With Love, Étienne | ✓

Chapter Thirty-Two

TRIGGER WARNING: THERE IS A BRIEF DESCRIPTION AND MENTION OF S*XUAL AS*AULT LATER ON IN THE CHAPTER. IF THE TOPIC IS TRIGGERING OR MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE IN ANY WAY, PLEASE DO NOT READ ON. YOUR MENTAL HEALTH IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN A STORY AND PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES. I LOVE YOU.

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"PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME AND AGE FOR THE COURT RECORD."

Milo shuffled to a stand and crossed his arms behind his back. With his lawyer right beside him, he leaned forward with an expression of confidence and spoke in a clear voice that resonated through my ears.

"My name is Milo Harris and I'm twenty-three years old."

He was suited up to perfection, not a single wrinkle present. With neatly gelled hair and a million-dollar smile, he looked completely different to how he did a few days ago. There was an air of arrogance that surrounded him, and his lips seemed to be constantly positioned in a smirk and his eyes twinkled under the dim lighting of the courtroom.

"I want to direct you to the alleged incident on July twentieth of last year, if that's alright. Now, before that, what is your relationship with the plaintiff?"

"We were very close friends," he replied, feigning a frown, as though remembering back, "I mean, we've known each other for over ten years so we were almost like siblings."

My stomach rolled at the last comment and I had to resist the urge to slam my hand down on the table and call him out on his bullshit. Louella also looked like she had swallowed a lemon, and her eyes nervously flickered back and forth as each question was fired. Milo, however, was the only person in the room who appeared relaxed. He sat with ease and had an open expression on his face and I wondered how anyone else thought it was normal that he wasn't displaying any sort of emotion. If someone was falsely accused of sexual assault, wouldn't they be desperate to prove their innocence?

His lawyer clasped his hands together and nodded, "And on that particular night, where were you?"

"I was at home."

"And was there anyone else present before Miss Rey arrived, or after?"

Milo shook his head, "No, Sir. It was just the two of us."

"Now, I believe you two had a small tradition of sorts to meet up every weekend," his lawyer stated, "Is that correct?"

His face crinkled for a moment before he spoke, "Yes. It wasn't unusual for us to have these kinds of movie nights. We started the tradition with another friend of ours, Étienne, but when he went on a gap year, we thought it was best to still continue with them."

"Was this the first time you two had been alone during one of these nights?" he asked.

Milo shook his head once more, "No. There were plenty of times where only the two of us were free and we met up. Like I said, we've been friends for over ten years, so we were pretty comfortable in each other's company."

"I see. Now, Mister Harris, how about you explain to us what you believed happened on the night of July twentieth?"

"Of course," he smiled and cleared his throat.

"So, like Miss Rey already said, she arrived over to my house around ten. She was supposed to come around nine, but with traffic and other complications, she was a little late. Even still, she came in and we talked for a little bit, just catching up with the latest news and whatnot. It wasn't until about half an hour, or maybe an hour after she arrived that we started watching the movie," Milo started, "It was all going fine up until that point, but contrary to what Miss Rey claimed, it was actually her who initiated the first kiss with me."