Chapter 131 Chapter 131
Serena's Pov
The loud crack of the gavel echoed through the courtroom causing me to freeze for a moment.
"Order!" the judge bellowed, eyes sweeping the room.
My legs trembled, but I pushed myself forward. For a moment, the faces blurred, Liana looked stunned, Stanley's mouth dropped and Dominic scowled frozen in surprise. My heart pounded in my ears, but I forced myself to breathe.
"Serena?" Liana's voice cracked, incredulity and fear twisted in them. "What are you doing here?"
I steadied myself on the back of the wooden chair before me. "Don't worry," I said, attempting to sound as composed as possible. "I've got this."
The other lawyer sprang up immediately, his finger pointing at me as if I were a threat. "Your Honor, this is highly wrong! This lady does not belong here, she's unstable and unfit to testify."
His words hurt, but I stood my ground.
The judge's gaze landed on me, ominous and interrogative. "Ms. Serena… the court has been informed of your medical condition. Why are you here?”
“I have all it takes to throw Dominic behind bars.”
“How can we be certain the information you provide is accurate?"
I swallowed hard as I thought my words over carefully. The courtroom became so quiet, I could hear my own hard breathing.
“Because I lived it," I exclaimed, my voice trembling but steady. "I'm the one he hurt so I can prove it." I glanced at Dominic, sitting stiffly at the defense table. His lips curled in disgust. "All I'm asking is for one chance to show you the truth. Just one."
People murmured quietly.
The judge leaned back, gazing at me for a very long time. "And what truth is that?"
Rather than answering, I opened my bag. My hands shook, but I pulled out the flash drive like it was a sword tempered for this moment.
"This," I said. "Everything that he tried to bury."
The lawyer at once objected, shouting, "Objection, Your Honor! This is inadmissible…
“Overruled” the judge shouted, slamming the gavel again to silence him. He spoke to me again. "What specifically do you intend to show this court, Ms. Serena?"
"Evidence," I replied. "Emails. Bank statements. Recordings. Evidence of all the crimes he's committed. Evidence of what he did to me.".
Stanley suddenly spoke, his voice firm but unshaken. "Pardon my manners your Honor but Serena was in a relationship with the man in question shortly before her accident and that laptop is the evidence we were unable to access when you gave up an opportunity. If she says she has access, I believe her. And I plead you let her say her truth."
The judge relaxed gradually, then motioned with his hand. "Proceed."
I walked further into the courtroom on unsteady feet, sticking the flash drive into the laptop that was connected to the projector. The screen flickered to life, and the initial folder opened.
A gentle gasp ran through the room. I typed my codes in, each keystroke echoing like a heartbeat. My palms were moist, but muscle memory guided my fingers. Dominic's voice exploded in the quiet.
“This is absurd!" he shouted, half-rising. "Your Honor, this woman's insane, she's been hospitalized!"
"Sit down, Mr. Smith! Let the witness talk." the judge thundered.
I opened the first file with a snap. An audio clip played through the speakers:
Dominic's voice… low, menacing but recognizable.
I opened another document after that and projected out for everyone to see, line after line of him directing phony transfers, laundering money, bribing officials.
I went on. CCTV footage Dominic, holding me against his desk, hand raised, my face as white as fear as he shoved papers at me.
The gallery erupted into a whisper.
I stood tall, forcing my voice to stay strong. "For a while, he treated me well but along the line, he changed. Like my voice was not worth hearing. But today…” I glared at Dominic, my eyes meeting his, “today, my voice matters."
“Lies!" Dominic thundered, thumping his fists on the table. Sweat glistened on his temple, his face mottled with rage. His lawyer stuttered beside him, leafing through his notes.
I ignored them and clicked once more. Photographs filled the screen. My injuries, bruising on my arms, my ribs. Medical reports outlining each "accident" he made me suffer.
Gasps burst louder now, a wave of anger coursing through the gallery.
“Your Honor," I whispered, “lastly, he made my sister disappear.”
I click on the document that sold out how his team had made Elia disappear because she was in on their wrong practices. “
The judge's face turned red and his knuckles white on the bench. Dominic leaped to his feet, shouting over me. "This is forgery! Do you hear me? Forgery! None of this can be proven…”
But no one listened to him anymore.
The bailiffs advanced. His lawyer tugged on his arm, desperately.
The judge's gavel came down like thunder. "Enough!" His voice boomed, silencing all the sound. He glanced at the projector, at me, then Dominic. "This court has heard and seen enough. The proof is irrefutable."
Time seemed to drag on, my heart racing in my throat.
"In fraud, abuse, murder and conspiracy… This court finds in favor of Liana David's. Dominic Smith, you are hereby convicted."
The gavel struck the bench once more.
Pandemonium erupted. Officers ran toward Dominic, cuffing his arms behind him. He wrestled, snarling, "Don't touch me! I'll burn you all for this!" But they forced him to the floor, cuffing his wrists.
And then his eyes met mine.
Anger. Poison. Brute hate flared there as he struggled with the officers. Lip curled, teeth bared.
I didn't turn. I stood tall, chin up, lips compressed and unbothered.
Chains rattled as they dragged him out of the courtroom. His screams were stifled in the hallway until silence filled the room again. I breathed finally. My legs trembled, but before they could give way, arms wrapped around me.
It was Liana. She wrapped me in her arms, her face hidden in my shoulder. "You did it," she whispered through tears. "You did it."
Stanley's palm pressed firmly into my shoulder. "You saved us, Serena. You saved yourself.".
For the first time my chest relaxed. I took a deep breath but I wasn't trembling. And while the courtroom strolled out some in relief and some in pain, I knew this was something more than the fall of Dominic's dynasty.
Liana wiped her eyes, pulling back just enough to search my face. “But… tell us, Serena. How? How did you even do all this?”
Stanley leaned in too, his brow furrowed but his voice gentler than I’d ever heard it. “Yeah. You disappeared, then suddenly you walked in here with everything we needed. What happened?”
I took a shaky breath, feeling the weight of their eyes. For so long, I hadn’t trusted myself to speak. But now? Now I wanted them to know.