Cat Max.

Chapter nine.

If anyone had ever imagined to be sitting in a courtroom, it wouldn't have been for this reason. Nor gad any of them ever thought that everything that Max had said about the abuse of his father had been this bad. If anything, they had been made worse then Max had made them out to be.

Not a word had been said as all the evidence was being shown on screens. The sounds of glass breaking, the amount of sorries that had left Max's lips on the screens had been more then someone could count. The amount of times that Jos had raised his voice were more times then all the drivers had fingers and toes combined.

For many this was the hardest thing they had ever to bear, to even see with their own eyes. The many times that Lando had been accidentally on Wattpad and read those books about themselves where Max's dad had been portrayed as an abusive shit. It had been worse them those fanfics if Lando had to say so himself.

For Max this was probably the worse, the trip down horror lane, the amount of times he had to relive the pain that he tried to burry so deeply within his own mind. For all to see now, for all to know how bad Max's childhood had been. The pain that he had gone through, the many times that he had been hurt and yet never broke a bone.

If someone had wondered ever why Max had been the way he is, this would have been their answer. It would have explained why Max hated physical contact, why he was rude, why he was always angry, because it's easier to be angry at the world then admit that something is wrong.

And that it had never been your fault, that you had been done that dirty. That being angry to scare people off, to not have to let anyone in because your fear of getting hurt is traumatic. That you don't trust anyone anymore. That having to admit that you got hurt and that the man that is suppose to love you and raise you with love, had been a monster, caused all your traumas and fears is harder then one would like to admit.

The denial.

For many years in Max's life had he denied all signs of abuse. His fear of his father or the flinching when he was around others. He didn't want to admit what had happened to him. Which had taken Max at least almost twenty four years. It wasn't until a half year ago that he told the drivers at the summer break. He still was in denial back then.

The pain.

It's so unbearable that all he can do is hide, cry and pretend that the room is empty and that it's only him and Christian. That he can pretend that he isn't in court, facing the fact that his father had been abusive and that he went through it all because it's easier to deny it all.

The anger.

It's harder to hide the anger when it's the only outlet when you don't want people to know. The anger that had ran through his veins had been fuelled by his father's abuse and the fear of people thinking that he was being dramatic or that it's not true. That they would never believe him. But it was getting clearer to people.

The bargaining.

Max had many times tried to bargain with himself. He tried to find a way out of it, to escape the fact that it was real. He tried to bargain with Seb and Kimi about it, that if he ignored it, it wouldn't be there. That if he didn't go to therapy, it wouldn't exist. But each and every time had the two told him it didn't work like that.

The sadness.

Or how Seb had referred to as grief, the loss of all his privacy when a reporter had found Max and Jos behind the motorhomes. It wasn't meant in a bad way when he had posted it on Instagram. He only wanted to raise awareness for the Dutchman and get Jos away from him. Which had Max swarmed with reporters on the topic.

The real sadness.

The real sadness wasn't because his privacy had been broken, it was the feeling of having to come to terms with the fact that he been done wrong and that his father had been the way that all the evidence had shown. That it wasn't some type of nightmare that he could wake up from. It was his reality and he had to learn to live with it now.

The acceptance.

But in the end he had accepted the fact that it happened and that there were enough people ho love him to keep him safe and protect him. His mother had come to Monaco and had been living with him all since America, where the news broke. With the therapy, the drivers and the love of Daniel, was he slowly healing. He had accepted that it had happened.

But it didn't mean it would hurt any less, Max came to the point that he realised he had gone through the five stages of grief along the way. But today was it his turn to add one more to that list. It was his time to make six stages of grief.

Revenge.

And no. Not in the way that movies would do it. It was for Max putting his father through trial. His revenge was getting his father sentenced for the crime of abusing and manipulating him and destroying him from the inside. The revenge that he would get was not a usual one in the movie or book perspective. But it would be bittersweet nevertheless.

And after the trial, he would be free. Free from his father and from everything that had happened to him. No one could touch him, nothing could get to him anymore. Not related to that topic.

The only thing that Max hadn't ever thought would happen was how everyone believed him. The entire sport, all the formula one employees and the fans, not just his. Every fan of the sport had believed him, stood up for him and did something to show that it wasn't okay what had happened to Max.

Even the Fans of Lewis weren't okay with the abuse that Jos had put Max through. In that moment they could put their anger for Max winning the title aside and side with the Dutchman on it. Which made everything after it came out a lot easier for him.

"Sentenced to Twenty years in prison for child abuse and manipulation without parole." The judge says, slamming his hammer on the wood.

Everyone behind him cheers, but Max needs a minute to realise what had happened. What the judge had said and what kind of sentence his father had gotten. Before relief floods through his veins.

He's free.

Free from his father.

When everyone slowly walks outside, Daniel wraps his arms around Max. Hugging him tightly from behind, lovingly kissing the side of his head.

"I love you." Daniel mumbles to Max.

Max hums, leaning back against his boyfriend. The two follow the rest of the crowd, to follow them to the bar that they had decided to celebrate in if they won the case.

"I love you more." Max mumbles back.

(A/n) next chapter will be the epilogue. Hope you guys enjoyed the story!!