I didn't sleep.
By the time the sun came up, I'd had four cups of coffee and practiced out loud what I would say to the judge a hundred times. Daniel had been texting me through the night, he couldn't sleep either - until he'd gone dark at three AM to meet with a lawyer.
Now, outside the courthouse, in a borrowed blazer that Ella had thrown at me to wear for today, I felt as if I were being led to my execution.
"You look like you're going to puke," she said, straightening my collar. "Breathe, Brook. You have the recording. You have the truth. That's got to be worth something."
"Scarlett has money. Lawyers. A sob story." I saw luxury cars come into the parking lot, there had to be hers. "The truth doesn't always win."
"It will be today." Ella squeezed my hand. "I believe in you."
In the courthouse, Daniel stood in the hallway and he looked hot as hell in his dark suit but you could see how tired he was. There was, on his right, a smart looking woman in her fifties his lawyer, I guessed.
"Brooklyn." He started to come toward me, then stopped, remembering we were not allowed near each other. The restraining order had not yet been issued, and a misstep could damage our cause.
"How did it go with the dean? I asked quietly.
His jaw tightened. "Suspended. Pending investigation. Again." He combed a hand through his hair. "He told me that if I'm caught even hanging out with you one more time before this is sorted, I'm fired. No appeals."
My heart cracked. "Daniel—"
"Miss Miller?" His lawyer came up, her hand outstretched. "I'm Catherine Walsh. We've got to plan some strategy before we go in."
She took us to a small conference room, covered the table with documents. "Here's where we stand. Scarlett's lawyer is saying you have been harassing her since the warehouse. That Professor Anderson has been leveraging his authority to force you into watching over her. They have the photo of you two in the dorm, multiple 'witness statements' from Addison and Chloe —"
"Wait, Addison's testifying for her?" I interrupted. "But she helped us!"
"Scarlett got to her. Threatened her family, most likely." Catherine's expression was grim. "Our case is weaker without her testimony and with the recording inadmissible. But we have your recording from yesterday. That's something."
"Is it enough?" Daniel asked.
"Honestly? I don't know. This judge is tough. He generally frowns upon student-teacher relationships, even legal ones. And Scarlett's one of the best attorneys in the state." She looked between us. "I have question for both of you and I need 100 percent honesty. Was there any physical encounter between you two before Professor Anderson was suspended the first time?"
Daniel and I exchanged glances.
"We met at the bar before all this but I know he was a professor. And he didn't know I was a student. We... spent the night together."
Catherine closed her eyes. "That's bad. Really bad. If Scarlett knows about that—"
"She doesn't," Daniel said quickly. "Nobody does but us and Brooklyn's best friend."
"Let it stay that way. Catherine gathered her papers. "The hearing begins in ten minutes. Let me do the talking. Do not respond to any of Scarlet's ravings, no matter how tangy. Judges hate emotional outbursts."
The courtroom was more modest than I'd expected, with a wood-paneled and stark look. The judge at the bench was an old man with piercing eyes and no warmth in his face. Scarlett took her place at the plaintiff's table, alongside her lawyer, a guy in an expensive suit who somehow managed to appear as though he could talk his way out of anything.
She looked perfect. Hair done, makeup perfect, dressed like a good girl in a boring blouse and skirt that shouted innocent victims. She wiped away tears with a tissue when she saw me.
The performance had already begun.
"All rise," the bailiff announced.
Judge Harrison looked at the papers, his frown deepening. "This is an ex parte application for restraining..." He looked up. "A student in college and her professor? Alleging stalking and harassment?"
"Yes, Your Honor," Scarlett's lawyer rose to his feet. "These two have been terrorizing my client. She fears for her safety."
"Let's hear it then."
For thirty minutes, Scarlett's lawyer drew a picture of me as this sort of obsessed, jealous stepsister who'd seduced a professor to get back at her boy friend. Then there was the guy who'd stalked Scarlett in the wake of that relationship's demise, dragging Daniel into a joint mission to terrorize her.
