What If...: The Story of What Could Have Been

A Side of Snakes

After each side had presented their openings and the stipulated facts, it was time to call the witnesses up. Of course the main witness would go last so it could leave a taste in the jury's mouth. The first one up was Maxwell of course. Once he swore to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, he sat down in the witness chair and did the boss pose.

"Now Mr. Maxwell Highland, how long has your relationship with your wife, Mrs. Maxwell Highland being going on for?" Maxwell pondered for a moment and then finally answered,

"For about two years." His face was emotionless.

"Would you consider your relationship with her happy?" The lawyer began to pace after asking that question.

"Of course. We have always been happy until the lion tamer came in." Maxwell glared at Eren, trying to scare the man. Lily looked at Eren out of fear, Rosie close to her chest.

"What did the lion tamer do exactly?" The lawyer looked at Maxwell then back at his hands, twiddling his thumbs as if this was all practiced.

"Well he lured my wife when they first met and threatened her to come back the next day to participate in something that could have killed her! She was so scared that she couldn't say no. The next day, I call her house to see if she wanted to go watch a movie with me but her mother said she went out and I assumed it was because she must have left something but the next thing I see when I get there is her squirming and shaking in fear. That... man was hurting her and scared her. I quickly attacked him and took her home, telling her parents everything and left." He summed up. Lily felt so cheated. He twisted the story around to where Eren was the one that hurt her, not Maxwell. The room began to grow into a mumble but the judge's gavel put it to a temporary stop.
"Maxwell. Please continue to explain your side of the story." The lawyer requested. Maxwell nodded and this was when his acting skills began to come into play.

"He called her. I don't know how he found her number but he did. He threatened her to perform in the circus because one of their freaks decided to leave." The rustle of Mika standing up in anger but being held back by her blonde friend could be heard. People looked at her in fear.

"It's a circus freak!"

"Why did they dare to appear. They know they are gonna lose the case."
"They could be shut down for harming a pregnant woman, let alone a woman."

"Order! Order!" The gavel clashing with the judge's booming voice. People silenced and the old man sighed. "Please continue Mr. Highland." Maxwell nodded and began to make tears swell in his eyes.

"I called the police on the man and made sure she was ok. Poor Lily was crying out of fear she would get hurt from the evil man that I had to calm her down in the car." His lies were clearly winning the jury. Eren though was getting sick and tired of the lies and stood up.

"Mr. Jackson, please sit down." The judge requested but Eren shook his head.

"Judge, he is lying! I would never hurt Lily..." His eyes looked at the girl and she looked back at him. The room fell silent as they could see something was missing to the story.

"Why would anyone believe someone who has a history in anger management? What if you relapsed and that is why Lily is so scared to say anything? What if you hurt my one true love from having a good life?" Tears were now running down the manipulative man's face, now winning the jury and the rest of the town. The few that didn't believe him was the circus people, Eren and Lily. The bailiff handed Maxwell some tissues to clean him up and everyone waited for him to calm down. "Thank you." A mutter left his lips and eventually a sniffle and a sigh meant he was ready to finish his part of the trial.

"Maxwell. Can you identify the lion tamer that hurt your wife?"
"Supposively!" A pair of eyes from the judge glared at lawyer defending Eren. Maxwell ignored the extra part and pointed at Eren.
"Him... He was the one who hurt my wife." The room fell to a gasp. Maxwell got out of the seat and walked down to his table, shooting a smirk at Eren. Eren glared back but turned his head to the judge and like everyone else, they were waiting for who they were going to call next.

"Now to the stand, Eren Jackson"