"There is one more thing I have to share, sir," Lawyer Gibson said as he turned to face Maxwell.
He closed his car and moved closer to Maxwell.
Maxwell gave him a sceptical look as he wondered what else could be there apart from what the man had shared inside.
Lawyer Gibson had presented the evidence of Reyona's divorce, including the pictures of Thomas's assaults, the letter, and the video clip of the sessions that Reyona had in Gibson's office.
By the time he was done, even a two-year-old would have been convinced that Reyona was truly the one who instigated the divorce proceedings.
Though Maxwell was the one who had asked Gibson to come over with all the necessary documents, by the end of everything, he was not sure if it was the best thing to do.
Yes, it had fulfilled the intended purpose and one could see that even though Reyona still couldn't remember all those things happening, she was convinced of their truth.
The problem was that while Reyona and the others had had their eyes on the video clips extracted from the CCTV and the documents, Maxwell's eyes had been on Reyona.
She had masked it well after, but while she was looking at all that evidence of her marriage failure, he could see the unbearable pain she was going through.
It was almost like watching everything happen all over again.
"Fuck Lanoth for making all these necessary," Maxwell had thought as he tried his best to quell the urge he had to go over to her and wrap her up in his arms.
It was the least of his urges towards her these days.
Maxwell had finally admitted what he had been trying so hard not to think of.
Reyona Dexter had somehow become an important part of his life.
Maxwell was not a man known for flowery words nor did he like making promises.
Yet at that time, he just wanted to take her away from all the pain while giving her all the assurances he could think of.
The thought of how that would look to a woman who did not even remember him stopped him from acting upon the overpowering need to protect her.
It was enough that Reyona's father had pointedly asked him what his intentions were with his daughter.
Even though he had told the man that he was Reyona's friend and Toria had backed him up, he could see that her parents had not totally believed him.
Imagine grabbing their daughter in their presence, all in the name of giving assurances.
Those thoughts were what made Maxwell leave the room where the viewing was going on.
He stayed close by and was right on hand to see Gibson off.
He could see that Reyona had shored up her pain behind that passive look of hers and she was dry-eyed as she thanked the man for coming to do this.
He thought that part was done, and they could all focus on helping Reyona get her memory back or at least to form new memories, however the case may be.
So, he was surprised when Gibson turned to him with an earnest gaze and said, "I didn't want to bring it up in her presence before I figure it might not be good for her health, you know."
"What is it?" Maxwell asked immediately.
"I have some news from the investigators we hired earlier, sir."
"And?"
Gibson explained.
As Maxwell watched the taillights of Gibson's car disappear in the distance, he pondered what the man had said to him.
He decided to take a walk in his garden as he thought of what to do.
As he walked through the well-lit greenery, he thought of what the lawyer had said.
Was it necessary to divulge the information to Reyona?
What good would it do to her in her current situation?
It was about the investigation that had been ongoing after the clip about Reyona's sex tape was released.
The reason they had not been able to pin the purchase of either the mask or recording devices on Thomas was because he was not the one who had purchased them.
They had been trying to trace back everything that Thomas did during that time to show that he had really planned the seduction and gameplay just to trap Reyona.
But it was not him.
Someone else had gotten him the mask, the camcorder, and even the sexy lingerie that Reyona had on in the clip.
Thomas had planned his wife's humiliation with someone else.
Someone well known to Maxwell.
Susan.
**************
Blood-stained teeth chattered together as Thomas went crashing against the wooden table.
He blinked sluggishly, as fast as his bruised face would allow.
The man who had managed to save his drink in time before Thomas crashed into their table simply moved away from the path of the three burly men approaching.
Thomas was not a weakling.
He had been a coach at a gym and even owned a fitness centre after all.
Also, the fury in him that evening was enough for any man to steer clear of him.
Well, he had chosen to enter the den of men who were not just any men that night.
The main reason for coming to the seedy bar that night was because of the cheap, watered-down beer he could get there.
If he was charming enough too, he could even get a piece of ass that he could fuck in the bathroom or right there on the mouldy couches while every other person mind their damn business.
It was a place that used to be his usual haunt.
It was the place he met Susan.
Having a taste of the finer things of life had made him stop going to places like that before.
But it was the perfect place for him that night.
When he entered the lousily lit bar that night and breathed in the stale air that smelled of sweat, sin, and unfulfilled dreams, it felt like he had never left.