𝓫𝓪𝓭 𝓵𝓲𝓪𝓻 [ MULTIPLE]

ninety-two

"I hear Ms. Paes would like to say a few words to which Mr. Stan's team has agreed to. Please keep in mind that this might influence my decision on whether or not your client is guilty or not." she remains seated, on the other end of the room. she'd been avoiding the other side, despite feeling his eyes on her. at the far end of the room, dozens of reporters and cameras, ready to snap, to attack, to pounce on her as soon as it is all over. his lawyers nod at the judge, who simply motions her forward. her knees feel weak, her head feels full of cotton, but she knows she must get through this.

"when i first met Sebastian, I was in the most awful headspace. not long before I had tried to commit suicide and I was dealing with heavy public pressure. Mr. Stan and I became close as a consequence of our work – we were on-screen lovers, after all, we spent a whole of a time together. i thought I knew him as well as he seemed to know me. he certainly did know all my friends and acquaintances, all my work contracts and appearances. my calendar from beginning to end. it was work for him, after all." she chuckles wetly, shaking her leg softly, biting the side of her cheek. "I didn't even notice, to be honest. was it awful to be constantly blind-sided and told that every time he hurt me was due to management? yes. to be made believe that I was imagining things? yes. but things are even worse now." for the first time, she meets his eyes. he is sitting in between his team, body leaning forward on the table, looking so concentrated on intimidating her (or at least, that's how it feels to her). "how dare you come into my house after you so blatantly disrespected me? to force me to go through the memories of us, of what you made of me, under the guise of legal matter, just because you're not ready to let go of me? i hope you learn from this, I certainly did. i wake up every day, drag myself to work and am forced to see the man who has made my life a living hell, just so he could make a couple more dollars. you disgust me and i hope that someday the world will see the real you. not the person you sell."

with tears steadily falling, breath catching and becoming faster by the moment, head starting to spin, she makes her way back to her chair. she knows that all the media sitting behind her (and authorized by their teams as she sure as hell hadn't been warned they'd be there) have captured every single minute of her statement, that as soon as the verdict was given, those images would be everywhere. she can still feel his eyes on her.

"well ladies and gentlemen, I find the defendant guilty. Mr. Stan, you will pay the 2 million dollars requested by Ms Paes' team and I will too, issue a restraining order. I suggest that your bosses and handlers manage that on their own. Have a good day."

the judge is out of the room in seconds. matilde registers sebastian angrily yelling at her across the room and her lawyers congratulating each other next to her. but she can't move, can't talk, can't process. she is silent all the way to the car, flanked by her security team and yelling journalist. she is silent her entire ride home.

as soon as she's home, she crashes on the floor, on her knees, laughing and crying, all out of relief. she had made it. 

☁️☁️☁️☁️

a.n.: hi babies how did you like my rubbish trial? not my forte i must admit. 

but hey half the problem is out of the day, but it doesn't mean they are out of the woods yet. hope you enjoyed this update!