"My client was put in the position of having to defend herself at a party when Miss Miller attacked her," continued the attorney, smoothly. "She asked for help, she tried to reason with them, and they wouldn't stop harassing her. It was just yesterday that they took her to a park, in which they threatened her life."
"That's not true!" I began to rise, but Catherine laid her hand on my arm.
"It will be your turn next," she whispered.
The attorney put Chloe on the stand. She appeared nervous, her gaze downcast as she was sworn in.
"Miss Thomas, will you tell us what you saw?"
"I saw Brooklyn hurt Scarlett at a party," Chloe spoke softly. "Threw something at her, fractured her wrist. Then she and the professor pursued us through campus. We were terrified."
Lies. All lies. But Chloe delivered them convincingly.
Next came Addison. I felt my heart sink as she took the stand.
"Miss Matthews, you knew both sides. What did you observe?"
Addison's fingers twisted on her lap. "I saw… I saw Brooklyn and Professor Anderson in a room together. Multiple times. In his office. At parties. They seemed... intimate."
"Did you ever get the impression that Miss Miller was dangerous?"
Addison paused, her gaze resting on mine at last. I saw guilt there. Conflict. "I..."
"Miss Matthews?" the judge prompted.
"Yes," she whispered. "I was afraid she'd do something to Scarlett."
It was a more painful betrayal than any of Scarlett's direct assaults.
Finally, Scarlett took the stand. She could cry on cue, and her voice shook as she talked about how scared she was, about how all she wanted to do was feel safe again.
"All this, it wasn't supposed to happen — none of this," she sobbed. "All I want is for my stepsister to get help. And for that professor to leave me be. Is that so much to ask?"
It was masterful. I almost believed her.
Then it was our turn.
Catherine put me on the stand before anyone else. I was shaking my legs as I walked up, was sworn in, sat down.
"Miss Miller, do you mind telling us what actually occurred?"
I told the truth. All of it. Cheating… the bar, finding out Daniel was my professor, Scarlett's blackmail, the warehouse, the gun. Everything.
"And you have evidence of these accusations?" Judge Harrison asked.
I have a clip from yesterday. Scarlett confessing to the blackmail, manipulating—"
Scarlett's lawyer stood. "Objection, Your Honor. This recording was conducted without my client's knowledge and without his consent. It's inadmissible."
"Sustained," the judge said. "The recording cannot be considered."
My heart sank.
Catherine tried to salvage it. "Judge, and there was also evidence from the warehouse —"
"Evidence that has vanished into thin air," Scarlett's lawyer cut in. "No weapon was recovered. No threatening messages. It's just your word and this other person having an inappropriate relationship, against my trauma client."
"Professor Anderson," the judge looked at Daniel. "You do understand that, even if this relationship did start before she was your student, carrying the relationship on after she was a student is an egregious violation of ethics?"
"Yes, Your Honor," Daniel replied with conviction. But I was never Miss Scarlett Miller's stalker. Never threatened her. I was looking out for Brooklyn against—"
"From what? A girl who wants nothing more than to be left alone?" The judge's tone was skeptical. "Mr. Anderson, I've read your file. Suspended twice in one semester. Multiple complaints about inappropriate conduct. Maybe you're the one who needs to take a look at yourself."
I wanted to scream. Wanted to show them, all of them, who Scarlett was. But there was evidence we were fighting shadows.
"I'm going to rule," Judge Harrison said. "According to the evidence that I've heard and seen so far."
The courtroom doors burst open.
There Jayce stood, propped up heavily on crutches, his shoulder still wrapped. And next to him was a man in a police uniform, carrying a laptop.
"Your Honor," Jayce began, his voice echoing through the room. "I have evidence. Real evidence. Of who Scarlett really is."
Scarlett's face went white. "Jayce, what are you—"
"I'm telling the truth. Finally." The officer assisted him as he limped toward the camera. "I have text messages, emails and voice recordings showing that Scarlett masterminded all of it, your Honour. The celibacy, the coercion, the warehouse. All of it."
