PAHINA PARA SA KADALDALAN NG AUTHOR.

The first novel of the Law Series.

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LAW SERIES (chronological order)

1. Defend Me, Attorney

BEFORE READING THIS STORY PLEASE BE ADVISED:

In court trials, I used the jury system instead of the usual bench trial that we have.

The Philippines has no jury system yet but in this series, I used the jury system for my readers to have a grasp of what would the justice system be, at some point, if we have juries instead of judges alone.

The reason will boil down to Philippine Jury Campaign International’s call for the Philippines to adapt the Jury system. I created a world where it exists so they would know how it works and how it differs from what we currently have.

The entire series revolve around my political and law campaigns. So you see, though I used a bit touch of reality, this series is STILL a reflection of how I perceive the world and how would some changes affect us.

Moreover, there are some scenes that the characters went bubbly or chaotic inside a courtroom. That doesn’t intend to show disrespect but just a solidification of the changes of the characters as the storyline progresses.

With the aforementioned scenarios, if you’re looking for a law fiction story with a hundred percent reality or closest to what we currently have, I guess, this story is NOT for you to read.

However, if you’d like to read still, please be reminded that I already warned you.

Stay safe! ♡

READ THIS BEFORE “CONVICT ME, ATTORNEY.”

DATE POSTED : July 11, 2020

Lightly edited lang po ito so please excuse typographical and grammatical errors that you may encounter.

Book cover by Heinz Gonzales ♡

PART ONE: WHERE IT ALL STARTED

“NASA KANTO AKO.”

After I received such message at this hour where everyone was asleep, I immediately get my jacket on top of my study table. With ease trying my best not to make any noise, I sneaked out.

Dad will really kill me if he finds out.

I grinned.

Soon as I closed the gate, I replied,

‘On my way.’

In a blink, the cold wind touched my skin. I shivered as I put my hands inside the pockets of my jacket, seeking a familiar warmth.

Within few steps, I saw a familiar figure standing in the corner of the street. From there, I noticed that the orange light coming from the nearby light post was the only light guiding him away from the night’s total darkness.

As I scanned him, I noticed he was wearing his weary and overly used black jacket he had been using since high school.

He waved his hand soon as he saw me. I smiled.

“What’s with the sudden text?” I asked, smiling.

He smiled back.

“I just wanna see you. Why? Can’t I?”

Beat.

There was something wrong with his smile. Instead of his signature cheerful and bright smile, it turned into a bitter and weak one. He looked so exhausted, seemed like he aged a lot when in fact he was just 19.

“You speak as if I’m your girlfriend when I am not,” I jokingly said, trying to lift up the atmosphere. “May problema ba?”

“Do I seem problematic?” he asked, acting like he was offended.

“You always are,” I joked.

We ended up laughing.

“How’s school?” he asked soon as we went back to our senses.

I grinned.

“Well, just so you know, girls from different departments are asking where you are and when are you coming back. Even Lady Snorlax, she misses you.”

We laughed again, making fun of our professor who openly showed her sexual desire for him.

“So, kailan ka nga ba papasok ulit?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I doubt that. Siguro, mag stop muna ako.”

My eyes widened. Between the two of us, s’ya itong ganado parati mag-aral.

“Why?” I asked, worry could be seen on my face. “M-May problema ba?”

He smiled bitterly as he met my eyes.

“It’s dad…”

I felt my heart took a sudden leap. His dad had always been his problem since we were children. He was, and still is, being beaten up for apparently no reason at all.

His family was once a wealthy family in our city, not until his alcoholic and gambler dad ruined things for them.

His mom had no choice but to accept random cleaning jobs for years until my dad personally hired her to do our laundries and that’s when we became friends. We often played, colored our books, and re-enacted famous scenes from the TV series we both loved to watch. I had witnessed how his mom will ask dad for advance payments for them to at least have a meal for the day.

Not just that, I witnessed also how his dad beaten him up: by hands, broom, hangers, and even through a belt. I had seen his scars and bruises. I was a witness of how traumatic his childhood was.

Nevertheless, he turned out to be a tall and smart man as we grow up. My dad sponsored his school tuition and expenses in exchange of him tutoring me for free. I’m a bit dense, you see. He was both the salutatorian in Elementary and High School, when in fact he can be the Valedictorian himself. Well, only if his dad was supportive enough.

In college, he took BS Biology as his pre-med course while I took Political Science as my pre-law. He was a consistent dean’s lister and his popularity in school because of his intellect and face was insane.

It was fine at first until he lost his track again. His father was no longer assaulting him physically but now, mentally. His mom became his dad’s recent punching bag. I told him we should report it to the authorities but his mom didn’t want to.

Left with no choice, I witnessed how he lost interest in his studies. He was forced to take countless part-time jobs just to earn money so his mom won’t be beaten up anymore.

I gulped.

“W-What’s with your dad?” I asked with anger arising within me. “Your mom got beaten up again?”

He smiled weakly and he looked down.

“He didn’t. This day, he didn’t…”

Astounded, I looked at him. “Wow, Traise! Bago ’yan, ha!”

He smiled shyly.

“Courtney, isn’t it a piece of good news? It’s the start. Mom won’t get slaps and bruises anymore.”

Confused, I forced a smile. “Dapat lang ’no! Ako bu-bugbog sa tatay mo, eh!”

He laughed. “Now you sound like a mad girlfriend.”

“Do you want me to?” I jokingly said.

“I’d love to.”

Flabbergasted, I looked at him.

No, he was not joking this time.

He looked down and let out a sigh. “But I can’t and I should not.”

I opened my mouth but nothing came out.

“I know you like me,” he said. He was smiling when he met my eyes. “My body might have been numb from all the beatings I got from my dad but my heart isn’t.”

“Since when?” I asked. My eyes were alarmed. “Since when did you know?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I just felt like you like me.”

“How?” I asked with nothing but determination in my eyes.

He looked at me and it was clear that he was seeking if there’s still a way out.

“Tell me, Traise,” I said eagerly. “How did you know?”

When he realized I won’t stop unless he’ll give me the explanation I wanted, his face started to soften. He stared at my eyes intently and suddenly, his lips curved a small smile.

“When you started giving me the look I gave you the moment I first laid my eyes on you…”

My jaw literally dropped. My heart just skipped a bit and I felt the entire zoo inside me.

How should I respond to that when he was looking deeply at my eyes and with a smile on his lips?

His smile widened. “I like you too.”

I literally bit my lower lip. Matagal ko nang pinangarap marinig sa kaniya iyon pero ngayong narinig ko na bakit parang gusto kong tumakbo? I can even feel my cheeks burning red.

However, before I could answer his sudden confession that never did I expect, he smiled weakly.

“But I should not,” he followed. “I must stop.”

“Why not?” I asked. A mixture of love, pain, and fear could be seen in my eyes. “You know I like you, you want me too. So why not? Why make things complicated for us when everything is mutual?”

“It’s not that easy,” he said. His eyes started to be emotional. “I’m…too messed up.”

“So what?” I asked. “You know I like messy things.”

“You… You don’t understand,” he argued.

“Then make me understand,” I eagerly replied.

“It won’t make sense,” he responded.

“Then make it makes sense.”

He looked at my face again and he was probably looking for an escape. When he ensured that I won’t let this go unless he’ll give me a valid reason, Traise heaved a sigh.

“Sobrang gulo ng buhay ko,” he started. “My family, my dad, even me, myself. My mind was exploited even at a very young age. I got all forms of beatings from dad that made me numb of it. I also saw how complicated life is for my mom, working her ass off 24/7. I saw how my dad abused her, time won’t pass that she won’t be getting a bruise or a slap.”

It caught me off guard. I never knew that the reason could be this deep.

