Selfish Appetite [5 Seconds of Summer]

[30]

"No one ever gets tired of loving. They just get tired of waiting, apologizing, getting disappointed and being hurt."

- -

Sloan

In 1630, the first jury trial in the American Colonies took place in Plymouth. John Billington was accused of murdering fellow Mayflower colonist John Newcomin.

The jury, after deliberating, found him guilty of "willful murder by plain and notorious evidence," and he was executed by hanging.

Fast forward to 1920, and wife beating was outlawed in all U.S. states.

Yet, it wasn't until the 1970s, during the height of the women's movement, that the issue of domestic violence started to gain real attention.

Feminists and women's rights activists put pressure on society to see wife beating not as a private matter, but as a serious crime.

Though the practice of domestic violence has existed for centuries, it wasn't always seen as an aberration.

In fact, it was often overlooked, even normalized.

In 1964, Time Magazine referred to wife beating as "temporary therapy," a term my grandmother never forgot. She told me about it, her voice thick with anger when she recounted the absurdity of it.

That line, "temporary therapy," still rings in my ears, echoing her outrage.

As for trials, a bench trial is one in which there's no jury—only the judge, who both decides the facts and applies the law.

These trials are often suited for complex cases where deep legal knowledge is essential.

Ideally, a judge in such cases should be impartial and sharp, carefully weighing the nuances of the law.

Unless, of course, the judge has been bribed by Edward Strain. Strain, a defense lawyer with a notorious reputation, who recently found a way into the city's legal underbelly—corrupt and scummy, with a flair for exploiting the vulnerable.

Mina's trial barely lasted two months.

In the end, the judge ruled in Edward's favor, and true to form, he packed up and left the city with his winnings—his so-called "fair win" hanging heavy in the air like a bad smell.

Mina was devastated. We all were, to some extent, but deep down, we knew.

The odds had been against her from the start. Edward Strain was a key player in a broken system, one built on twisting the law to exploit the very people it was supposed to protect.

She feels a quiet satisfaction, proud of the decision she made—to stand up for herself, to take a step that, in her heart, she knew was right, even though justice wasn't fully served.

"Thank you. All of you." her voice wavers with emotion as she raises her glass, eyes meeting mine, Luke's, and Calum's.

We're the ones who had witnessed Ed's unhinged outburst, the explosive confession at his house that night. "I know this wasn't fair. It wasn't what I wanted. But I'm glad I tried. Thank you for testifying." her words are simple but heavy with the weight of everything she's endured.

Ally was there too, of course.

She'd been the first person Mina reached out to after everything had happened, the night she calls the incident.

The incident, she always says, as though those words are enough to carry the unbearable weight of what happened.

"And you." Mina's gaze shifts to Luke, her tone softer. "Thank you for taking my side. I know it must have been difficult. I know he's your family."