring at me with judgemental glares and irritated expressions, it definitely discouraged every fibre of my being and made me feel completely uncomfortable and on edge. "I'm trying Micheal. I really am. It's just that all of this is freaking me out and I can't help myself right now." I mutter to him and he gently gives my hands a small squeeze. "Just try harder Ella. I promise you, everything will turn out well. Nothing too serious will happen today so just relax yourself and keep a straight face so you don't get intimidated." He tells me and I let a small sigh before we both return our  attention back to the prosecutor in charge. We're actually in court for the first hearing and fortunately for today, I'll only have to deal with the prosecution laying down their charges and supposed evidence and Micheal laying down his evidence and submitting the list of witnesses and whatever it is he had prepared for the trial. "Your honour, it is to everyone's knowledge that the accused over here and the victim, Mr Martin Deville are supposedly best of friends and this has been the case for a very long time but unfortunately, the accused, Miss Johansson out of sheer greed and selfishness decided to plot the death of her supposed best friend and when she thought her plan was a success, she transferred all of his properties to her name and did all of this on the very day that he had the accident. According to her excuse, she claims that she had no idea that the properties were in her name but records show otherwise as they are documents that proves that Miss Johansson over here had personally signed the documents, accepting the rights over his properties." "The prosecution would like for her to be charged with first degree attempted murder with maximum punishment and also charged for damaging government property and causing harm to innocent civilians and finally, forceful and illegal transfer of properties. Here is a list of the available evidence and witnesses that will prove that miss Johansson over here is a murderer." Manuel Reeds blurts out confidently and words cannot express how much I despise this man. He spoke with so much venom and wickedness to the point where it's almost feeling like he has something very personal against me and that this case was pretty much his means of getting back at me. How can someone be that cruel and unreasonable? "What signed document is he talking about? Did you sign anything Gabriella?" Micheal asks in a hush tone. "I have absolutely no idea what he's talking about Micheal. I can assure you that I did not sign anything. I haven't even signed the confirmation letter that was mailed to me a few days after the accident so whatever it is he's talking about, it's either fabricated or exaggerated." I whisper a reply and he simply nods in understanding before paying attention back to the judge. "Will the defence attorney please take a stand?" The judge, Edward Jameson, speaks up after Reeds returns his sorry ass to his seat. "Your honour, I'd like to put it out there that my client, Miss Johansson, had absolutely no reason to kill Mr Deville at all and she is pleading not guilty. According to the prosecution's accusation, they claim that the defendant over here signed documents accepting the claim over her long time friend's properties on the very day he got into an accident but we have CCTV evidence to show that my client had not left her place of work on the very day Mr Deville got into an accident and when she did, they're CCTV footages to show that she had left to the hospital only after she was called in and told about the accident." "So here is my question your honour, at what point did miss Johansson here have the time to go to the legal office, finalise such important documents, fix them in the victim's gym bag which is were the papers were found as confirmed by the police, head back to work at her office that's about two hours away from where Mr Deville's accident took place and in the process of doing all of this, not get caught by any CCTV camera available in the area? The only time she was seen leaving her place of work was when she received a call on her friend's accident and the hospital already confirmed the time with which they called and the time she arrived which means that there is absolutely no way my client here did any legal signing of any sort on the very day of the accident. Thank you, your honour." I immediately let out a sigh after Micheal returned to sit beside me. I know this was just the beginning but it felt pretty good to hear him defend me out loud with that much confidence. I turn around slightly and almost immediately my eyes meet with Liam's. He raised his brows slightly in concern and I offered a small smile to show I was just fine although that wasn't the least bit true. I wasn't exactly fine but right now, I have no other choice than to be fine if I don't want to end up spending years in jail for a crime I know absolutely nothing about. I can only hope the universe doesn't strike as usual. "Does the prosecution or the defence attorney have any more evidence to submit?" The judge asks calmly and both Micheal and Reeds reply that they had none for now. The first hearing is wrapped up after the judge announces the date for the second hearing which isn't going to until the next two weeks and I let out a sigh of relief as soon he exited the courtroom. "You good Ella?" Micheal asks and I nod a little before turning back to spot Liam who had already stood up and was heading towards me. "I'll be fine, don't worry about me." I assure him and he nods briefly before getting into a conversation with George and I didn't bother paying attention to them since I didn't exactly know much about what they were talking about anyways. "Babe, you good?" Liam asks from behind me, placing both his hands on my shoulders. "Yeah, I am babe or rather, I will be," I reply and he smiles a little before helping me up. "Do you want to grab lunch first or should we just head home?" he asked and I smiled a little at the sound of the word "home." I honestly don't think I would have survived through all this without Liam's support. The stress of getting a lawyer and the emotional torture was something I must definitely wasn't ready for and if I didn't have Liam by my side, I probably would have lost my mind by now. "I am hungry but I don't think I want to sit in a public place. I'm pretty sure the press would be out there waiting to eat me alive and being in the public eye on a day like this won't do me any good mentally," I say to him and he nods in understanding. "That's true but since I can't allow my baby girl to stay hungry, we'll order take outs instead or do you prefer a home cooked meal?" He asks and I chuckle. "Home cooked meal? Really babe? You can barely deal with eggs. Let's just stick to takeouts and maybe later, when I'm settled, I'll handle the kitchen. Sounds good?" I suggest and he nods positively. "Whatever you say my queen. Now, let's figure out how we'll deal with those monsters out there while getting you out of here. Micheal, would she need to answer any questions?" He asks, directing his question at Micheal. "Absolutely not Gabriella. Don't say a word and make sure your head is bowed as low as possible and we'll take care of guarding you from then and so will the cops outside. You'll...," Micheal is replying but he's rudely cut short by Reeds. "How does it feel moving a step closer to going to prison? Must be scary knowing your days of freedom are numbered, right?" He asks me directly, wearing a scornful look on his face and I frown at the sight of his ugly face. "Don't be such an unprofessional, Reeds. She isn't a criminal until she's declared guilty and that will not be happening so stop with the unwanted remarks and keep walking," Micheal hisses at him and he rolls his eyes. "We'll see about that though Micheal cause I can assure you that this criminal over will end up in prison except my name isn't Manuel Reeds. Have a good day all of you and miss Gabriella, be careful out there. I foresee you getting harassed," he replies and if my mood was bad a few minutes ago, it's definitely terrible at the moment. I hate him so much and he definitely knows how to annoy the hell out of me! "What's his deal with you? What exactly does he hold against you?" Liam asks, obviously surprised by how hateful he sounded. "Just ignore him and let's leave. He's not worth it." Micheal replies and I let out a frustrated sigh. "Let's just go babe, I'm tired." I say to Liam and he immediately takes my hand in his as we head out of the courtroom and towards the crowd of gossips who were waiting to throw their judgemental and rude questions at me. My day couldn't possibly get any worse.