“See, Courtney? Kahit na gustong gusto kong subukan, I’m… I’m too complicated for you. I want the best for you but I will never be the best. I’m just…one of those filths that might ruin you. With the dirt in my hands, I don’t wanna ruin you. You’re too precious for that.”

“Then I’ll fix you,” I said. “If you want, I’ll hold your hand while you fix yourself. I can always wait, Traise. You know that,” I said and my voice broke. I felt tears building up in my eyes. Desperate as it may seem but I don’t care anymore.

“You have no idea of what you’re saying. No one can save me,” Traise said and he looked directly at my eyes. “Not even you.”

That created a bang in my chest I couldn’t handle.

“That’s actually why I went here,” he said and tears were visibly forming in his eyes too. “I’m saying goodbye.”

My eyes grew bigger. “What… do you mean?”

He gave me a weak smile. “I know I’ve said goodbye for too many times, but this time… it’s real.”

Just then, his tears fell.

“Farewell, the best thing I never had,” he said while looking at me. My tears fell on my cheeks. “’Til we meet again…”

In no time, he turned his back. I watched him as he walked away. It created a deep pierce in my heart both literally and figuratively.

In this melancholic moment, he came to me like a thief in the night, carrying my own heart with him as we parted ways.

I started to cry so hard that even my sight got blurry due to my tears. With my chest feeling a lethal pain, I turned my back as well.

I can’t watch him slowly fading in the dark.

I just… can’t.

I started to walk but just when I was about to reach our gate, I heard noises-really loud noises as if it was an emergency or something.

Bewildered, I looked back again and that was when my roots were about to disown me.

There were cars, plenty of them—which were police mobile cars and all the police came out from it. In my horror, they gathered around Traise and pointed their gun at him.

“PUT YOUR HANDS UP IN THE AIR!” one police said. “YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!”

My eyes widened.

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?

Faster than I can, I ran in their direction but I was too late—he was caught and was pushed against the car as they tried to handcuff him with his hands on his back.

“You have the right to remain silent,” the police said. “Anything you say can be used against you in court. You have the right to have a lawyer present during questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided to you if you wish. If you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering at any time. Do you understand?”

I got stupefied. The next moment I knew, he was being arrested and was forced to go inside the car.

Just then, our eyes met.

He stopped, he smiled weakly, and he mouthed,

“I love you…”

That broke me.

When the police car closed, things came clearer to me as if I just got splashed by cold water.

I tried to come near him hysterically but the police did not allow me. Until the car departed and I was left standing still while crying.

“Kakilala mo ba ’yun?” a police asked me, watching the car departing as well. “Grabeng bata. Nakakatakot!”

I looked at him, confused. “B-Bakit po?”

But what I heard left me dumbstruck.

“Pinatay ang sariling ama.”

PART TWO: DEFEND ME, ATTORNEY

Crowded people.

Complete nuisance.

Noise coming from every corner I was not comfortable with.

It had been weeks, yet things didn’t go well. Weeks, yet things had become much worse than they already were.

I sighed.

“Dito raw nakakulong ’yung binatang pumatay sa sarili n’yang ama?” I heard a woman in her 40’s talking to the man in front of her. “Totoo ba?”

“Aba, oo!” a man who was wearing a shirt which reads ‘DETAINEE’ said

“Napakagandang lalaki. ’Di mo ma-iisip na magagawa n’ya ’yun. Napakatahimik pa pero kung magsalita ma’y halata mong matalino. Sayang nga eh.”

I closed my eyes, feeling chest pain crawling inside me. I was inside a detention center and paying a visit and hoping Traise would show up because he never showed up to any visit, not even once, not even if it was me.

Weeks had passed by but things became more tragic than anyone could ever think of. Turned out, he killed his dad. He really did it. He admitted it. Soon as the tragedy happened, he went straight to see me before surrendering himself, which didn’t happen because he was apparently caught.

His relatives condemned him, even our neighbors, they did. His mom got traumatized, she got admitted to a nearby hospital by his aunt. She won’t talk, she will just sometimes cry saying she saw blood and that someone killed someone, she’ll then scream.

To make things worse than worst, his case was being used by political power. His case was a national topic; murdering his dad and making her mom traumatized.

Everyone was mad, enraged, and wanting to kill him themselves. People were protesting outside the Supreme Court saying now is the perfect time to revive the Death Penalty again and let him be the first receiver. They said, people like him, who are monsters who fear no one should all be eliminated in the society by capital punishment. The public is that mad to the point that even my schoolmates and professors who once looked up to him now hated him.

Due to these, politicians started to use him as a great platform for their political agenda since the election was around the corner. Sort of publicity, I must say. Many leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives, in fact, were in discussion of the death penalty bill. The last time I knew, it was at the 2nd reading already. The public wanted it and if they want a guaranteed seat in the government, they’ll do what it takes to make it into a law and he might be the first receiver of it.

My mind was in a complex thinking state when it got washed away when he showed up. He was wearing a black shirt and a short. He then sat in front of me, no emotion can be seen on his face.

“You’re not wearing a detainee shirt like them,” I awkwardly said, trying to flash a smile.

“I’m remanded in custody,” he coldly replied as his cold eyes met mine.

Remanded in custody means they are detained but still have the rights with them and they are not considered a detainee yet so they have the right to wear their desired attire until they’re proven guilty.

“Mabuti naman nagpakita ka na sa ’kin,” I said, trying to smile. “You’ve been avoiding visits for weeks.”

“Because there’s no need for a visit,” he said, colder than he had ever been.

“But I’m not just anyone,” I said, “I’m…I’m your…your…”

He twisted a smile. “Everything between us had ended that night, Courtney,” and looked in my eyes. “Forget me.”

“I won’t,” I firmly said, trying to get a hold of myself.

“Look,” he said, making a face I never saw before. He looked and seemed different as if he was not the person I grew up with. “I’m a murderer. I killed my dad. Aren’t you scared of me, Courtney? Thinking I might kill you too?”

“Traise, I’m not,” I said, looking in his eyes still. “Because I know you are not capable of doing so.”

He laughed, mockingly. “Not capable?” and his face turned serious. “I just did.”

My mouth opened up to say something but none came out.

He inched the gap of our face and stared into my eyes. “If you think I’m still the same best friend you once had, you’re wrong. So stop acting like you know me because you don’t. I only let you see a part of me that will be convenient for you to see. We have our own dirty little secrets, Courtney. And what? You’ll save me? You can’t save someone who has no intention of being saved at all. The public is right, I’m a monster.”

His cold eyes looked at me sharply.

“So do me a favor. Don’t come here again. I don’t wanna see you.”

He stood up and started to walk away.  I was left with nothing but pain in me. Just then,  he stopped, and he looked back.

“The lawyer you sent me, I turned him down. A public defender will do. After all, no trials will happen.”

“W-Why?” I asked, shocked. “What do you mean?”

He smiled weakly.

“I’ll plea guilty.”

It had been hours since he said he’ll plea guilty but my mind still can’t absorb it. His preliminary trial will start two days from now at mababaliw na ako kakaisip kung paano ako makakagawa ng paraan to help him.

Preliminary trial happens before the actual trial. Ito ’yung part wherein the accused will either plea guilty or not guilty.

If nag guilty ang accused, it means ina-admit n’ya ang krimen and no trials will happen at doon na s’ya mismo sisintensyahan with a lighter verdict. However, if they plead not guilty, the judge will contemplate if there’s probable cause to continue the case. If wala, i di-dismiss ang kaso pero kung mayroon, trials will happen.

“There’s nothing that we can do then,” my professor said. “He keeps on admitting the crime. He’ll for sure plea guilty.”

I sighed. “Eh paano kung mali ’yung verdict?”

My professor laughed. “How can it be wrong when the accused keeps on admitting? Atsaka, bakit ba i-ginigiit mong inosente s’ya kahit napakaraming ebidensya na nagtuturo na he did the crime and even he, himself, admits it?”

