Intertwined Fates -- An IPKKND FanFic

Miracles

Vikrant Amit's lawyer had never been so relaxed before a hearing in his life. Ever since Vikrant Amit had told him the plan, he'd stop putting in effort. They were going to lose this case and the judge would give Vikrant a light sentence. Then when Vikrant came out of jail, his father would spin a story about him turning a new leaf and would relaunch his political career.

The lawyer glanced over at his opponent: Ms. Khushi Kumari Gupta. She was completely absorbed in some papers, frowning slightly as she read. He pitied her. He'd been like her, too, when he first started out, all bright-eyed and bushy tailed, ready to take down the injustices of the world one by one. But he'd quickly learned that there was no time nor place for ideals in the real world.

In the real world, power and money made the rules. Justice was an abstract concept, something fed into the minds of children so that they wouldn't realize just yet what kind of world they would grow up into.

I'm sorry, Ms. Gupta, the lawyer thought. But it's time for you to wake up and smell the roses.

"All rise for the honorable judge."

The lawyer maintained an impassive expression as the testimonies of the orphanage girls were presented. Internally, he shuddered at the cruelty of his client, because he was sure that every single one of those girls spoke the truth. Nevertheless, he got up and argued that due to the trauma that she faced, Anya was mentally unsound and therefore, her testimony was not admissible in court.

As he sat down, he reminded himself that the truth was none of his business. Right now, he had one job only and that was to put on a good show.

Ms. Gupta presented the results from Anya's psychological exam, which declared her to be clinically sane.

"Furthermore, Your Honor, I have evidence that Mr. Vikrant Amit is very much familiar with Ms. Anya. I present to the court this clip of Mr. Amit last week, in which he stood in front of Anya's orphanage and called her by her name."

Vikrant's lawyer remembered seeing that video on the news last week. When he saw it, he'd had the urge to laugh and cry at the same time. Vikrant Amit may as well have taken a permanent marker and written "guilty" on his forehead. The lawyer had cursed the stupidity of his client for a solid minute, before remembering that the case was rigged and it didn't matter anyway.

But still, he was meant to put on a show and so that's what he did. He argued that Mr. Amit didn't know Anya, he'd only heard that she was the girl who accused him and so in his drunken state, he simply wanted to confront the girl who'd ruined his reputation.

Ms. Gupta got up. "Your honor, I have one more witness."

The judge sighed. Making a show of glancing at his watch, he said, "Is the defense aware of the witness?"

"Yes, your honor. Ms. Gupta sent us the details yesterday."

It didn't matter anyway if Ms. Gupta called one witness or a hundred. The outcome was already decided.

"Your honor, I call to the stand Ms. Saachi Kumar."

Vikrant's lawyer frowned as the judge jerked. But when the judge settled again and resumed his bored expression, the lawyer relaxed.

Nine years ago, when Saachi was thirteen, she stopped by to see her mother, who worked as a maid at XXX hotel. As Saachi was leaving the hotel, a man grabbed her arm. When she tried to scream, another one covered her mouth. Altogether, there were three men and they forced her into a storage closet, where they proceeded to rape her. Vikrant Amit had been one of those men.

The lawyer really didn't want to get into this. Perhaps he could have this witness thrown out altogether and they could wrap this whole thing up. "Objection, Your Honor. The testimony is irrelevant."