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

A Choice is Made

"Do you swear to tell the truth, all the truth and nothing but the truth?"

"Yes." Lily entered the stand and sat down. Her heart was racing and her breathing was shallow. The idea of being watched, recorded and poked at with questions. Eren's lawyer came up with a stern look on his face.

"Mrs. Highland, is it true from the recent confirmations that Maxwell did indeed abuse you in your relationship?" He asked, beginning his pacing again. Lily was terrified and came up with something to counterask.

"Define abuse..." The man stopped in his place and thought for a moment. He then began to pace again and spoke,

"Abuse is when someone repeatedly mistreats and harms you. Did Maxwell do any of that?" Lily thought for a moment, looking at Eren who nodded and then Maxwell who shook his head. She sighed and made a choice.

"Yes... He would constantly slap me across the face and hurt me. He would touch me in places I did not want to be touched without my permission and..;" Her whole world froze as she was trying to think of how to say this. "And he gave me an alcoholic drink, knowing I was underage, proceed to make me drunk and had sex with me..." She added, shame written into her voice. People gasped and Maxwell rose to his seat in anger, yelling,

"LIAR! I LOVED YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING!" The judge banged his gavel and yelled angrily for silence. Soon the room fell silent and looked at Lily like mindless people.

"What was Eren's relationship with you?" The room was silent, anticipating the real answer everyone was having on their mind. Lily took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"Eren and I are lovers... more like soulmates at this point. The child I brought in today was his child. Not Maxwell's." She explained. The room fell into a gasp, Eren having a small smile on his face.

"When did the affair begin?" The lawyer asked as his pacing continued.

"It began the night of the show..."

Lily explained every little detail she could, including the night of love and lust.

"The next thing I knew, Maxwell was there with the cops, accusing Eren of harming me and holding me back from proving his innocence." The story ended. The crowd looked at one and another, perplexed on how to react. Maxwell was baffled with how to defend himself from the accusations faced against him.

"Is that it?""No... I want to say... I love Eren so much and I want him to be freed so he can help raise our daughter... Please..." Her begs were a desperate cry for freedom for the both. The judge looked at the jury who began to stand up and walk towards the door set for them to decide Eren's fate. The judge dismissed the people in the courtroom until the verdict as final.