Two weeks passed since the dinner night with her so called boyfriend and his friends. A lot happened in these two weeks, she grew closer with Ethan and his friends. Maya apparently became her best friend, she liked their company and vice-versa. She visited Damien and other foster kids in alternate days. Soon first trial for Damien's custody arrived and she tried her best to comfort him in any way possible.
Monika was sitting with her manager Louis and Mr. Rey on the spectator's seating with the foster children who insisted to come along. Damien was seated on the attorney's table with his lawyer Mr. Eren. On the other side was Norman with his lawyer with a cold face.
The Bailiff announced the entry of the Judge and everybody stood up from their seat. The Judge ordered them to take their seats and start the trial. Mr. Eren passed Damien's official statement in written form to the Judge requested to call Damien on the witness box.
"Damien. I want you to tell everyone what you told us. What happened that night? Why did you run?" Damien turned to look at Monika who gave him a little nod and he proceeded.
"That night Mr. Norman got very angry because of my previous attempts to run away. He locked me in a dark room with Teresa (the governess)." He paused to look at Norman. "Teresa then went outside talking on the phone and she forgot to lock the doors. That's when I escaped and hid in the garden waiting for the right time to run away." He stopped.
"Can you tell us why you were trying to escape?" Mr. Eren asked again.
"My father sold me to Mr. Norman." Everyone gasped by his statement. "He kept telling me that I'm nothing but a burden. He made me do the difficult chores and he beat me." The attorney passed the medical reports to the Judge that confirmed physical abuse.
Mr. Norman was called on the witness box and his lawyer made his way to hand his innocent plea.
" Mr. Norman, is it true that you paid money to keep him?" Even asked him.
"Well you see, his father was a poor man, he came to me for help. But I offered him a deal that I'll take care of his child and pay his debts. That's all." He replied calmly.
"Don't lie Mr. Norman, the reports clearly shows you were abusive." Eren raised his voice. Norman's lawyer raised an objection for causing a dispute in the court and proceeded with the hearing. He called Damien's real father on the witness box.
"Can you tell us what was the deal about?" Mr. Colt asked him. Damien's father looked guilty and terrified. He couldn't look at his son out of guilt.
"Mr. Norman helped me to pay the debts and cover Damien's fees. He is a good man." He said looking at his feet. Monika and everyone stared him with disgust.
The hearing went on for another 30 minutes, but somehow Jake Norman managed to erase all the traces before raising any accusation. His lawyer did all the work to keep him away from any accusations so far. Things turned around and he was proved not guilty for child abuse as there were no proof against him for that. Though Damien confirmed about his abusive nature, he had a lot of money to turn the tables anytime and that's what happened.
"As per the proof. Damien's father gave Damien's custody to Mr. Norman and he even agreed that the marks on Damien's body is from him and Mr. Norman is innocent. The court announces Jake Norman as not guilty and release him from the charges against him. As there is no solid proof against him. But for keeping Damien illegally in his house and trading illegally both Mr. Norman and Damien's father doesn't get his custody and are given the penalty. Damien will be living with other foster kids for rest of his life until he gets adopted. The court is adjourned."
And with that the case closed. Though it didn't go as Monika and Louis planned but they were happy for Damien who could live peacefully from now on. Damien came running to Monika and hugged her and told her he didn't want anything else, he just wanted to be free from the hell hole.
Monika watched from distance as the press asked questions from Jake Norman. She was slightly disappointed by the decision as she wanted to see that man behind the bars. They glared at each other before they left. That night Damien slept in peace after celebrating his freedom with everyone in the management. Monika on the other hand kept thinking about ways to take Norman down.
"Finally. Some real food after such a stressful week." Louis sighed in relief with all the food placed in front of him.
"It's not over yet." Monika who was sitting across him stated. He just nodded in response as his mouth was stuffed with the food. "You didn't tell me about your obsession with Jake Norman." Louis stopped and shot his head up startling her. He gulped his food and leaned back on the chair leaving out a loud huff.
"We used to be friends in college. I joined his fathers company as junior assistant before him. His father always praised me for my hardwork and I think he didn't like it. So he tricked me into a foul play and I got kicked out." He stopped for once to open the sprite can. Monika placed her hand above his free hand to console him. "And now I'm here sitting inside a nice café with my favourite girl." He winked at Monika and she just chuckled in response.
"Did she just-" Steve and Matt stopped on their tracks when they saw Monika sitting with a random man. "Is she cheating on me?" He whispered in a loud tone and bolted towards them.
"Mon-mon." Monika turned her head quickly hearing familiar voice shouting at her. Steve stood through the entrance and Matt behind him holding his shoulder to stop him from making any move.
"Ste-" Steve cut her off mid sentence raising his hand in air. Monika stood up from her seat slightly confused and stared at him.
"What are you doing here? And who is he? Are you cheating on me?" He started shooting questions after questions grabbing an apple from the nearby table and breaking it in half just like that. Monika was surprised by his sudden outburst but she broke into a fit of laughter once he finished rambling.
"Done." She said and laughed again. " I'm having lunch with my manager as it's my recess and No I'm not cheating. He's a married man." She gave them a hug and introduced them to the manager who was laughing and Steve apologized for his sudden outburst. After sharing some quick talks she said her goodbye to Louis.
"Where are you guys headed? I can drop you." She offered them a ride which they gladly accepted I mean who would say no to a free ride. Both of them hopped inside the car like two excited babies and she drove off.
"Ethan and San tricked us and took the car. We were going to the arcade." Matt started telling about how he got tricked when he was in bathroom because he didn't do the dishes. Steve just rolled his eyes in response as he got stuck with him for being lazy. "So you see now we need to get there before they start second round." He completed taking a deep breath.
"Here you go sir." She stopped and smiled. She looked at Steve who was stuck deep into his own thoughts. "Your total will be a full meal and an ice cream." She said playing her role as driver to cheer him up a little.
"Matt you go. I've to pay for the ride." Matt looked at him with wide eyes and got off. She smiled and drove away in opposite direction. Matt went inside to join his friends for arcade still wearing a dumb expression.
" Where's our hulk?" San asked addressing Steve as Hulk.
" He's paying for our ride." Matt replied and took a seat beside Ethan.