"This is preposterous!" Scarlett's lawyer objected. "My client's relationship with Mr. Jones is not pertinent —."
"When that messaging includes explicit plans to frame two innocent people for crimes they did not commit, it's particularly relevant," the police officer added. I'm Detective Marcus Carter, your Honor. We've had Miss Scarlett Miller under investigation for the last seventy-two hours. What we've found is... extensive."
He flipped open the laptop, swiveled it toward the judge. "Text messages planning the blackmail. Sending emails to fake witnesses inquiring whether their false testimony could be purchased. And this—" He clicked on an audio file.
Scarlett's Voice To The Courtroom: "I don't give a crap what you have to say Addison. You'll tell them that Brooklyn assaulted me, or I will put those photos of you from last summer online. The sort that you'd not want your parents to see."
Addison gasped from the gallery.
More recordings played. Scarlett threatens Chloe. Scarlett's mirth at gaming the legal system. Scarlett working out her next move against us.
The judge's face shadowed with every disclosure.
"How did you get these?" he demanded.
"Those Mr. Jones gave them," Detective Carter said. "He was recording Miss Miller's behavior to protect himself. "When he started to realize that she was lying under oath today, he decided it was time."
Scarlett stood abruptly. "This is—he's lying! Those recordings are fake! Jayce is just—"
"Please be seated, Miss Miller," Judge Harrison's voice was cold. "Detective, continue."
"And we found the gun at the warehouse. Scarlett has her fingerprints all over it. And we discovered the photographers whom she'd hired to track Miss Brooklyn Miller and Professor Anderson." He pulled out more documents. "Your Honor, we have enough evidence to indict this man for stalking and harassment, attempted murder, perjury and witness tampering."
The courtroom erupted.
Scarlett's lawyer attempted to make a statement, but the judge hushed him with his expression.
"Miss Scarlett Miller," Judge Harrison announced, his ebbing voice piercing through the noise. I'm not only denying your petition for a restraining order, I'm granting Rendon's request. You are not to communicate with Brooklyn Miller or Daniel Anderson." And I'm also remanding you to custody pending trial on the criminal side."
"What? No!" Scarlett screamed. "You can't do this! They're the criminals! They—"
Two bailiffs grabbed her arms.
"Let me go! JAYCE!" She thrashed against them. "Jayce, tell them! Tell them you're lying!"
Jayce looked into her eyes, and they were filled with sadness but determination. I've had it with covering up for you, Scarlett. I am tired of saving you from what you bring upon yourself."
As they pulled her, still screaming from the court room I felt under the table as if by magic Daniel's hand find mine.
We'd won.
Finally, impossibly, we'd won.
An hour later, outside the courthouse, Jayce sat on a bench looking drained.
"Thank you," I told him, sitting down next to him. "You saved us. Again."
"I owed you," he said simply. "For all that I made you endure. For not seeing clearly what Scarlett was, is." Daniel was a respectful distance beside him and he looked at Daniel. "Take care of her. She deserves someone who will."
"I will," Daniel promised.
Jayce limped off using his crutches and left me and Daniel alone for the first time in days.
"So," I said. "What now?"
Daniel caught me in his arms. "Now? "Well then, I'm just going to kiss you like I've been wanting since last weekend.
And he did. Standing on the steps of the courthouse, with the entire world watching.
Finally breaking apart, both of us panting for breath, he rested his forehead against mine. "I'm still your professor. We still can't—"
"I'm transferring," I interrupted. "Out of your class. Maybe even to online courses. Whatever it takes. I'm not letting you go, Daniel Anderson.
"You're sure?"
"I've never been more sure of anything." I kissed him again, softer this time. "We survived Scarlett. We can survive anything."
My phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number.
My blood ran cold as I opened it.
Unknown: Congratulations on your victory. Enjoy it while it lasts. Because what you don't know is that I'm not the only one who wants you gone. I was just the messenger. The real threat? You'll never see it coming. Sleep tight, Brooklyn. -S