Linda looked towards her family and saw the panic written in their faces. The lawyer was trying to signal her to refuse to answer as was her right, while she contemplated the best possible decision. If she told the truth now, it would expose them all, and she would face a lot of backlash for using the death of her child in such a horrible way. But if she lied now and pretended it was the truth, and the truth was later revealed, she could go to jail for perjury.

"Your honour, I'd like to remind the witness of her right of refusal. Mrs Pratt, you can decide not to answer." Lawyer Thran said.

"She can refuse to answer the question, after all, we already have the proof I just revealed to the court. Her refusal to answer is enough indication of guilt."

"Objection! Persecuting the witness."

"Objection sustained. Mr Koen, refrain from accusations against a witness." The judge said.

Even he was panicking. He had been paid a lot of money to make the Pratt family win this lawsuit, but with such compelling evidence against them, there wasn't much he could do. If he tried to defend them, the public would immediately call for his head. It would ruin his whole career. He wasn't sure it was worth the risk.

But if the Pratt family decided to speak about his involvement in helping their case, he was still doomed. He began to sweat, even in the air conditioned room, because he had no idea what to do.

"Let me rephrase my statement then. This lawsuit was made to accuse Eliza Crest of pushing Linda Pratt down the stairs and killing her unborn baby through a miscarriage. You were so sure of your accusation a few moments ago till I brought evidence to prove her innocence, and now you're no longer unsure of your accusation. I urge this court to consider what reason there could be for that. A mother who lost her child would fight tooth and nail to make sure the offender is punished. So why the sudden silence from Linda Pratt and the Pratt family?"

He left them with that question and moved to take a seat. A recess was called while the Jury deliberated on their verdict. Most of them had also been paid off to support the Pratt family, but they knew they were in a tight corner, especially with the publicised trial. This was supposed to be an easy win for the Pratt family, but the tables had been turned against them.

"You think they'll still try something funny?" Eliza asked Alrik, and he nodded.

"There doesn't seem to be much they can do now that we have all the evidence on our side. Even the public opinion that was against us is now majorly in our favour. There are still some that claim I'm using my wealth to influence the trial outcome, but the majority are using their brains. If they try to side with the Pratt family, it won't end well. Your innocence has been proven without a doubt." He replied and she nodded.

She was a bit nervous, but his confidence made her less anxious. While they waited, Eliza was accosted by her mother.

"Have you no shame? Bringing your family down like this? All because of your greed. You refuse to care for…"

"I don't have time for this, Janet." Eliza interrupted, and her mother's eyes widened.

"Janet?"

"Why should I call you my mother when you accused me of a crime so heinous, and want to send me to jail for a crime I didn't commit? Even if there was a one percent chance of forgiveness, it's gone now. I will never forgive any of you for this. Are you even human?"

As Eliza spoke, her mother's face flushed in embarrassment because Eliza wasn't trying to be quiet, and people were watching them now, and whispering.

"Whatever. Let's just end all this. If you will issue an official apology to our family, and compensate us for damages, we'll drop the lawsuit."

Eliza laughed. Even the lawyers behind her chuckled, though they tried to remain professional.

"I didn't settle with you before the lawsuit when my name was being slandered without mercy. Why would I settle now when even the public is on my side? I just proved my innocence. An apology?" Eliza scoffed. "You must be delusional. You should be the one going down on your knees and begging me to spare you. Compensation?" Eliza laughed. "You owe me, not the other way around. By the time I'm done with you all, you'd be lucky to afford your next meal."

"The verdict hasn't been decided yet. There's still time for you to save…"

"Go away, Janet. You know you'll lose, that's why you're here to try one last time. Unfortunately, you didn't raise a fool."

When she saw that Eliza was no longer listening, or willing to respond, she huffed and stomped away. She and the rest of the Pratt family found a private room and locked themselves in.

"What do we do now? Our case is shit. I thought you said this X made sure to tie every loose end? Why do they have evidence against us then? I tried to make them settle, so we would drop the case, but that stubborn girl would not listen. You said it was a sure win. What happened?" Janet began to yell.

"I don't fucking know, okay? And I don't need your damn nagging right now. We need to figure out what to do." Gregory snapped at his wife.

"Well, we still have the second lawsuit, but they already proved the bank documents are invalid. It was part of what we planned to use in the next case. And if we lose this, the chance of winning the other one goes down significantly." Marco said.

"You're still thinking of the second lawsuit? We're fucking doomed. Will we even make it to that one? Right now, the crowd we pulled strings to keep around the court house are demanding our heads like this is some sort of medieval trial. There's video of me circulating online, bribing a court official. And proof that Linda's miscarriage happened before Eliza got to the house." Francis paced around the room.

"Whatever is happening, make sure to keep me out of it. You all planned this. I had nothing to do with it. I was still in the hospital because of the miscarriage when Eliza visited. This all started when you all pretended like I was still home, to try and make her stay for dinner. I refuse to go to jail for this." Linda said and separated herself from the rest of them.

Henry scoffed. "How do you intend to separate yourself from this, girl? You're the one whose face is in a video crying, and pretending like your baby was murdered. You're the one that will carry blame first before any of us, because it's your so-called trauma we have been advertising for days. Remember the donations you received from that go fund me or something like that? How do you think those people who contributed for that feel now that you've been exposed as a fraud?"

"I just went along with your plan! I can say I was just traumatised and confused. I can turn this around." Linda snapped.

"I warned you about trusting X. Where is X now that we're fucked? We can't even name X as an accomplice because we have no idea who the fuck X is." Marco said to his grandfather.

"Are you saying that's my fault? I tried to help us win this case. You were in charge of the lawyers. Why didn't you make sure the evidence was perfect, huh? You missed the date on the damn stamp!"

"Enough of this. Fighting won't get us anywhere. Court will resume in a few minutes. What happens if Eliza is declared innocent?" Janet said.

"If? You think the judge or the court will risk making a mistake? One wrong move and it will cause massive protests. I'm sure they will declare Eliza innocent. They have to." Marco said.

"Will we be punished for defamation then?" When I went to speak to her, she said she would make us pay a lot for compensation. Where would we get the money from?"

"The judge was paid to help us. I'm sure he'll find a way to make sure that even if Elize is declared innocent, we won't be punished. After all, she's the defendant. Only if she files her own lawsuit against us would we be made to pay her, right?"

They argued for several more minutes, before they had to return to court. But before they left the room, Henry Pratt received a message on his phone from X.

"You will lose the court case. Alrik won this time. But I will make sure he still feels loss today."

Henry Pratt had no idea what that meant, but he joined the rest to the court room as the jury and the judge returned. Just as they all sat, a man wearing a hoodie stood and pointed a gun at Eliza.

"You win today, Alrik, but at what cost? Enjoy being a widower."

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