wine stains

perjury

Between lots of uninteresting questions, Jack finally tuned in on the examination when an excellent question was made.

"Where were you on the night of the murder?"Kristin asks, exactly as planned by her.

"At home, sleeping. There's footage of my front door, and no one walked by it." He explains. The juri was seen taking notes of what he said. Zach makes sure to also write up the interesting points made. After all, he's here to work.

"So, you were alone." He nods. "Is there any chance of you leaving your house without it being through the front door?"

"No. It's an apartment. I either leave through the front door, or I jump out the window."

Kristin chuckles. "Has work been stressful in any way whatsoever?"

"Aside from the lawsuit, things have been going smoothly."

The couple rolls their eyes. "Get over it already." Jack mumbles.

"How did it make you feel? The lawsuit, I mean." She asks, concern laced in her voice. Like a dedicated mother would ask.

"Like I was the worst person to ever exist." Repent. So that's what he's aiming for. "I genuinely felt like a villain." If his tone of voice didn't convince you, his pitiful face definitely did.

"Objection, relevance?" Christina asks.

"Sustained. The questions should be about this case. The juri shall dismiss the defendant's answer."

"No further questions. I believe the juri knows the truth by now." She smiles.

Jack stands up and buttons his blazer. He fixes his tie and dusts off his pants. "Hello, Mr. Marais. Long time no see." He starts, ever so cocky. He raises a few sheets of paper. "On the night of the murder, you said you were a
sleeping. However, by watching the CCTV, there are two timeskips. One at 7.45pm and another at 9.12pm. Would you mind explaining it?"

"I-I- "Jonah starts, clearly taken back.

"Lying under oath is called perjury. Mr. Marais, one of the foundations of the legal system is the truth. Hence, the oath.
So, kindly explain it to me."Jack's voice has a certain tone of exigency and authority that makes everyone tense up.

Rook to E6. The rook is the second most powerful piece. It's worth five points. It moves horizontally and vertically. Two rooks can deliver a checkmate to a lone king rather easily. Knowing how much a rook is worth, how it moves, and especially how to move it accordingly, practically wins you the game.

He continues."Are you sure work wasn't stressful? Several of the workers saw you having an argument with an intern." He walks back to his table to grab a picture of her. "She showed up dead. Last seen with you." He shows the picture to the juri. Being confronted with actual evidence shakes Kristin's moral compass. After making sure to get his version of the story–one that she begged that it was the truth. Being lied to never feels great.

"I-It wasn't that serious of an argument!" He tries to explain himself, stuttering over his words. He was practically squirming. Anxiety slowly crept into his muscles.

"l'll bite into it." He shrugs and crosses his arms."What caused the argument in the first place?" His tone was now lighter, trying to get him to be truthful.

Everyone in court was holding their breaths. The room feels heavy with anticipation and fear. What exactly had Jonah done?

He starts."She was always talking about being on the evening broadcast, but we already had two people working there. We disagreed, and she took it outside."

"To do what?" Jack moves away, making sure that Zach is in Jonah's field of vision. As much as he loves his darling boyfriend, he needs him as a plot point.

"She was young, I'm not much older... the tension rose in the elevator, and we went outside. I made sure we were hidden because all journalists are nosy." He starts confessing, and Jack smirks. Gotcha.

"Always talking about your personal life, huh?" He asks, seemingly complaining. He sends an apologising glance at his boyfriend, who carefully takes notes of the trial.

"Yeah, I mean, just because I was sued doesn't mean I'm exactly a monster." He keeps thrusting the same technique of innocence. However, it's useless now.

"And maybe she saw through you. That you weren't a monster... just misunderstood." The cliché words nearly make Jack roll his eyes, but he had to. He was so close to actually getting an answer.

"She did. That's why we were so compatible." The way he looks up at Zach. It was like he was apologising for betraying him like that.

"She didn't judge you. No yapping about your work life being mixed with your personal life...  but then you remembered she's a journalist." His tone lowers a few tones. "They always get to the bottom of things, don't they?"

Jonah sneers. "They do. They're always so nosy, and they can't just shut up for one second." Jonah looks directly at Zach.

"I bet that makes you really mad, doesn't it?" Jonah nods. "We need words, Mr. Marais. The stenographer has to record it." One could hear the smirk on his lips.

"It does. They just... can't stay quiet." Zach sees Jonah close his fists." They always have something to say."

"And doesn't that just make you mad?" Jack tries to push him over the edge, getting him exactly where he wants him.

"Objection -" She's quickly cut off by Jonah.

"It does!" He makes a motion to stand up but quickly stops himself. "They never shut up! And they make the masses talk too! Always directing them, like they're sheep!" He raises his tone, looking at Jack, like he was the only one who understood him.

The rook traps the king. Jack feels the golden opportunity to finally end him

"Mr. Marais, does that make you..."He snaps his fingers." Snap?"

It was like clockwork. Jonah suddenly feels a wave of anger wash through him. He stands up and leans against the stand. "THEY NEVER SHUT THE FUCK UP. THE ONLY TIME THEY DO IS WHEN I STICK A KNIFE UP THEIR CHINS." He does the motion. "AND EVEN THEN, THEIR FUCKING HEARTS STILL MAKE LOUD FUCKING NOISES!"

In a desperate attempt, Jonah tries to move his king, but to no avail.

Zach was looking at Jonah, completely frozen. He truly dodged a bullet thanks to Jack. If he hadn't pretended to be his boyfriend, he would probably be dead by now.

Plenty of gasps are heard, and overall noise fills the courtroom. "Order! Order in my court!"

With the other rook, carefully placed by his darling boyfriend, he traps the king.

Checkmate.

"And that concludes the cross examination." Jack says quietly.

"The juri will now deliberate on the examinations done by the lawyers. Once they reach a unanimous decision, a decision will be made. Hearing adjourned." He slams the hammer twice.

Jonah is dragged back to where he came from, with Kristin berating him. Jack takes off his glasses and sits down on his chair. "You proved me wrong." Christina admits.

"You proved yourself wrong. I told you I was on your side from the beginning." He simply says, grabbing a ream of paper. His face displayed an expression of disdain. "I did it for him. Not you. And I'd be incapable of betraying him."

Jack suddenly feels a pair of arms around him. His face softens when he sees the ring on his hand. He sets down the ream of paper and turns to his lover. Zach only held him tighter. He comforts his lover, who turns out to be quite emotional about the end of the trial.

"It's okay, darling. He can't hurt you anymore." His tone was so gentle and sweet. Zach could only nod. Jack waits for him to let go of him and carefully wipes the tears that rolled down his cheeks.

"You two go. Corbyn and his detectives will help me with the paperwork." Christina says quietly.