Nicholas Grey Must Not Die | ✓

13 | Worse

"I've got scars by great white sharks, but I swam fast and I swam hard. All these miles I've walked, all these stumbles and falls, they led me straight to your arms"

~ Bridges (Pendulum)

  (THE WORD RAPE IS MENTIONED A FEW TIMES IN THIS CHAPTER, BUT NO DETAILS ARE USED AND NO DESCRIPTIONS ARE WRITTEN)      

NICHOLAS

Fear was choking me, making it hard to breathe in the spacious conference room. I sat next to my lawyer with my accusers, their families and their lawyers sitting directly before us. My heart was beating way too fast and way too loud for it to be normal. Seth had been talking to me about some video earlier today to prepare me for this meeting, but my mind had been absent, as it usually was nowadays. I should've been listening. I should've cared more; it was my future on the line, not anyone else's.

But it was hard. I felt like I was letting everyone down just by existing. My family's name, everything my parents had worked for, was being tarnished before my eyes. From my dad's superiors at the hospital to my mom's employees and longtime customers, they were all turning on us. All because I decided to screw around with some girls. It's become one of the most regretful moments in my life. I decided to play them because my heart was empty as it's been for the three years Iris's been away. I thought it would be fun and I was an absolute moron to think this way, but I never thought it would take the dark, deceitful turn it took.

The most painful part was not knowing how to prove my innocence. I knew I didn't do it. I knew it. I was more than a hundred percent sure that what I did with those girls in those rooms was just talk. My mind had been on Iris all night; I could barely hold a small conversation that night. They were the last thing on mind.

Recognizing that I was zoning out of the meeting, I forced myself to focus on what was going on in the room. Immediately, the thick tension in the room hit me like a wall of bricks. The fathers were glaring holes through my head, trying to murder me with their eyes for hurting their little girls. I didn't know what to do. Surely, I couldn't blame them. They really believed I'd done what was being accused. The moms, on the other hand, were comforting their daughters, who all seemed equally distraught to be in a confined room with me.

Jesus Christ. It took all the strength within me to not glare at all of them. I was angry. I was furious. I was disappointed. And most of all, I was tired. They have ruined me, all because I did something so incredibly stupid.

One of their lawyers, Anne Davin, cleared her throat. She pushed her blonde hair behind her ear and caught Seth's eyes. "We're ready to go to trial unless your client agrees to plead guilty. Then perhaps we can talk less prison time with his plea deal." Her voice was sharp, demanding. I let out a hollow breath, feeling the little hope I was holding on to vanish into the hot thin air.

I'd expected Seth to give into her confident demeanor. He, however, sat taller. Intertwining his hands on the desk, he stared her down. "My client will not be pleading guilty. This case will not go to trial for the rape accusations but it might for the defamation charges I will be bringing up against your clients for falsely accusing my client."

My mouth gaped open at his words. What was he talking about?

"How dare you?" one of the fathers roared, practically lunging out of his seat to glare down at Seth. His face had turned red. The others seemed ready to join in when Anne calmed them down with hushed words. They seemed to retreat back into their seats, but they were still fuming. I just sat there confused, scared, and with my heart stuck in my throat as I waited for Seth to explain himself.