Adoption (Gone Wrong) » Bang Chan FF

Chapter 5 : Court

"The company's mad at you, isn't it?" Haein asked Chan at the dinner table while eating.

"What? No," Chan replied, trying to refuse. "It's not like that. They're just a bit, shocked. But don't worry, they'll accept it too."

"I'm so sorry you have to go through all of this because of me. I can't imagine how hard this must be for you."

"I told you, don't worry about me. Now just focus on your new life which you have ahead. I'm trying to get over with this stuff as quickly as possible so that we have nothing else to worry about anymore," he assured her.

And then finally, it was the day of the court hearing. Haein had no idea how anything was going to go. Chan and Haein sat right behind his lawyer. Haein's mom and dad were there too, they were held by the cops. She got really nervous looking at them.

Chan noticed her nervousness. He kept his palm on hers and said, "Hey, don't be nervous. You just have to go there and tell the judge what happened. Everyone here is on your side. I'm on your side. They won't be able to harm you anymore."

The court proceedings then started. Minjun stood up and started telling the judge, "Your honor, on the night of 3rd January, my client got a call from the victim who told him that her parents beat her, again. Mr. Bang immediately went to their house with the police and rescued her. This is clearly a case of child abuse."

Her parent's lawyer stood up in their defense, "My clients were clearly just disciplining their child. Is that a crime to do that now too? Everyone beats their child a bit sometimes. We don't put all parents in jail for that."

Minjun said, "Your honor, I would like to call the victim Haein in the witness box."

"Permission granted," the judge replied.

"It's your time to go," Chan whispered to her. "You can do it," he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

Haein stood up and went to the witness box.

"So tell us, what exactly happened that night?" Minjun questioned.

"I-I...," she looked at the people around and her eyes landed on her parents who were giving her death glares. Her throat dried up and the words just refused to come out from it. Harin lowered her gaze and just stood there frozen.

Minjun said, "Haein? Go on, tell us. No need to be scared."

Chan stood up suddenly gaining everyone's attention. It was as if he knew exactly what was going on inside her head. "Can I talk to her for a moment, please?" He quickly came infront of the witness box.

"Hey, hey, look at me," he said and Haein looked at him. "I know this is a nerve wrecking situation for you. But we've talked about this, right? It's now or never. If you don't speak up today, everything we've been fighting for will become useless. Do you wanna go back to where you came from? If you don't speak up today, even I can't help you. Please, do it for not anyone else but yourself."

"That night...," she finally said in a voice loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. "They were mad again for something, I don't remember exactly what. They took out their frustration on me again. It's been going on ever since I was 9. They've always been short tempered people but when I was 9, it went to a whole another level. No matter what I did, it was never enough for them. They would always take out their work and other frustrations on me. For the slightest inconvenience, they would verbally and physically assault me."

Haein looked at Chan who was looking at her with a proud look in his eyes. She lifted the sleeve of her top revealing her scratches and bruises. He looked at them and his expression changed into a pained one.

"Do these look like something a normal parent would do to their child, your honor?" Minjun spoke again. He continued to do his job and Haein was allowed to go back to her seat after her statement.

"You did a great job," Chan said as he kept a hand on her shoulder. She also smiled in response.

After everything, it was time for the judge to announce his decision. They were nervous. Chan was holding Haein's hand to keep her calm but deep inside he was also nervous.

"After seeing the victim, all the witnesses and the evidences, the court has decided to sentence the victim's parents 5 years of imprisonment. And since she has no other relatives to take her custody, the court gives Mr. Bang Christopher Chan her legal custody as he has proven himself worthy of her upbringing. As Mr. Bang is an idol, the whole procedures will be kept private, away from the public's eyes."

Chan and Haein immediately smiled and looked at each other. They made it, they finally made it.

They were now standing outside the court. Chan was busy talking to Minjun just a bit away from Haein. Just then Haein saw her parents being taken away by the police. But they stopped when they passed by her. She crossed her arms and pretended not to care.

Her dad called her and she looked at them. "Listen! I know you won't listen to me anyways but as your father, I would give you one last advice. If you're thinking you're finally free and are going to be happy now, then you're wrong. Everyone in this world is selfish. You're too young to understand that. This boy doesn't care about you. He's gonna use you and then you'll regret everything you've done. Mark my words," he said and the police finally dragged him away.

No matter how much Haein wanted to be unaffected by his words, it did awaken a little bit of worry and fear inside her. She knew people were selfish, but would Chan also turn out like that? Would he actually hurt her? No. She had to prove him wrong. She can totally be happy without them.

Just as she was engulfed in my thoughts, she heard Chan and Minjun's voices approaching. "Thanks, Minjun. Couldn't have done it without you," Chan said as they stopped right beside me. She started listening to them.

"No need to thank me, Chan. It was you who had done most of it." Minjun looked at Haein and continued, "You were so brave today! We're proud of you. You know, it's saddening that so many children are abused by their own parents but they can't say or do anything cause they don't have anyone to help them. But you are one of the few who broke through the abuse cycle. You should be proud of yourself."

"Thank you, Mr. Minjun," she replied with a smile.

"Let's go home now then, shall we?" Chan asked.

"Yeah."

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A/n : I think the story will finally gets better from here. I don't know. But I'm trying my best.😭