Trusting (KTH)

Chapter 62

Taehyung was picked up first thing in the morning but took a few minutes to re-review with Clara the schedule for the day before he left. Security would come for her around noon, from there they would get Yejin while driving to the courthouse and Yejin would be with her the rest of the day. Taehyung would watch the court proceeding from a private room while Clara was on the witness stand. The minute she was done she would be brought to him. From there they would return home, pick up the boys, and spend the evening tucked away in their apartment.

Taehyung's time on the witness stand didn't take as long as he expected. As expected, he watched the video again and then responded directly and clearly to every question.

No, he didn't make the video.

No, he didn't know who made the video.

No, he didn't give anyone permission to post it.

Yes, the video was of him and Clara.

Yes, it was taken in a hotel room on tour.

No, he had not benefited financially from the video in any way.

Before long they were done questioning him. He hoped that Clara's time in the witness seat would go just as well and she also would be done early. The company lawyers assured Taehyung that the other side's defense was hanging by a string so at any time they might simply fold and try to negotiate a settlement.

Taehyung was quickly bustled out of the courtroom and directly to a private viewing room with a manager and a security guard to watch the continuing proceedings. A second member of the security team was posted outside to ensure total privacy.

Taehyung could see Clara being ushered into the courtroom. He could tell she was nervous but her head was held high, prepared to simply get this over with. There were about 15 people in the room, nearly all men besides Clara and Yejin who was the sole visitor to the proceedings.

The judge kicked things off by confirming that Clara consented to Yejin staying for the questioning, then handed things over to the defense.

As expected they started by showing the video and asking Clara if she knew anything about it. Clara disavowed any relationship to the recording outside of obviously being a primary feature. She remained calm throughout the entire thing, although if Taehyung watched closely he could see her flinch periodically.

Taehyung expected them to try to corner Clara into saying she was jealous and was trying to demonstrate a claim on Taehyung, but things took a sudden unexpected turn sideways.

They began asking her about her sex life in detail. How often, what they did together, where, who initiated, what positions were preferred. Anything to humiliate his wife. The judge allowed the defense to continue even after several objections from the company lawyers when the defense claimed it would show that the circumstances presented in the video were out of the ordinary from their normal sex life which would serve as evidence that Clara was part of the video creation all along.

Clara endured endless questions. After each question she paused at length before finally stuttering out an answer. At first she looked at the lawyer before each response to see if she should answer, but eventually as the questions became increasingly invasive she couldn't even make eye contact with the man, looking only at Yejin who would softly nod to encourage her to keep going.

The defense thought of everything they possibly could to embarrass her. They asked her endless detailed questions from everything from her waxing patterns to exact techniques. They reshowed parts of the video pausing at the most mortifying and explicit moments to ask precise details. Taehyung could see Clara barely holding herself together as the interrogation droned on endlessly. Even Taehyung was flinching at some of the questions and he wasn't enduring it directly.