"Place your hand on the pack totem," the court clerk instructed.
Liam sighed nervously and placed his hands on the totem.
"Repeat the words... I will answer all questions truthfully... I shall say the truth and nothing but the truth,"
Liam barely made the words out in a whisper.
Lawyer Rousey stood up and went over to the dock when the formalities were completed.
"What's your name?" She asked.
"My name is Liam," he replied.
"And who are you to Mr. Cole?"
"I'm his best friend,"
"How long have you known him, and how close are you both?"
"We've been best friends since highschool. We tell each other everything. There are no secrets between. I know basically everything about him,"
"So it's safe to say that you knew about the one night stand he had with my client, Miss Amy?"
"Well, yes. He told me about the incident he had with her."
"And you're telling me that he didn't know about the pregnancy?"
"Unfortunately, he didn't. He left the city immediately after the incident. Due to personal reasons of course, "
"And how did he find out that Tris was his son?"
"Resemblance, I guess," Liam shrugged.
"Resemblance? Is that the only method of finding out that you are one's father? Is that even a choice?"
Liam opened his mouth to speak, but the words got stuck in his throat when he made eye contact with Cole's lawyer.
Before he went up and into the dock, Cole's lawyer had prepped him, warning him not to say anything that would implicate Cole. He warned Liam not to fall into her trap, as she would try to pry information out of him.
"Well, if you're not going to say it, I'll let it out. According to my client, your best friend got close to the boy without the consent of his mother, who is his guardian. According to her, he confessed himself that he was responsible for the drama that almost put Tris in trouble at his school. He also snuck him out of the zoo and took him to a park. They almost reported him missing, if not that they miraculously saw him in the monkey section. He also coaxed the boy and took him to the barbing salon, where he took his hair for a DNA test. All these things I've mentioned so far are crimes that should be overlooked, don't you think?"
Liam looked like a dummy in the dock.
You say he tells you everything, so that means he told you about his plans to steal the boy's hair for a DNA test. You can't tell me otherwise, because you were the person to introduce him to the doctor who ran the test. Or am I lying?" Rousey questioned him.
"Objection, my Lord!! It is improper of my colleague to accuse my clients without vivid evidence. Until she shows incriminating evidence to the court, all her words are mere assumptions that cannot be taken into consideration," Cole's lawyer argued.
"That is true. Rousey, I want to believe that you have evidence to back up for allegations?" The judge asked her.
"Well...," Rousey stared at Amy, who stared at Kayla, all three dumbfounded.
It was true that Cole said all that, but where was the evidence that he said it? They didn't record it with a phone, and it was their words against his. This was the only weapon that they had against Cole, and his lawyer had just disarmed it.
"It turns out we don't have any evidence to show the court... But if that wasn't the case, how did he get the DNA test?" Amy's lawyer queried.
"Is that the point of the matter? Are we going to focus on that, instead of the fact that your client kept his baby away from him for several years, and is currently unwilling to give the baby to the right owner?"
At this point, Rousey could not continue with the argument anymore. Cole's lawyer had refuted her arguments in absolution.
"Okay, we'll come back to that. Unto the next question. Mr. Liam?"
"Yes?"
"Is it true that Miss. Amy and her friend Kayla resigned from your company days ago? If so? Why?"
Liam's eyes came in contact with Mr. Tom, just as he was about to speak.
He'd also prepped him for this question. He was to lie and say something entirely different from what actually happened.
If Liam followed the instruction of Mr. Tom, he would hate himself forever. But at the same time, he had to side with his best friend.
What was he going to do?!
"Mr. Liam? Are you with us-"
"I sacked her," Liam shut his eyes.
"What?" Miss. Rousey stared at him, stunned.
"I sacked both of them because they were incompetent and always late," he explained.
Everyone looked stunned by the statement, but most especially Amy and Kayla. Their jaws almost dropped to the ground.
"Are... Are you telling the truth?"
"Y... Yes,"
"That will be all, my Lord," she walked away from the dock.
"We'll take a break and converge in the next fifteen minutes to hear the judge's verdict," the court clerk said, and everyone dispersed.
***
"Liam, thank you very much for standing by me. I know you'd hate yourself for...," Cole looked around, in case anyone was listening.
"For lying. You're the friend everyone needs. Thank you so much," Cole appreciated.
"Yeah, no problems. I need to leave. Work calls," Liam said coldly and turned his back on Cole without waiting for a goodbye.
While Cole wondered what was wrong with him, he heard someone call his name.
He turned back to see Amy standing before him.
A smirk came across his face as he adored the frustration written all over hers.
"What do you want? Have you finally come to beg me? Do you now know that I can get whatever I want?" He jeered.
"Bask in the triumph if you want to. I'm just here to tell you one thing"
She came close to him.
"Tris is my happiness. He's the reason I'm living. When you ran away, I contemplated abortion. I contemplated suicide. But I managed to pull through until I gave birth to him. You might have all the money in the world, but you don't know what it means to watch your son grow and get renewed hope everyday, even in hard times. You can have all the resources to pull him away from me, but..."
Cole saw a tear fall from her eyes to the ground, and cole felt as though he was just shot with a silver bullet.
".... But I'll let you know that Tris is my joy. Tris is my hope. Tris is my everything. Taking him away from me would kill me sooner or later. I... I just wanted to let you know that," she said and Cole watched as she walked away from him.