I shrugged.

Bakit nga ba?

Bakit nga ba hindi pa rin ako naniniwala kahit na napakaraming ebidensya?

Frustratedly, I went to my next class.

“Ooops, and’yan na ’yung partner-in-crime n’ung criminal,” a woman said.

The class laughed.

“Anong sabi mo?” I immediately asked back.

“’Di ba, you were seen together when he got caught?” she asked smilingly while the whole class was in amusement. “Did you plan the killings together or what? Wow, what a great kink you got there, huh, Ms. Spencer.”

I smiled. “What if we did? And I’m planning to murder you now?”

She smiled as well. “Careful with words, miss. We’re studying law. I might get you kicked out due to death threat. Ang daming witness oh.”

I smirked. “In case I’ll be kicked out, okay lang at least pera ng tatay ko ipinambabayad ko. Eh ikaw? Saan ba galing tuition mo? Sa kaban ng bayan na ninanakaw ng tatay mo sa senado?”

She got dumbstruck. “WHAT?!”

The crowd was fully amused.

I smiled. “How’s your dad’s graft case, bitch?”

She got madly red. “Take those words back!”

I smirked. “I won’t. I can play the dirtiest shits so don’t mess with me!”

And soon as I turned my back, I heard her said something.

“Too bad…” she said, smiling. “My dad will sit as one of the juries in your friend’s case. I’ll make sure he’ll be convicted!”

With anger overflowing from me, in the blink of an eye, she felt a flying fist on her face. I was suspended for days but dad managed to make things well.

Until the day of the preliminary trial came and I found out the public defender was dad’s scholar and my senior in school. In my horror, the death penalty was on Senate action’s approved bill of the house already.

I locked the door.

“What’s with this rubbish?” the public defender asked after I locked him up together with me in the restroom. “The preliminary trial will start any minute now!”

Panting, I calmed myself. “I came here with dad’s request. Will your client plea guilty or not?”

Confused, he looked at me. “He says guilty.”

Dumbstruck, I maintained my posture.

“My dad says you’ll say not guilty.”

“WHAT?!” he exclaimed. “But…but… he… he says he’s—”

“You know he’s dad’s scholar as well, right? Dad believes he’s innocent. That’s why he’s asking you not to plea guilty and we’ll help you in the trial. It’s your first time in the field, gusto mo maging marumi kaagad record mo? First case, talo?”

It was a long argument when he finally said he will. To my surprise, he did say the accused pleaded not guilty that even he, Traise, got shocked. After the trial, they came out and our eyes met.

“It’s your doings, isn’t it?” Traise asked. “I told you not to meddle with my case!”

“It’s dad, okay!” I lied.

He scoffed. “Your dad visited me last night and said my case is hopeless. Whom are you lying to?”

And then the police accompanied him away. I saw the defender talking with someone over the phone and I know it was my dad.

Dad almost killed me, the defender almost killed himself too. I created a mess, I admit, and I didn’t know how to solve it. The defender was scared, as dad shouted at him madly for believing me and I got suspended. I promised to help him, at all cost.

“You did the awful of all awful things!” my dad said after he calmed down. “I’m disappointed in you!”

I looked down. “I’m sorry dad…”

“You didn’t help him! You just set his foot in his own grave!”

I looked at him.“P-Po?”

“The death penalty…the Senate approved it already and do you know where it is now? It’s being transmitted to the President and knowing the current public heat, he’ll sign it! There’s no reason to veto it. One sign and he’ll fall under it!”

I felt a loud bang in my chest.

“Once the bill got signed, and he got proven guilty…he’ll be receiving it. He’ll be killed instead of just imprisonment. He may be executed publicly, in broad day light, because of you! Your friend’s death will all be your fault!” he exclaimed angrily again and went upstairs.

The thought of making things worse than they already were didn’t put me to sleep.

What if, I really pushed him to his death? What if it’s all my fault? What if the defender won’t win the case, what will happen to him?

Will he be injected with lethal chemicals, beheaded in public, or will be the first victim of the electric chair?

I just… wanna help. I just… wanna make his name clear.

The next morning, I visited him again and this time, I didn’t have the confidence to meet his eyes.

“Himala,” he said, sitting in front of me. “Where did your confidence go? Did it run away when it realized the mess you did?”

Beat.

“Are you even aware that I may receive the death penalty because of what you did?”

I looked down. “S-Sorry…”

“Would that be your answer once you see me inside a coffin one fine day?”

I burst into tears. “Sorry…”

“Bakit ka umiiyak? Akala ko ba paninindigan mo?”

I bit my lower lip, crying still. “Sorry… gusto ko lang… gusto ko lang makatulong. Kasi… kasi ayoko makulong ka. Kasi… kasi hindi ako naniniwalang…ganun ka. Ginawa ko lang ’yun kasi concerned ako… kasi… mahal kita…”

There was a long pause of silence.

“You love me still kahit nakita mo na how monstrous I can be?” he later asked, breaking the ice. “I killed my dad, can’t you see it? Halimaw ako, Courtney. Demonyo.”

“No one wants to be a monster, Traise,” I said. “No one dreams to be a demon, unless being one is the only choice they have.”

He smirked. “Eh ’di naniniwala ka ngang I did it.”

I cried, finally. “Hindi ko alam… everything keeps on telling me you did… the evidence, kahit ikaw sinasabi mo rin. Pero hindi ko ma-absorb…ewan ko… ang gulo!”

“Then prove it,” he said, looking in my eyes. “You started it. You finish it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Investigate on your own. Seek for your evidence. Help the defender in court. Do everything, I don’t care. Seek answers for your questions and once you did, give me a verdict. Am I guilty, or am I not?”

Still in vagueness, I looked at him, “I… don’t understand.”

“What I’m saying is I’m handling you my life,” and he gave me the smile he often did during the days that everything seemed fine. When things were not as chaotic as this. The brightest and sweetest smile that could light up my mood, the smile I fell in love with.

And there, I noticed the pain in his eyes. He seemed so weary, so… tired of everything.

“I can plea guilty again since the trial hasn’t started yet but seeing things now, I guess, I won’t do that.”

“Why?” I asked, confusion in my eyes.

“Because I’m now having fun,” he said. “Guilty or not, I want you to know the answer. I want you to seek answers on your own. But I’m telling you, I did it,” and he looked genuinely in my eyes. “I killed my dad.”

With eyes whether lying or saying the truth, he then smiled.

“DEFEND ME, ATTORNEY…”

PART THREE: THE PROSECUTOR

The place was full of happy colors. In fact, alphabets and painted animals can be seen in every corner.

Similarly, joyful faces can be seen on everyone’s face.

“Okay, kids!” a woman said, wearing a uniform that seemed like a teacher. “I want you to draw what you wanna be in the future.”

“A police!” one shouted, even raising his hand.

The woman smiled.

“I said draw,” and looked at the class. “After thirty minutes teacher will check it, ha? You want stars?”

“

Opo

!“ they all shouted. The teacher then gave an encouraging smile. “Then start now!”

Everyone started drawing their dream job. With the possession of coloring materials, everyone seemed to enjoy the activity. Some drew a doctor, a teacher, policeman, chef, flight attendant, engineer, dentist and more but among all the usual professions, someone’s drawing was different.

“

Ano

sa’yo

?“ a girl with her ponytail asked.

The boy looked at her, shy. “Hindi ko alam…”

“

Ano

’yan?“ the teacher then asked, bewildered on the drawing she saw.

“I don’t have a dream, teacher,” the boy reasoned out, casually.

What the teacher saw were two drawings. The left showed a man beating his family, and the right showed a happy family.

“The only dream I have,” the innocent child said. “…is to finally see dad stop beating my mom…”

I opened my eyes.

What was that?

