Chapter 138
Chapter 138
Damian's POV
The courtroom had gone quiet, and tensed in a way that felt different from before. Not the respectful quiet that followed a judge’s entrance, and definitely not the tense silence that came before testimony.
This was the kind of quiet that arrived when people sensed something irreversible was about to happen.
Damian sat rigid in his seat, his attention fixed on the large screen mounted to the wall beside the judge’s bench. Reed stood a few feet away, calm on the surface, but internally alert. This was the moment everything pivoted on.
The judge adjusted her glasses.
“Counsel,” she said evenly, “you mentioned surveillance footage from the Jersey City facility, I assume you intend to present it now.”
“Yes, Your Honor,” Reed replied.
Vanessa’s spine stiffened, she kept her gaze forward, her posture flawless, legs crossed neatly at the ankle, hands resting in her lap. To anyone watching casually, she looked composed—bored, even.
But from the side glances Damian spared her, he could perceive she knew something, with how terrified she looked.
Reed reached for the remote. “The footage you are about to see,” he said calmly, “was retrieved directly from the laboratory’s internal security system. Time-stamped, unedited, and verified by an independent forensic analyst.”
Dr. Halver shifted in his seat as the screen flickered to life. Black and white footage filled the screen, it was grainy but clear enough. A sterile lab intake room appeared, the timestamp glowing in the corner. The date, and the time—the day the DNA samples were taken.
A low murmur rippled through the gallery.
The footage showed the intake table—metal, reflective, positioned beneath harsh overhead lights. A technician moved in and out of frame, then Dr. Halver himself appeared, adjusting gloves, organizing sample kits. Everything looked routine, normal.
Vanessa exhaled slowly through her mouth. Then the camera angle shifted slightly.
And she appeared—Vanessa Hart.
She entered the frame with practiced ease, holding a baby carrier in one hand, her expression calm, almost pleasant. This wasn’t the Vanessa from the courtroom, this was the Vanessa who moved like she owned every space she walked into.
She stepped closer to the intake desk.
Reed didn’t speak, he let the footage do the talking.
The screen showed Vanessa reaching into her bag, after the sample had been taken. Her movement was subtle, casual, masked by the angle of her body. She appeared to retrieve something small—a folded piece of paper.
The courtroom went completely silent, everyone was paying attention on the screen, on Vanessa's movements.
Vanessa’s fingers moved quickly, she placed the paper on the edge of the intake table, half-covered by the monitor on the table. It wasn’t dramatic, it wasn’t obvious, it was deliberate.
Then she withdrew her hand.
The footage continued, showing when Evelyn brought her baby in for the sample, showing her leave without anything suspicious, showing Damian's sample taken too.
Dr. Halver turned back toward the desk minutes later, after all the samples had been taken. His eyes flicked downward, then he paused, just for a second, then longer.
He noticed the paper, the camera caught it clearly now—the hesitation, the subtle shift in his posture as he glanced around. No one else was looking, no one appeared to notice.
He reached out, picked up the paper, and unfolded it.
His brows knit together in surprise, the courtroom held its breath, as people gasped.
On the screen, Dr. Halver looked up briefly, his gaze angled toward where Vanessa had exited the room. Then, slowly, deliberately, he folded the paper again, and slid it into his coat pocket.
The room exploded with gasps, whispers and shocked murmurs that the clerk struggled to control.
“Order!” the gavel struck sharply. “Order in the court!”
Damian felt like the air had been knocked out of his lungs. His eyes never left the screen, that was the moment, the moment his certainty cracked.
He turned, slowly, toward Vanessa.
She was still composed, but now her jaw was tight, her lips pressed together in a thin, controlled line. The mask hadn’t fallen completely yet, but fractures had appeared.
Reed spoke again, his voice steady, lethal in its restraint. “Your Honor, this footage establishes direct, undocumented contact between Miss Vanessa Hart and Dr. Halver on the day the DNA samples were processed.” He paused.
“It also demonstrates an exchange of material that was neither logged nor disclosed.”
The judge’s gaze shifted to Dr. Halver.
“Dr. Halver,” she said coolly, “would you care to explain that interaction?”
Dr. Halver swallowed. “I… I don’t recall—”
“Do you deny that you accepted that paper?” Reed asked.
Silence.
The judge leaned forward. “Answer the question.”
Dr. Halver’s shoulders slumped. “No,” he said quietly. “I don’t deny it.”
Vanessa’s fingers curled slowly against her palm. Reed didn’t look at her, he asked Dr Halver. “And would you care to explain why you concealed it?” he continued.
Dr. Halver’s gaze flicked, just once, toward Vanessa. She did not return it, but the connection was undeniable now. The court could see it, the judge could see it, Damian could see it, Reed turned slightly, finally allowing his eyes to land on Vanessa.
“Your Honor,” he said, “given this evidence, it is clear that the integrity of the Jersey City DNA test is compromised.”
He paused.
“And that the relationship between Miss Hart and Dr. Halver requires immediate investigation.”
The judge nodded slowly. “So ordered.”
Vanessa felt it then, the exposure, like the universe had pushed her, encouraged her to this stage, and was now trying to strip her naked.
The kind that stripped illusions bare, the universe she had so confidently believed bent in her favor was beginning to tilt, and she wasn’t sure she could control the fall.
And across the
courtroom, Damian Blackwood stared at her like he was seeing her for the very first time