Husband With Benefits-Chapter 606: For Revenge

Another wave of whispers grew around the court when Bennett, continue," Miss Bianca. These are serious accusations. Do you have any evidence?"

"I was there. I saw it all unfold. And it’s not just me; others in the community knew too. It was why no one was willing to employ her. They were worried that she would go after them, break their household."

"Thank you, Miss Bianca," Bennett said, turning to the judge. "Your Honor, we believe that these testimonies highlight the concerning aspects of Miss Autumn’s character and question her suitability as a guardian for Arabelle." freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

Judge Holden looked to the defense table. "Counsel, you may cross-examine the witness."

The lawyer, Mr. Jenkins, then stood up, adjusting his tie. "Your honor, Mr Gabriel Frost will be taking on the cross questioning from here on."

Judge Holden nodded. "Proceed, Mr. Frost."

Autumn frowned then as Gabe stood up. He gave her hand a reassuring pat and then walked towards the witness stand.

"Miss Bianca, thank you for your testimony. I have a few questions for you. Miss Bianca, are you a trained mind reader?"

Bianca blinked, confused. "No, I’m not."

"A gifted fortune teller?"

Bianca shook her head in confusion and then at the lawyer on Gregory Savoy’s side, as if asking for help.

Gabe, however, feigned surprise. "Oh, I’m sorry for assuming, I thought you must be atleast one or both of those, given your ability to interpret Miss Autumn’s actions so precisely and with such surety.. Since you are neither, I think we should stick to facts, right. First, you mentioned that you and Miss Autumn were close friends for several years, correct?"

Bianca shifted slightly in her seat, a hint of nervousness crossing her face."Yes, that’s correct."

"And during this time, did you ever witness Miss Autumn acting inappropriately towards any other men?"

"No, I did not. But that is because..."

"Please stick to the question asked, Miss Bianca." Gabe cut her off as he paced slightly away, "So, the only instance you’re referring to is with your now-husband, Pierce, and her stepfather, correct?"

"Now, you say that she had desires for Mr Savoy, then did she tell you about those desires?"

"No. She did not."

"Then you assumed?"

"There was no need for assumption... her actions..."

"What kind of actions are you talking about? What did she ’do’ to seduce Mr Savoy. Mind you, I need actions that you personally witnessed and evidence of those."

Gabe waited, giving her a chance to continue and when she remained silent, he continued," Miss Bianca, your husband Pierce, did you ever think that he might be attracted to Miss Autumn?"

"No! Pierce was never attracted to Autumn." Bianca denied, immediately.

"Miss Bianca, you’ve just agreed that you are not a mind reader, so you do not know for sure if Mr Pierce was ever attracted to Miss Autumn. But, for now, lets put this aside. Miss Bianca, you mentioned that the community avoided employing Autumn because they feared she would, how did you put it, ’go after them’ and ’break their households’?"

"Yes, that’s right," Bianca replied, trying to regain her composure.

Gabe raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. So, are you saying that the entire community believes Miss Autumn has these supposed ’seductive powers’? Is she some sort of enchantress?"

A few chuckles rippled through the courtroom.

Bianca glared at him. "No, that’s not what I meant I..."

"Of course not," Gabe said, holding up a hand. "Let’s stick to what you meant, though I cannot help but wonder how unsuccessful an enchantress miss Autumn was that she failed to seduce both men she set her eyes on. Anyway, you said you saw it all unfold. You were there. Yet, you can’t provide any concrete evidence of these actions?"

"I told you, I saw it with my own eyes," Bianca insisted.

"Ah, the eyes," Gabe said, nodding thoughtfully. "The eyes can be tricky, can’t they? Ever seen a mirage, Miss Bianca? A trick of the light? Sometimes what we think we see isn’t quite what actually happened."

Bianca’s face reddened. "This isn’t about mirages."

"You’re right. It’s about facts." Gabe leaned in, his voice lowering conspiratorially. "Miss Bianca, do you know what confirmation bias is?"

"No," she snapped.

"It’s when someone believes something so strongly, they start seeing evidence of it everywhere, even when it’s not there." Gabe straightened up, addressing the court. "Miss Bianca has a history of jealousy towards Miss Autumn. This can be proven from testimonies from various teachers who knew Miss Bianca bad mouthed Autumn but let it slide because the girls were young and her other classmates who knew Miss Bianca to be a vindictive and jealous liar."

"Your honour, there is also another set of evidence that I’d like to bring to the court’s attention. It is actually not necessary to the case, but will help prove that Miss Bianca testimony cannot be taken into consideration as she is biased."

Walking back to the table, Gabe clicked on the projector and a series of photos started to appear as he explained," Your honor, these are pictures of these three people from they were young to the time when Miss Autumn left for her further studies. If we were to observe, in most pictures, Mr Pierce’s arm is around Autumn, or his gaze is on her. Secondly, this is a screenshot of messages from Mr Pierce’s phone to Autumn, asking her about her well being.. And lastly, I would like to play these two videos from outside Miss Autumn’s house and her place of work..."

Bianca’s eyes darted nervously. "No, it’s just... he was just being friendly. He is like that"

"Friendly?" Gabe’s voice hardened. "Friendly enough to send multiple messages to Miss Autumn, asking about her well-being? Friendly enough to be captured on video outside her house and her workplace? Friendly enough to try and ask Miss Autumn to be his mistress and break up her own marriage?"

"Miss Bianca, would you still say these actions are merely those of a concerned friend? Or perhaps, they reveal something deeper, something you’ve been unwilling to acknowledge?"

Bianca’s face flushed with anger. "This is ridiculous! You’re twisting everything!"

"Am I?" Gabe’s voice was cold and cutting. "Or are you the one twisting the truth, driven by jealousy and a desire to ruin Miss Autumn’s life?"