𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐚𝐠𝐞 [COMPLETE]

𝐞𝐬𝐭. 𝟎𝟒𝟖 { I Have a Bad Feeling }

"𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚎."
~~~

𝐒𝐚𝐠𝐞'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕

"Just remember what we practiced. If you're called to the stand, keep your answers simple, short and non-leading. Ms. Vincent's lawyer will have nothing else to follow up on if you do so."

"Concise and non-leading. Got it." I nodded with a straight face but my stomach was exploding with uneasiness.

"I'll give you guys a moment. Everyone enters before the judge so be seated in twenty."

"Okay, we'll be there in a minute." I brushed the invisible lint from my matching black velvet pantsuit attempting to distract myself. But my anxiety only grows by the second.

My lawyer makes eye contact with both men that refused to let me out of their sight, before walking through those gigantic brown doors with his leather briefcase in one hand and water bottle in the other.

"Are you sure you want to enter now?" Dad asked cautiously. "It might rattle you just sitting in the chair waiting."

Dad used his PTO to be here for the weekend but by Monday he was required to be at the hospital for his day shift. Niko was staying over at Eleanor's for a couple of days just to keep him away from this type of setting.

"Your Dad's right. The waiting might just make you more nervous." Zachariah agreed with my father.

"Yeah, maybe you're right. I should freshen up—

The doors to the courthouse swing open and all heads turn to the level of noise coming from the street. The person who brought it up, to begin with, was not much of a surprise to anyone.

"Ms. Vincent, how are you handling the news that other potential clients may not want to work with you because of this situation?"

"Ms. Vincent, are you sure you and your client's relationship will ever be the same?"

"Ms. Vincent, is it true that you have abused Ms. Winters emotionally and mentally this past few year?"

Security immediately goes to guard the entrance, blocking all news reporters and journalists from shoving their microphones and recorders toward the doors and the hall goes quiet once again.

The distant shouts cut out as the doors closed behind Kelsey and her overly extravagant entourage dressed in all white. Of course, she'd used this as an opportunity to make a fashion statement.

Dad sucks his teeth and grumbles a few not-so-nice words under his breath before walking away and Zachariah takes a protective step in front of me.

Like clockwork, our gazes meet for the first time in months. I watch her as she's examining me from head to toe and wait for her to give her disapproval of my choice of clothing. But instead, Kelsey's confident smirk sizzles down to only half a frown when she glances over my shoulder at her brother.

You could cut the tension in the room with a knife. It was that bad.

The two of them haven't spoken in weeks despite Kelsey calling, texting, and sending over tons of unnecessary gifts after Zach's injury. But not one time did she bother to visit.