𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐇

𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓

"I never sympathise with the accused unless there's a chance the accused is not guilty, but I certainly don't ever sympathise with the criminal," —Clint Eastwood

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Do you ever feel like you're in too much shit? Do you ever just.. realize you have so much going on and that you'll never be able to get over it? That your whole world is just so crushed, and nothing can help it?

And it's even worse when someone asks you if you're okay, because you have to lie. You have to lie that you're fine, that you'll get over it and one day you'll be happy. You lie because your problems are too much for anyone to hear. You're too tired to be a burden because you simply are just.. too much.

That's how Nikolai Romano felt as he talked to his lawyer, red, black, blue, and purple covering his body. His whole room was a complete mess, nearly everything was broken.

"I really didn't think that the news would get out, I'm so sorry- Nikolai, everything is going to be okay, alright? I promise you. I promised to your mother I would take care of you, and-"

"I'm fine, Aria."

Silence filled the room as the boy thought of anything else to say. The truth was that he was not fine. He was anything but fine. His whole body is aching. He's probably bleeding somewhere on his forehead, but he's too exhausted to do anything.

You see, his dad didn't take the news that Nikolai was a murderer too well. Kind of ironic if you ask me, considering he's the reason both his mom and sister are fucking dead.

"Okay.. sorry, Nikolai. I'll get in contact with you in a bit. Call me if you need anything," the blonde sighed and hung up the call.

She looked up, seeing the office of none other than Ryder Wilson. Come on, intimidate him and win the case, for Niko. You can do this.

Aria took a deep breath, making sure all of her nerves are present before she lightly knocks on the door.

You see, she's nervous because there's a part of her that thinks it's quite impossible to win this case. From all that she's read, the boy is just.. not innocent at all. She hates to admit it, but all the evidence is right there. One thing is for sure, though, and that is that something is off. Very off.

The blonde's thoughts were interrupted by Wilson opening the door, "Come in, come in."

They both walked inside, Wilson sitting in his desk chair while Aria looked around the office to examine the details of the detective in front of her. You'd be surprised how much you learn from a person's room.

Aria sat down on the chair in front of his desk, "Look, Nikolai is-"

"I didn't invite you here to talk. I invited you here to listen to me."

Well that definitely took a turn.

The blonde was about to speak up when the brunette man spoke up, "I'm sorry, that was rude of me, but seriously.. I need you to listen to me."

Aria scoffed, already annoyed at the man in front of her. She hesitantly nodded, knowing it wasn't smart if she snapped at the lead detective on her client's case.

"This whole thing with Mr. Romano is just.. off. There's evidence that he killed Coraline DeVille. Neighbors saw them together the night she went missing. They said they were fighting, and that it seemed bad. There was also the shirt filled with Coraline's blood that was on his dumpster."

"Look, I know, okay? I know that it's going very bad for him," Aria huffed and rubbed her face. She didn't need a reminder on how fucked they both are.

"That's not what I'm trying to get at," the detective sighed and showed her some clips of the interrogation from his laptop. He showed the blonde woman how Nikolai cried for Coraline.

Seeing him like that broke the woman's heart. You see, she has known Nikolai since he was a baby. She was his mom's best friend, and after the incident with his mom and sister.. well, she constantly checks on him and makes sure he's okay.

Aria thinks of the boy as her kid.

"Why are you showing me this?"

"I'm showing you this because his behavior is so goddamn weird. He didn't even know she was dead. He cried when he heard the news. He knew everything about her, and not in a creepy way. It's clear that him and Coraline were close. It just doesn't make sense. He didn't talk to her in past tense. He wasn't nervous. He didn't avoid eye contact. Hell, his heartbeat was stable the whole fucking time! There's just no way."

Aria sat up, tilting her head in confusion, "What are you trying to say?"

Detective Wilson ran his hands through his hair. It's clear that he was stressed out. His hair was a mess and there were dark bags under his eyes indicating that he didn't sleep at all, probably because of this case. Still, he looked up, his hazel eyes meeting her blue ones. He didn't hesitate one bit as he said,

"I think Nikolai didn't kill Coraline."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

hey!! sorry if it's short, i just needed to put this chapter sort of like a filler.
it will get interesting soon, i promise! anyways, sorry for any grammar mistakes. i'm too lazy to edit it.