“Okay ka lang?” a voice asked and I recognized it. It was the public defender assigned to Traise’s case.

“Nakaidlip ka na,” he added. “Hindi na kita ginising, mukha kang pagod.”

There, I noticed where I was at. I was inside a room in the detention center designated for trial queries. It had been days since he asked me to defend him and days since I probably had lost my sanity. I kept on reading related cases and interviewing authorities to get a grasp of the case. In fact, tomorrow will be his first trial.

I wiped the tears in my eyes.

“Umiiyak ka?” the defender asked.

“No,” I calmly said. “Sa panaginip siguro, sir.”

He understandingly nodded.

“Don’t call me sir,” he said. “Our age gap isn’t that much. Just call me Newt. That’s my name.”

I smiled back. “Sure, Newt.”

I looked at my best friend, Traise, who was sleeping on the opposite side of the table. His face was facing me. As I looked at him, he still has the face of a man who carries the world on his shoulder. He has the face of a child who got abused and exploited at a very young age.

I can remember still how his body got daily bruises. I can remember how his dad let him starved. I can remember how he would usually be beaten up even with the presence of his friends. I can remember how he endured every single thing. Nevertheless, he grew up as a really good man.

“Newt, do you think he did it?” I asked the defender, looking at Traise still.

“At first I thought so,” then he looked at him too. “But now, I’m confused.”

I smiled. “I know. He has the most genuine mouth and realistic eyes and that’s the problem. His mouth says he did, but I can see in his eyes that he didn’t. It’s confusing, I don’t know anymore.”

“I bought us drinks,” Newt said. “Do you drink beers?”

“Beers?” I asked. “Canned?”

He nodded. I smiled.

I looked back at Traise and got to reminisce something that happened years ago when I first tasted a beer.

Growing up, I grew up really fond of him. In fact, I didn’t have any friends aside from him. We were literally together and grew up with each other. I was the best and the most comfortable when I was with him. Until one event happened that made me think twice if what I feel about him has exceeded the boundary of friendship.

We were invited to our senior’s party. While preparing for it, I didn’t have any idea what to wear or how should I dress because I was not really that stylish. So an hour before the party, I called Traise to come to our house and help me.

“So here it is!” I said, smiling.

Traise’s cold eyes looked at me with disbelief. “What am I supposed to do here?”

“

Tutulungan

mo ’ko mag-

ayos

,

siyempre

.“

“Ba’t ’di

ka

nalang

mag t-shirt at

pantalon

?“

“

Minsan

kailangan

ko rin

magmukhang

babae

,

ano

? Malay mo, may

magka

gusto

sa

’kin d’un, eh ’di graduate

ka

na

sa

pag

sunud

sunod

sa

’kin.“

We laughed.

“

Ano

ba

gagawin

ko?“ he asked. “

Bilisan

nalang

natin

.“

I smiled. “I’ll do make up and I’ll wear, for the first time ever, drum rolls please, a contact lens!”

I smiled so wide while saying those, hoping to see any emotions on his face but there was nothing but disgust.

“You’re embarrassing me,” he said. “Alam mo

manlang

ba pa’no ’yan

suotin

?“

“

Syempre

, hindi.“

“WHAT?!” he exclaimed.

“Kaya

ka

nga

nandito

, ’di ba? 

Tutulungan

mo ’ko.“

“Did you even ask me kung alam ko ’yang

mga

’yan

gawin

?“

I shrugged as I opened the lid where the pair of contact lens was placed.

“Doesn’t matter.”

Nevertheless, he helped me still, trying his best not to lose his temper.

“That hurts!” I complained.

“You wanted it!” he argued.

“You’re doing it wrong!”

“I know what I’m doing.”

“Can you, at least, be careful?!”

“I’m on track, okay? Just open your eyes wide and stop making that awkward moan sound!”

“I’m not moaning, I’m in pain!”

After minutes of arguing, we were able to put the contact lens on my eyes.

“Whoa!” I explained, looking at myself in the mirror. “It’s pretty, isn’t it?”

“Why do you need that, though?” 

I looked at him.

“Well, just so you know,” I started. 

“It’s because I’m not as attracted as anyone, not as hot as the girls at my age, not even as tall as them. My hair isn’t even straight, my skin isn’t that clear, my color isn’t that bright. I’m turning 20 next year but I haven’t gotten myself a boyfriend yet. Now, look at me, trying my best to look pretty because I never felt it, not even once, in my life. No man will ever like me. Satisfied?”

“Rubbish,” he murmured.

I heard that.

I looked at him sharply.

“What did you say? Did you just invalidate my pain?”

“Look,” he said. “It’s rubbish because I think it is. It’s so stupid of you to think that you’re not pretty just because your skin is not clear, your hair is not straight, you’re not tall, or you’re not as sexy as they are. It’s stupid because you are adhering with their standard to define yourself. So what if you’re not like them? That’s actually what makes you way prettier. You’re not just like them. You are you.”

My eyes widened as I didn’t expect that from him. I even felt my cheeks burning.

“And can you please stop blabbering things you are unaware of? You don’t see yourself when you are laughing so loud over silly things. You don’t see yourself when you’re eating your favourite food, listening to your favourite music, dancing to different melodies, or when you’re reading your favourite book. You don’t see how your eyes spark whenever you talk about the things you love. You don’t see how you shine when you’re doing the things you are so passionate about. You don’t see them, but someone else do. So do you think no one likes you? Stop acting like a child. You may not just be aware of it, but somebody out there is falling in love with every awkward move you do, in every second of every minute, of every day.”

My jaw partly dropped.

He stood up.

“Manunuod lang ako ng TV sa ibaba. Tawagin mo nalang ako kapag okay na.”

He then turned his back but before he went out, he said something that made my heart flutter.

“You’re pretty,” he said. “With or without those.”

He then walked out.

I was left there, standing, feeling my cheeks burning red.

I touched my chest as I felt like my heart was about to come out from my chest.

What was that?

Why do I feel like this?

Do I… like him?

Why do I suddenly see him as a man now?

Maybe, I do.

I closed my eyes as I sat on my bed.

No, not maybe.

Surely, I do.

There’s no point to deny it now.

I like him.

I shake my head as a smile curved on my lips, remembering what happened in the past.

“Stop looking at me.”

Felt like I got splashed by cold water when his eyes opened.

“And stop smiling.”

Shocked, I looked away.

“I-I’m not looking at you!” I lied, defensively, panicking.

“You are. You looked like you wanna kiss me.”

“WHAT?!” I exclaimed.

“You should’ve kissed me, ’di naman ako tatanggi. I might even fight back.”

He smiled.

“Try me.”

I felt my face turning red so I diverted the topic. “About…uh…tomorrow’s case…uh… what’s the plan?”

“We just talked about it earlier,” Newt said, trying his best not to laugh with the red face I have now. “They’ll insist it’s a patricide, a murder, but we’ll insist it’s justifiable homicide, a self-defense,” he added.

“Lies,” my friend murmured but I didn’t bother.

“In order for a self-defense to be a self-defense, it should be pinpointed that he was in imminent danger,” I said, contemplating.

“I wasn’t, okay? I told you, I killed him—”

“SHUT UP!” I said, looking sharply at him. “You told me to investigate, then I will. Whenever they ask you about things, don’t answer yet. Invoke your rights against self-incrimination and let your defender do the things.”

I then looked at Newt. “I think I know how can we make the scenario crucial for him to self-defend.”

“How?” he asked.

I smiled.

“Put me in the witness stand.”

The trial started. As expected, they did insist it’s a parricide and Newt said it’s justifiable homicide and if we win, he’ll be acquitted of all charges.

The opening arguments started, they presented evidence, and we also did.

“He’s a really good student,” said Ms. Snorlax on the witness stand. “I don’t think he can do it. He’s a model student and has a really good moral character. He won’t do that.”

