The tension in the courtroom was thick enough to suffocate.
Amelia's nails dug into the polished wood of the witness stand, her knuckles turning white.
Across the room, Ethan Blake stood tall, his expression unreadable, but his eyes burned with something dangerous—triumph.
"Your Honor," Ethan's deep voice echoed through the hushed hall, "I call my final witness to the stand."
The grand doors at the back of the courtroom creaked open.
Every head turned.
For a moment, Amelia's breath hitched, her heartbeat pounding so loud it drowned out every sound.
A figure stepped through the doors, moving slowly but with unmistakable purpose.
A man.
Tall, sharp-featured, his presence commanding even before he spoke a word.
And then—
Her eyes widened in shock.
Her vision blurred.
Her lips parted, but no sound came out.
It couldn't be…
Adrian Hale.
The man who had once destroyed her life before Ethan Blake ever entered it.
The one person who held the darkest chapters of her past in his iron grip.
Amelia's knees nearly buckled, her stomach twisting painfully as a cold sweat broke out across her forehead.
Why is he here? How did Ethan find him?
Her mind raced, every forgotten nightmare clawing its way back to the surface.
Adrian took the stand, his lips curling into a faint, dangerous smile.
"Miss White," he drawled, his voice smooth and venomous, "I've always told you… you can't outrun your past."
He turned to the judge, his words sharp as daggers.
"I am here to testify about Miss White's… questionable mental stability during our time together, and the dangerous choices she made that put not just herself—but others—in harm's way."
A collective gasp echoed through the courtroom.
Cameras clicked wildly, reporters scribbling down every damning word.
Amelia's vision swam.
She could barely draw in a breath.
Her carefully constructed world was collapsing around her, and the walls were closing in fast.
From the corner of the room, Damian stood frozen, his fists clenched, his eyes dark with barely contained fury.
But even he hadn't seen this coming.
This wasn't just a witness.
This was the one man capable of shattering Amelia's defense completely.
The judge called for a recess, his gavel pounding like the final nail in a coffin.
Amelia stood in the hallway outside the courtroom, her legs weak, her hands trembling violently.
"It's over…" she whispered to herself.
But then—
A soft, calm voice spoke behind her.
"Not yet."
She turned around sharply.
And there, standing against the marble columns like a shadow made flesh…
Was a woman she never thought she'd see again.
Her mother. Alive.