Zinnia gasped and turned to look at Leopold Sterling, who was smirking weirdly, "Who are you calling an old hag?!"
"Hey, isn't that Austin's mom over there? Why is your daughter sitting with the Littleton family's witnesses? Don't tell me she's the witness Vivienne Hawthorn mentioned."
Zinnia retorted, "Impossible! She's my daughter; why would she side with strangers?!"
Leopold chuckled disdainfully, "Oh, now you remember she's your daughter? What were you doing before?!"
"You!"
"Order!"
The judge frowned, banging the gavel for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.
Looking down at Cassidy, who stood confidently in the witness stand, the judge's frown deepened, "Witness, please present your testimony."
Cassidy glanced towards her mother Zinnia, who was staring at her in shock, and smiled slightly, "Your Honor, my name is Cassidy. I'm supposedly the girl Julian was accused of harassing."
"I can affirm, Julian has been the best teacher I've had since starting school. He did not harass me. The whole situation was a scam orchestrated by my mother Zinnia and Kipling Abernasy."
The courtroom erupted in shock.
Zinnia screamed, "You little brat! What nonsense are you spouting?! Get down here, I've done so much for you, and this is how you repay me?!"
Kipling was equally unsettled, "Cassidy, have you lost your mind?! Do you realize what you're saying? Come down now!"
Cassidy's smile only grew wider.
She seemed to relish peeling off the masks from Zinnia and Kipling layer by layer, "Of course, I know what I'm saying, Your Honor. I am the victim here, and I can assure everyone more than anyone else that Julian did nothing wrong."
Ramona Grimshaw, standing aside with her makeup perfectly done, flashed a cold look.
She was surprised that Vivienne had managed to bring Cassidy, the very person involved, as a witness.
Her mind raced, and she suddenly spoke up, "Your Honor, I've heard Cassidy suffers from severe depression. Can we really trust the testimony of someone mentally unstable?"
Vivienne calmly retorted, "Ms. Grimshaw, if you had educated yourself, you'd know depression isn't amnesia. People with depression are only emotionally down but their memory and awareness are as sharp as anyone else's."
Jerry Perez added, "Legally, there's no rule against people with depression testifying. Especially when the witness is the victim herself."
"Vivienne, you bastards! What did you do to my daughter? Your Honor, I demand a medical examination to check if Vivienne has drugged my daughter!"
Zinnia screamed, trying to break through the police barrier, "Cassidy, come back! Don't make a scene here. How could I, as your mother, not know about your condition?!"
"What do you know?"
Cassidy responded coldly, "Do you know how to sell me off to influential old men, or how to make me serve as a maid for you and Austin?"
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Million-Dollar Heart