“Nasubaybayan ko ’yan lumaki,” said by an old lady living near us. “Napakabait na bata n’yan, kahit noon pa. Napakatagal na nang alitan nila ng amain n’ya. Kung totoong gusto n’yang patayin, noon pa sana n’ya ginawa.”

“Half day lang po s’ya n’un,” said by the manager of a convenience store my friend worked at. “Dapat nga walang s’yang pasok n’un, day off n’ya ’yun eh. Pero pumasok parin s’ya.”

After hours of presenting facts and such, I got called. In no time, I saw myself on the witness stand, facing really loads of people and the media. I solemnly swear in front of them, that everything I will say was facts and nothing but just facts.

“Please state your name for the record,” the clerk asked.

“My name is Courtney Spencer,” I said.

“May I know your relationship with the accused?” Newt finally asked.

“I’m his friend.”

“Since when?”

“Since I was 6, I guess.”

“How does your relationship with the accused started?”

“It was when my dad hired his mom to do our laundries.”

“Why would his mom do your laundry?”

“For them to have a meal for the day.”

“How so? Don’t they have a job?”

I smiled. It was the start.

“His family used to own a restaurant before.”

“They have a restaurant so why would his mom do your laundry to have an income?”

“They went bankrupt.”

“Why?”

“His father was an alcoholic and a gambler.”

“OBJECTION YOUR HONOR!” a tall, and attractive prosecutor, around his 20’s said. “The defense is trying to yield serious allegation that has nothing to do with the case!”

“It will yield something relevant, Your Honor,” Newt fought back.

“Objection overruled,” the judge said. “Continue.”

The defender smiled. “Thank you, Your Honor.”

He then looked at me.

“What you’ve said is a serious allegation, if the court asked for evidence can you support your claim?”

“I can,” I confidently said.

New gave me an encouraging smile.

“At this time I would like to direct your attention on the screen. What can you see in the exhibit?”

“It’s…It’s familiar…” I stuttered.

“Can you remember it?”

“It’s…It’s our activity when we were in first grade,” I said, shocked.

“How did you know it was?”

“We were seatmates that time.”

“Can you recall what his explanation was?”

“Sure,” I said and gulped.

Newt flashed it again.

“We were asked to draw for our dream job that time,” I started. “But, he said he has no dream aside from seeing his dad finally stop beating his mom.”

It created noise in the court.

“Objection Your Honor!” the prosecutor said. “The defense is making up allegations the witness may not be able to support!”

“The witness is under an oath, Your Honor,” Newt said. “ She’s a law student herself, she knows what she’s saying.“

“Objection overruled, continue.”

Newt smirked, looking at the tensed prosecutor.

“You said his dad beats his mom, did I hear it right?” Newt asked me.

“Yes,” I answered.

“How often?”

“Everyday.”

Again, another noise.

“How about the accused, was he beaten up as well?”

I wandered my eyes and there, I saw Traise. He was silently sitting there, looking at me.

“Everyday,” I hardly uttered.

People were  murmuring.

“How did you say so?”

“We see each other every day because he tutors me and he’s my dad’s scholar. A day won’t pass that I can’t see bruises in his body.”

“You said you’re best friends. Was there a time when he told you he wanna beat his dad back?”

“No,” I said. “It was me who was always in a rage. He’s calm about it, saying… saying he loves his dad still, nevertheless….”

“Is there instances  in the span of your friendship that the accused has shown any aggressive behavior towards his dad?”

“None,” I said. “He would always prefer to see himself being beaten up by his dad instead of his mom and he would always prefer to endure the pain instead of putting his dad in jail.”

Newt smiled at me, a sense of victory can be seen on his face. He looked at the judge.

“Your Honor, the accused has been being abused by his dad a long time ago. If the accused has a behavior of a murderer, he would’ve executed it before but his records are all clear. He had been enduring the beatings of his dad so if he has a murderer behavior, he could’ve killed him ages ago. That’s why the case is not a murder, but self-defense. A defense for himself, and his mom,” and he looked at the juries. “The defense rests.”

“Would the prosecution like to cross-examine?” the judge then asked.

“We will, Your Honor.”

It was the prosecutor.

My eyes widened.

Why do I feel so heavy?

The prosecutor smiled soon as he took over the floor.

“I would like to ask few things I highlighted.”

He then looked at me.

“You said you are best friends, am I right?”

“Yes.”

“For how many years?”

“More than a decade.”

“And you see each other every day?”

“Yes.”

“Same school?”

“Yes.”

“Strong bond?”

“I guess so.”

“Strong enough to cover him up?”

My eyes grew bigger.

“OBJECTION, YOUR HONOR!” Newt stood up. “THE PROSECUTION IS TRYING TO INTIMIDATE THE WITNESS!”

“Objection sustained,” the judge said. “Change the question.”

The prosecutor bitterly smiled then he cleared his throat.

“At this moment, I would like to set your focus of mind on the night of Saturday, the night the accused was arrested. You said you were always together, were you with him that time?”

“Y-Yes,” I stuttered.

“What did you two do?”

“He went to our house.”

“Did he tell you he killed his dad that time?”

“He didn’t.”

“He went to you right after killing his dad. You said your friendship is strong, am I right?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Strong enough to tolerate his crime?”

My eyes grew bigger, shocked with the sudden punch of question.

“OBJECTION, YOUR HONOR! THE PROSECUTION IS MAKING UP ALLEGATIONS!” the defender said.

“Objection sustained. Change the question.”

The prosecutor flashed a playful smile.

What the hell is with this man? He has this power to make someone lunatic by his play of words!

“At this time, I would like to set your focus to the video on the screen. Let’s play it.”

In a flash, he played something on the screen.

I felt a bang in my chest.

What I saw left me petrified. It’s the video of the night we met, caught by a nearby CCTV.

“At this point in the video, you were hindering him to go. Were you stopping him from surrendering, or stopping him running from his crimes?”

“I told you, I’m not aware,” I said, my heart banging inside.

“What did you talk about, then?” he asked, amazed at the fear he saw in my eyes. “He killed someone and police are searching around. Of course, he’ll tell you something. What was it?”

“I told you, he didn’t tell me anything!” I defensively said.

“Was it a secret? On how he killed his dad?” he asked, adding fuel to my fear and panic.

“NO!”

“How to kill, perhaps?

“NO!”

“Was he asking you to remain silent about the crime he did?”

“OF COURSE NOT!”

“How to run away after killing someone, maybe?”

“I SAID NO!”

“OBJECTION—”

“Objection overruled. Let the witness answer.”

“IT WASN’T ABOUT KILLINGS, OKAY?!” I said, in tears, frustrated. “I… I… I confessed my love for him!”

Bang.

Silence.

The prosecutor bit his lower lip, looked in my eyes playfully, and flashed a tricky smile and faced the crowd.

“That’s it, Your Honor. The witness is filled with a subjective mind over a rational and objective one. She’s blinded by love and might twist facts to satisfy her love. I revoke her reliability as a witness,” he said, and looked into my eyes.

He smirked.

“I MOVE A STRIKE.”

PART FOUR: THE VEIL OF THE DARK

“I move a strike.”

My eyes grew bigger.

Moving a strike is taking all the things I said that could help my friend out of records, thus I, as a witness, will no longer be available to help him.

“I’m not done yet,” he said, smiling. “You concluded the accused cannot do harm and he had no thoughts of killing his dad, am I right?”

“Y-Yes,” I said, shaking, panicking.

“Then let’s take a look at these photos.”

What I saw uttered me speechless.

“It’s a comic book made by the accused. It’s about a son who killed his dad. He stabbed him, multiple times in the chest. Are you aware of the cause of death of the victim?”

