Saving Riley

72

Riley

"Mr Matthews, how long have you and Mr Daniels been friends for?" Lucas' lawyer asked
"since we were 6" Nathan said, it was true I remember hearing about all the stories from their childhood. It used to remind me a lot of James and Eldon
I wouldn't dare say that though, I wouldn't have lived to see the next day

"And you knew he had mistreated people and was mistreating Riley?" He asked and Nathan nodded
"To some extent. Neither of them ever admitted to it, nobody ever did until I caught them out. The second I saw Lucas get arrested I knew he had taken this way to far" Nathan said before turning to me
"As soon as I knew that Riley was somewhere I went insane. I started to looking nonstop until I was escorting off of the property" Nathan said, I offered him a smile. I heard him fighting with the officers about helping 

"And you never thought about warning Riley the extent he could go to?" Lucas' lawyer asked making Nathan's attention fall to him again
"I did. The moment I heard about James speaking to Lucas, I knew he would retaliate so I headed to Toronto to warn Riley. Never in my wildest dream did I think Lucas was this idiotic" He said

"Why wouldn't you stay and protect her?" He asked
"Because that would have drawn Lucas in more and secondly, I had work to get back to so did Riley. I would have loved some quality time with the girl but leaving was her best fighting chance" Nathan said turning back to me
"No further questions" His lawyer said with a tone that made it sound like he was giving up

"Okay Miss Raymond. You haven't submitted a victim statement, are you wanting to say anything?" The judge asked, I looked at James who shot me a smile while I felt Nathan's hand on my shoulder
"Yes" I said making the judge nod as I rose to my feet

I turned to look at Lucas who had an expression I couldn't read, I didn't know if he was angry or what..

"I should hate you for all you've done to me Lucas. I wouldn't wish half of this pain on anybody. You can go around living your life as if you've done nothing wrong, but the truth is.. You're selfish.. All you ever cared about were your feelings, your wants, your needs. I was just a pawn in your game. And even though I know I'll never get the apology I deserve. I owe it to myself to heal and I owe it to myself to move on. Move on as far away from you as I possibly can" I started making him continue to stare at me

"They say that the person you like or love would make you want to become a better person, that they would want to inspire you to be the best person of yourself. So why is it whenever I think of you, I love myself a lot less then I should and that hole is filled with hatred for myself? Why is it why I think of you all I want to do scream, all I want to do is rid my body of all the touch or marks you've left on me?" I asked

"When I was with you, you took the best version of me and made it the worst possible one. You took me to places I never knew I could have reached. You made me hate parts of me I didn't know existed" I said beginning to cry. James took one hold of my hands allowing me to take another deep breath in turning to Lucas again

"You were toxic and I knew it. You had a hold on me because I thought what I felt for you was love but it wasn't. No matter how poorly you treated me, I'd always find my way back into your arms because you knew you would get away with it. You wouldn't let me go either.. And the fact you knew you had me in the palm of your hands, was the same reason you wouldn't let me leave.. until one day. I did" I said keeping eye contact with lucas 

"Bad things do happen, how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to let you continue to have this huge cloud over my life or I can choose to move back this all and treasure what I've regained from leaving you" I said 

"I forgive you Lucas, but not for you sake. For mine. I refuse to let you still have this hold on me. So I'm free, I'm completely free from you" I finally finished before breaking our eye contact
I smiled to myself taking a seat next to James who looked at me offering me a smile in return
"you did so good Ri" He whispered kissing my cheek multiple times
"It's over" I whispered back making James nod

"Okay, members of the jury. You know what your next task is" The Judge said
"Court will come together again tomorrow at 11AM. If the jury requires more time you will all be addressed" The judge said with a smile before leaving