First hearing...
The day of Victor's first court session
The courtroom buzzed with a tense hum of whispers and shuffling papers, the kind where every cough echoed like a secret being spilled, and Ethan felt his stomach twist as he took the stand, his hands clasping the wooden rail to hide the slight tremble.
The judge's gavel had started the trial with a sharp crack that made the room fall silent, and now Victor sat across from him in a neat suit, his face calm as still as water, but his eyes locked on Ethan with that old hunger that made his skin crawl.
The lawyer asked questions in a steady voice, guiding Ethan through the nightmare— the stalking, the deepfakes, the trap in the house where memories turned to something devious.
Ethan spoke clear, his words measured very carefully...he and Alex had practiced this for the past week