“N-No…”

“He got stabbed in the chest, by a knife, multiple times. It was a massive hemorrhage, the stabs directly hit his organs… similar to the comic book your friend drew.”

There’s a noise.

“The accused has shown aggressive behavior through arts, Your Honor. He didn’t execute it physically but mentally, he did. He may not be vocal about it but through arts, he had planned to kill and when he got triggered, he did the crime, just like in the comic strip he made. Thus, the case is not self-defense, not a justifiable homicide either, but a murder.”

He then smiled. “The prosecution rests its case.”

Just by that, I found my credibility as a witness invalid. All the things and points they yielded from me were all now invalid in the court.

Great.

It had been weeks since that happened. Two more trials occurred after that. The second was a really chaotic trial. We were like buried six feet below the ground. They showed evidence we didn’t expect and I admit, the defense was almost knocked out. They showed the knife used in the crime and found out there was only one fingerprint on it and it was Traise’s fingerprint. The forensic found a really detailed fingerprint which allowed them to identify what hand was used in a crime; a left hand.

The second evidence was testimonies which were all synchronized as if they were scripted but seemed factual. From that view, the court can decide that the case was guilty. In the third trial, we made it. We were able to defend him. I don’t know how we did, but the case seemed equal now. And tomorrow is the last trial, and the decision as well if he’s guilty or not.

“Good thing you came,” the man in his formal attire said, smiling. “I thought you won’t.”

I rolled my eyes. “What do you want, Prosecutor Tyler Scott?”

He’s the prosecutor of the other side. Yes, the one who moved a strike against me. But no, we’re not close. It’s just that, I found out he was dad’s student in college.

“Have you heard the news? The death penalty got signed.”

Seemed like my heart suddenly went dead.

“It means if he’s proven guilty tomorrow, he’ll be the first receiver of it,” he said bitterly.

“And you’ll just take it?” I asked, anger in my voice. “I know you’re against Death Penalty. So why push someone onto it?”

He smirked. “What do you want me to do? Drop the case? I can’t.”

“Do you think he’s guilty?” I asked.

He smiled. “At first I was curious in the case that’s why I took it kahit controversial. Along with the process, I don’t know. He seemed like he can’t do it, but it also seemed like he can. Besides, it’s my duty to prosecute him. Guilty or not, I have to prove he commits the crime. That’s what I’m paid for. That’s what I pledged for.”

“You’ll prosecute kahit na there’s a tendency he’s innocent?”

“You know,” he said. “It’s not my duty to prove his innocence, it’s his defense counsel’s duty to do so. If he’s guilty and I proved it, the law is above all. If he’s innocent yet he was found guilty, that’s when power takes over. Poor him, no one’s willing to help. The whole public wants to persecute him. Any politician that would go against it, won’t receive a vote for next month’s election for sure. They’re all after that, those hypocrites.”

“You know something’s wrong with the law,” I said. “Why turn a blind eye?”

“I’m not,” he said, smiling. “In fact, I called you to give you something.”

Confused, he handed me a flash drive.

“Tomorrow is the last trial. I’ll do my job to convict him still. In the trial, there is a part wherein an evidence may be presented or a witness may be called or recalled, even you. It’s the last part, and it’s the game-changer. Let’s say, huling alas? It may win or lose your case. You have to do good.”

“What’s with this?” I asked. “Aanhin ko to?”

“Of course you can’t use that, you’re not a lawyer yet. It contains something that might clear your mind. I got that when I’m seeking for evidence to use, and decided to keep it and now I’m giving it to you. Seeing that would either make you help him, or condemn him. It’s up to you.”

As fast as I can, I went to my car and watched what’s on the flash drive through my laptop. I was dumbfounded, bewildered, dumbstruck. At a really, loss of words.

I drove my car faster than the required speed and with tears in my eyes, I called Newt, the defender.

“HEY!” he said. “I FOUND A WITNESS WE CAN USE TOMORROW!”

“Listen,” I said. “Set him aside. Put me on the witness stand tomorrow.”

“WHAT?!” he exclaimed. “But you were—”

“JUST DO IT!” I said and with determination in my eyes, I added,

“I’ll be this trial’s game changer…”

Minutes later, I found myself inside a detention query room.

“I told you not to visit when it’s night,” he said coldly.

But I didn’t dodge an eye contact with him.

“I need to ask you some questions,” I said.

“What would that be?” he asked, meeting my eyes.

“Tell me,” I said, looking in his eyes. “Did you do it?”

He laughed. “I told you I did.”

I gulped. “Remember Zuckerman and his colleagues?”

“The man who coined Four model theory of lying?”

I nodded.

“What’s with them?” he asked, confused.

“They said a person can be caught lying by four factors,” I introduced, observing him. “First, is the arousal. When someone lies, it gives them anxiety and arousal due to the conflicting values so they become nervous. Next is the behavior control. Basically, they just control their body movements and language because sometimes their legs become shaky. Next, the emotion, it’s in their eyes, it’s on their face. Lastly, the thinking; the consistency of reasoning…”

By saying so, I found his legs stopped shaking. He gulped. I smiled.

“Did I just catch you?”

He smirked. “No.”

I then opened my bag and put something on the table between us.

“That’s the evidence the prosecution used. A comic book you made,” I said, now face emotionless. “You didn’t plot them, did you?”

“What are you—”

“It’s my plot,” I halted him. “It’s my short story. I wrote in my diary that I want it to be published someday but through animation but sadly, I can’t draw. So you did draw it for me. I’m a mystery-thriller writer, have you forgotten? And you got to know I like you because it’s written on my diary, the same page of my entry about the animation.”

I saw his eyes suddenly became uncomfortable, I met his eyes.

“You have my diary, right?”

He gulped.

“You… you left it in—”

“Woah!” I exclaimed, shocked. “So I’m right? Damn, I’m just guessing!”

I saw the change in his aura, he was getting trapped.

In the blink of an eye, I placed a document on the table.

“Another evidence of the prosecution. Your fingerprint.”

“It clearly says it’s mine,” he smirked. “How can you debunk that?”

“That’s the idea, it’s yours but I wonder. It says the hand that stabbed your dad is a left hand.”

There, I noticed his hands trembling.

“You’re right-handed.”

I saw his mood changed.

“That’s…that’s rubbish…”

I placed another document on the desk.

“It’s your medical records in school,” I said. “Last year, you didn’t make it to the Badminton Tournament because your left hand got injured. You can’t even hold a pen because it hurts, so how can you stab your dad through that when the record says he was hardly stabbed?”

I felt tears forming in my eyes.

“I went to your mom yesterday,” I said, now tears flowing.

“Is she fine?” he asked, his voice seemed longing.

“She is,” I said. “But did you know what I found out?” I asked, meeting his eyes which became teary.

“She… She’s wearing gloves…”

His eyes grew bigger with visible tears forming in them.

“She has a skin problem in her hand so she wears it. Your mom and dad…they are both left handed and you are not. Your mom’s fingerprint wasn’t on the knife because she wears gloves, am I right?”

His tears fell, he looked away. “You’re blabbering nonsense.”

Finally, I put my phone on the table, using now the flash drive the prosecutor gave me. I played it. We listened to it, and in no time, a female voice can be heard, crying, panicking.

“Hindi…hindi mamamatay tao anak ko… ako… ako ang sumaksak sa… sa… sino ba ’yun? Teka…sino ka ba? Ba’t ako nandito? Asaan si mommy? Si daddy?”

With tears flowing from my eyes, I looked at him.

“You said I shall investigate, right? This is the result. You didn’t kill your dad,” I said. “Because your mom did.”

He looked down, and there was a long silence.

“You caught me,” he finally said, breaking the ice. Then, he looked straight into my eyes. “So what’s your verdict, attorney?”

I sobbed. “You’re…not guilty.”

My voice cracked.

He then smiled.

