The Secrets We Hold

Chapter 32

The courtroom was bigger than I expected...and more packed. There had to have been over a hundred people sitting down. They all turned to look at me once they noticed that I was there.

I let Alberta guide me to the front of the courtroom, where we both take a seat on the left behind a desk. Dimitri sits down behind us with a few of the other guardians, one of them being my mother.

Alberta was talking me through the trial when I noticed that a silence fell over the crowd. Turning around, I see Abe Mazur in his business suit at the courtroom door. A smile takes over my face as I get up and give him a hug. "Baba. What are you doing here?"

"You didn't think I would miss this, did you? I want to make sure that son of a bitch goes to jail for good." He says, wrapping his arms around me.

"Why the hell are you here, Abe?" I hear someone say from behind me. Letting go of baba, I see that it was my mother.

"I'm supporting my daughter. You can't stop me from being here for Rose, Janine."

My mom turns to me, whispering loudly so that no one but us could hear. "You shouldn't even know him. How do you know him? I made sure that he wasn't in your life."

"I met him in Russia. He was the one who gave me the Nazar."

Baba clasps his hands together. "Now, since that is settled, where is my granddaughter?" I point to where the stroller was and watch as he goes to pick her up.

"He's not a good man, Rose. That's why I haven't let him be a part of your life for seventeen years." Mother says.

"He's been a better parental figure in a month than you have been for eighteen years, not seventeen. I turned eighteen in Russia. I can make decisions for myself now." I counter and walk towards where baba was holding my daughter.

Abe holds his hand out for Dimitri to take. "Guardian Belikov, it's good to see you."

"Mr. Mazur. Always a pleasure." Dimitri shakes his hand.

"Baba, why don't you go grab a seat? I think the trial is about to start." Baba nods in understanding and places Adira back in the stroller. He looks for an empty seat before spotting one only a few rows down.

Dimitri and I retake our seats and Alberta gives me a questioning glance. I tell her that I would explain later and we wait for Queen Tatiana to arrive. She walks in about five minutes later and we all stand in respect. We wait for her to take a seat in front of the huge desk before she waves her hand, giving us permission to sit down.

She whispers to the guardian next to her and he gives her a nod. He walks out the door and a few minutes later, he walks in with Andre, who was handcuffed and in some dirty gray clothes. As he sits down, his eyes narrow in our direction slightly before staring straight at where Queen Tatiana sat.

"Hello everybody. Today, Andre Dragomir will stand trial for the crime of rape against Rosemarie Hathaway. As evidence has shown, Mr. Dragomir had sexually assaulted Miss Hathaway about a year and a half ago. Now, Mr. Dragomir has the right to a trial. How does Mr. Dragomir plead?" Tatiana speaks clearly.

Andre lawyer says, "He pleads not guilty."

Alberta leans slightly to whisper to me. "They are idiots. There is no way that Andre is going to be set free. If he had plead guilty, he could have gotten a lesser sentence. Queen Tatiana could have offered a plea deal."

"Isn't it a good thing though for us? Since he is lying, he would get a longer sentence." I say.

"Possibly. But it also means they have some sort of plan." Alberta explains and we both turn our focus back on the trial.