One Nil to You (A Prince of Tennis Fanfiction)

Chapter 16

September 3, 2012

Romanovros Family Rental House — Loughboro Road, N.W., Washington DC, USA

Morning

While large family reunions, company picnics, barbecue blow-outs and locally organized festivities were happening outside to celebrate Labor Day, Juri was inside her bedroom watching a news footage replay of Mikhail's ongoing trial from last Friday in September 2 from her laptop:

Artur and Misuzu stepped out of a black Lincoln Town Car, dressed in sharp business attires and putting on period-correct sunglasses as security guards cleared a path for them past paparazzi and Looky-Lous on their way up the steps to the federal courthouse.

The news reporter's voice then narrated: "Taking the stand today was chairman and founder of Legacy International Inc., the estranged son of Mikhail and Yesfir Romanvoros, Artur Romanovros. The former legendary tennis player, who arrived three days after the trial began, joined Mr. Jacob Rygemann to provide testimony against his own parents in one of the most dramatic homicide and financial scandals ever to rock Wall Street, and to clear any suspicion on his family."

The video then shifted to a series of courtroom drawings of Mikhail and Yesfir who were seated at the defendant's table until Juri finally saw her father on the stand, giving testimony. Then the scene of the press conference from two weeks ago of August 24 came.

"During a press conference last August, Artur's younger sister, Michelin star chef and restaurant owner, Irina Romanovros explained that her brother kept his silence in order to protect her years ago back when he was still beginning to establish his career as a pro tennis player in Australia, as well as when Artur cut off his connection with his parents for good when he left New York. His sons, Eduard Romanovros, CEO of Legacy International Inc., and Nikolai Romanovros, a medical student at Oxford University, detailed how Mikhail fooled them nine years ago in saying he wanted to reconcile with their father, but instead assaulted their stepmother Misuzu Tezuka and almost killed her and their half-sister Juri Romanovros."

The mention of the incident made Juri's eyes burn with hatred and anger as she caressed the scar on her back. The scene of the press conference then changed to her father being interviewed for a news program.

"Do you feel guilty at all or any remorse that you're testifying against your own father?" the interviewer asked.

"I haven't had a father since I was eighteen. All those years he fooled me and my sister Irina into thinking he was a loving father and a respectable businessman. I kept quite for years to protect my sister and family's future. But just thinking of the man I invited into my home eight years ago, who convinced me into thinking that he's changed..." Artur paused and shook his head. "... I just really can't believe that Cecilia's murderer was eating and sleeping with my family that day. I guess I was just such a big fool into thinking he really wanted to patch things up and bring back the real honor of RGC. Maybe it's because of the love I still had for him as his son back then and my mother's unending pleadings to 'understand' him. But after what he did to Misuzu and my daughter, it was the final straw. The sure final. And today, I'm officially stating to the whole world that I am more than glad to help in putting away a monster and his dog for good even if he is being eaten away by cancer."

The newscaster's voice dropped in again: "Mr. Artur and Mr. Eduard have given both the U.S. and Australian authorities access to all of Legacy's departments and files which has confirmed that their has never had any history of business transactions with RGC, thus proving that they never had a hand in any of Mikhail and Yesfir's machinations. Emotions from both the United States and Australia have run the gamut. Friendships have been torn apart over this case. Even as the rogue founder of RGC Mikhail Romanovros is diagnosed with Stage 2 Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, not a single drop of public sympathy is given to him or his wife Yesfir who has been his accomplice for years, and more and more people are saying that Mikhail Romanovros should certainly pay for his crimes regardless of his condition. A cancer patient or not, the Mikhail Romanovros Case is making national headlines in two countries, and it's expected to be months before the case's verdict is concluded. In another story—"