“You’re right about my mom, attorney. She stabbed my dad. But at the same time, you’re wrong. She didn’t kill him, because Courtney, I did…”

Confused, I looked at him.

“Dumb detectives, dumb police, dumb law. They think he really died because of that?”

“What..do you mean?” I asked, baffled.

“My dad didn’t die because of the knife,” he said. “It was poison, Courtney. I poisoned him.”

A silence.

I can’t open my mouth. I can’t think of anything to say since my mind can’t absorb anything.

He looked down, smilingly.

“Courtney, your verdict is wrong all along,” and he looked at me, he smirked.

“I’m guilty…”

PART FIVE: WHAT HAPPENED IN SATURDAY NIGHT

SATURDAY

NIGHT (BACKSTORY)

“Sir, out na po ako.”

A tall teenage man can be seen in the counter, smiling.

The manager smiled back. “ Bakit

kasi

pumasok

ka

pa? Day off mo ’di ba?“

“Wala po

magawa

sa

bahay

,

“ he said,

grinning. “Okay na rin po siguro, extra income. Una na po ako ah?”

“Sige,

ingat

ka

!“

“Kayo mag-

ingat

dito

,“ he said, looking at his co-employee.

“

Ano

nanaman

’yun Traise?“ the guy said, laughing. “

Ikaw

mag-

ingat

,

dumarami

na customer dahil

sa’yo

.“

He laughed. “

Baliw

!“

With a smile on his face, he went out of the store where he works as a part-timer. He looked at the sky, it’s cloudy; as if the rain will soon pour hard.

He shrugged.

He was walking, observing things around him when his phone beeped. He took it out of his pockets and soon as he saw whom the text was from, his excited eyes were replaced by disappointment. The text was from her professor, whom he called Snorlax. She was asking when will he go back to school.

“I miss you, darling. When will you go back?” the text reads.

He cringed.

Related messages were from his block mates and schoolmates, whom he didn’t even know. His popularity in school was insane, yet he didn’t care.

He only had his eyes for one person. Seven billion people yet he got his eyes fixated on only one girl he can’t afford to lose.

He scanned his phone and frowned when he found no message from her.

“

Tignan

mo ’tong

taong

’to, ang sama ng ugali,“ he mumbled. “’Di man lang ako

kumustahin

.

Tagal

naming ’di

nagkikita

wala

manlang

text. Wala

manlang

kahit

ano

.“

Frowning still, he slid his phone back to his pocket, and soon enough, he took it again.

“

Aaaaah

, ’Di ako

mapakali

,“ he murmured to himself.

“Kita tayo. Punta ako sa inyo

mamaya

.“

After sending it to the woman he’s only interested in, he turned his phone off again. He didn’t wanna receive excuses such as she’s busy, she’s doing something, or what. He missed her and nothing can suffice it aside from her presence.

Minutes later, he found himself opening their gate, and soon as he went inside, he smelled something; as if someone was cooking in the kitchen.

“

Naka

uwi

na

si mama?“ he asked himself, confused.

His mom worked as a housemaid in a nearby city and only went home every 3 days or every weekend. It’s fine with him so that she won’t receive beatings from his dad, because giving bruises to his mom and him were his dad’s most favorite hobbies.

He went to the kitchen excitedly and was caught utterly speechless when he saw who it was; it was his dad.

His dad, who usually lays down all day, doing nothing at all. His dad, who usually goes home drunk, violent, and abusive, was in the kitchen, cooking and even humming.

“Oh,

naka

uwi

ka

na?“ he asked, smiling. “

Hintayin

mo na ’to,

sabay

na tayo

kumain

.

Pagod

ka

ba?“

He can’t open his mouth. His roots were about to disown him.

“

Kumain

na po ako sa store,“ he said, his voice cracked.

His dad looked at him. “Ah

ganun

ba? Gusto sana kita…

makasalo

…“

He felt tears forming in his eyes.

“

Mamaya

nalang

po siguro,

pagdating

ni mama?“

His dad smiled  “Mas

maganda

nga

’yun, init ko

nalang

uli

’to.“

“Sige po,” he turned his back, mixed emotions in his chest.

He was about to walk but then he got petrified when his dad called him…by his name.

“Traise!” he said.

He got often called, ’

inutil

,

walang

silbi

,

salot

,

walang

kwenta

’ but this time, he got called by his name… and for him, it felt so good that he almost burst out crying.

“P-Po?” he asked, his voice cracked.

“

Pahinga

ka

ha.“

He didn’t turn his back. He walked faster

and went to his room with tears on his cheeks.

What…was that? Did his dad change? Realizing all the abuse he did?

A mixture of anger and hope aroused inside him. He cried, and later fell asleep.

It was 10 in the evening when he woke up. Confused about what planet he was on, he checked his phone. He smiled soon as he saw the message he got. There were still messages from his school mates but this time, the most flooded came from someone he’s been anticipating. She kept asking ’what time, anong

pag

uusapan

, anong

meron

, busy s’ya,

matutulog

s’ya’ and so on.

Smiling, he replied, “

Malalaman

mo

mamaya

. ’Di mo ba ’ko

na-mimiss

?“

Soon enough, he got a reply.

“YUCK?”

He laughed because he can hear her voice and can actually imagine her face.

“Basta

mamaya

. May i

ku

kuwento

rin ako.“

He turned his phone off again and stared at the ceiling of his room, thinking of his dad.

Maybe, people really do change.

Until he heard a noise. A laughing noise. It came from the room beside him.

“Yes, yes,” a man said. “Few days will do,” and he recognized it as his dad.

“Wait for me for JUST FEW MORE DAYS OKAY?” his dad said, losing his temper. “I JUST HAVE TO POISON THAT USELESS BITCH.”

Beat.

His eyes grew bigger.

“

Napakalaki

pala ng pera

n’yan

sa insurance. Her dead parents left her bucks of money yet she didn’t tell me!“

WHAT THE HELL?

“

Oo

, my child?“ he said. “I didn’t think of that. Kung s’ya ang beneficiary few actings will do.

Paniwalang

paniwala

naman na ang loko. At hindi

mukhang

pera ’yun, baka

nga

ilipat

pa sa ’kin ’yun. One step at a time, the bitch has to die first and we can be together. Sige na, nasa

ibaba

’yun

kanina

pa

naghihintay

.“

A few seconds later. He heard footsteps.

Disturbed by the things he heard, he sat up, his hand on his chest.

HIS DAD IS JUST ACTING OUT, AND WANTS TO KILL HIS MOM!

He hurriedly went down and what he saw caused a bang in his chest. There was a violet flower on the stairs. He picked it up and recognized it soon enough.

Normal people will think it was just a flower, but as a biology major, he knew it was not. His eyes grew bigger when he recognized what it was; aconite, a poisonous flower than when intake, it can hardly be detected and may cause paralysis or cardiac arrest to the victim.

With his heart pounding, he went to the kitchen and his mom was there, looking so joyful, smiling so genuine. She greeted him but he didn’t smile.

“Where’s dad?” he asked, tears in his eyes.

“

Sa

CR

,“ she said. “

Kumusta

anak

ko? ’Di mo ba

namiss

si

mama? Anong

mayroon

sa daddy mo

ngayon

? Ang

maalaga

.“

His tears fell. His mom had the smile he never saw before. A smile of genuineness, a smile of love, a smile of  someone who seemed like not enduring any pain at all. She had been assaulted and abused yet, she never left his dad. She only wanted him to treat them right and now he did; with a plot of killing her.

“Have you started eating anything?” his voice cracked.

His mom smiled. “Hindi pa.

Sabay

-s

abay

na tayo.“

He closed his eyes. He can endure everything, but seeing his mom being abused this much, he can’t take it. He had enough.

“Ma….” he said. “Can you… cook me an egg? The usual one you’ll give me. I…missed it.”

His mom smiled. “You miss me that much? Okay.”

His mom stood up, and when he started cooking, he looked at the foods. There was plenty of food on the table until he saw the

pinakbet

.

He closed his eyes hardly, barely crying.

Minutes later, he saw himself dining with them. His mom kept on giggling because of his dad’s romantic acts. Suddenly he felt himself being brought back to the days they weren’t as chaotic as this.

“How do my dishes taste?” his dad asked.

“Great. Parang

dati

lang,“ his mom said, smiling from ear to ear.

He shook his head, smiling bitterly.

“

Anak

,

kumusta

lasa ?“ his dad asked.

He smirked.

“I think I have to ask you that question,” and he looked at his dad sharply. “How does it taste?”

“It’s good because it’s my cooking,” he said, laughingly.

But he didn’t dodge eye contact.

He smirked bitterly.

“Oh,” he said. “So that’s how your poison taste…”

His dad stopped eating, his mom left dumbstruck.

He looked at his dad. “Masarap ba?”

“What….are you saying?” his dad asked. “What…what…”

“The poison will occur minutes from now. It will shut your respiratory down and will make you either paralyzed or death caused by cardiac arrest,” he said hardly, tears once again forming in his eyes, anger in his cold yet calm voice.

“WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?” his mom, now confused.

“Ma,” his voice cracked, tears now flowing. “Dad tried to poison you…for your insurance…” and he looked at his dad, anger in his eyes. “…and to join his mistress after…”

He placed on the table the flower he saw.

“It’s aconite. Dad tried poisoning you through aconite. I heard him said he only wanted to kill you and not me. So he cooked pinakbet…even though he knows it gives me allergy so surely I won’t eat it.”

He looked at his mom.

“But you, mom, you will…”

He then smirked.

“Pero pinagpalit ko ang pagkain n’yo,” he said and he looked at his dad. “You ate your own poison. How does it taste?”

His dad turned red, his mom cried, panicking.

“ANO BANG SINASABI MO? BAWIIN MO ‘YUNG SINASABI MO…”

“Ma… can’t you see it?!” he exclaimed. “He tried to poison you! HE TRIED TO KILL YOU BECAUSE HE THOUGHT… HE THOUGHT…”

“Because you’re useless,” finally, his dad showed off his true color.

“KASI WALA

KAYONG

LAHAT

KWENTA

, MGA

INUTIL

!“

In a matter of seconds, he saw his dad attacking his mom. She received really loud and hard slaps. He rescued her and in return, he was beaten up. He tried to punch his dad but it went the other way, his right hand punched the floor and he felt like it got fractured, he moaned in pain. His dad saw the opportunity, and he punched him up to death. Punches on the face, on the stomach, on his body. He’s numb of it.

Until a loud screaming voice will be heard. His dad looked back and in his surprise, a sudden stab on his chest happened; once, twice, and hard on the third. With blood flowing like a river, he fell on the floor, with  a knife stuck still on his chest, hopeless.

And then he saw his mom crying, with blood on her gloves.

“Ma…” he muttered.

With a traumatic commotion happened, his mom started to lose consciousness, she then fell.

With the remaining strength in him, he stood up, his right hand injured. He walked towards his dad and in the blink of an eye, using his left hand which still hurts because of a last year’s fracture, he lifted the knife on his dad’s chest.

That’s when the door opened and in his horror, it was his aunt, seeing his mom unconscious and his dad lying on the floor, with a stab on his chest, and the knife in his hand.

In no time, he saw himself running away. No, he had no intention of running away. He just… had to make things clear. He needed strength before  finally surrendering himself.

While on the run, he texted her.

“Nasa kanto ako.”

And then he saw her coming out from the gate. They talked, and during the whole duration he just kept on looking at her, gaining strength by just the presence of her.

Until he confessed. He initially wanted to confess tonight and ask for her heart. He had always been so in love with her but was just afraid of ruining their friendship. However, after reading accidentally an entry in her diary which said she loved him as well, hope aroused inside him.

But this time, it’s different. He confessed not to ask for her heart, but to let her go and say goodbye.

“Why fate has to be this cruel to us?”  he thought

.

He walked away, leaving her standing there still, with tears flowing from her eyes. He wanted to be selfish and hug her and just run away with her but with the filth on his hands, he can’t afford to drag her into his mess.

“She’s too precious for that,” he thought.

Until he heard loud noises and suddenly, he got surrounded by police cars.

He was caught.

Yet,

He smiled.

He had nothing to fear.

He saved his mom.

He fulfilled the promise to see her.

He confessed his love.

He was being handcuffed when he saw her coming to him. Their eyes

met

and she was crying. With pain inside him and life now going nowhere, he smiled, and he mouthed,

“I love you…”

PART SIX: THE CLASH

Silence.

A really, deafening silence.

I opened my mouth, yet, nothing came out. I felt my heart pounding hard, my mind in absolute uncertainty, and my tears flowing like a river.

“You see, you had it wrong this time, Courtney,” Traise said, despite the smile he gave, pain can also be seen through it. “That’s what happened, and you’re defending a criminal.”

I was utterly speechless. I was at a loss for words to speak; my mind still can’t absorb things.

“I’ve been telling you I’m guilty, ayaw n’yo kasi maniwala,” he said. “You fought for me with just the thought of I can’t commit such horrendous crime, but I just did.”

“You…” finally, I said. “You’re making up stories…”

He smirked. “I’m not. You know, drop your overly angelic image of me on you. I’m no longer the same friend you had.”

“Hindi mo nga magawang ipakulong tatay mo,” I said, in between my tears. “Yet you’ll tell me you killed him? You poisoned him?”

“I did. Apparently, I just did.”

I cleared my throat. “If he died because of the poison, an autopsy could’ve detected it.”

“But is there even an autopsy happened?”

BANG.

My eyes grew bigger.

He smiled in pain. “My dad got buried without doing an autopsy.”

“How could that happen?” I insisted. “Case such as this needs an autopsy to be done!”

“May I ask you?” he said. “Why do we do autopsies?”

I blinked. “It is being used if there’s a sudden death that the caused is cannot readily recognizable or certified by a physician.”

“And what the poison was?” he asked.

“An aconite…” I said, in a state of absolute vagueness.

“That’s it,” he said. “Aconite cannot be traced by simple tests. It attacks the victim in the blink of an eye. It can also be traced not by a mere autopsy, but a deep and extensive autopsy, which they didn’t do because their focus was on the stab. I was caught in the scene with a knife on hand, and my dad had multiples stabs, they assumed it was that.”

Then he smiled bitterly. “My dad was that genius for coming up with that poison. If he successfully did it, mom might have been buried six feet below the ground now and I’m devastated, thinking she just died because of cardiac arrest or paralysis while my dad’s still acting as if he had changed while he was busy spending my mom’s insurance with his mistress.”

“But…” I said. “The prosecution stated his cause of death. It… It means they have a record! They… they may have it!”

“Stop it,” he said. “The prosecution doesn’t have a record. They invented it out of wrongly perceived fact,” he said and smiled. “You were fooled, the defense was fooled.”

My jaw dropped and I can’t think of anything to say.

“Wait!” I said out of nowhere. “Every criminal case needs a thorough autopsy for a record. Every community does. It’s being done by…by…”

I then closed my mouth as I was being stupefied by a sudden realization.

“By a coroner,” he continued, smiling, “…an official who investigates suspicious deaths and conducts a mandatory autopsy. And who’s our coroner?”

My tears fell.

No…

He smiled, bitter as before.

“It’s your dad…”

Confused about everything that was happening, I caught myself raging in both pain and anger.

Everyone joined forces to convict him. Everyone who was in power was in alliance to convict him for a public noise, for a media exposure, to find him guilty.

“But don’t hate your dad”, he added, “He did it to stop things from being worse than they already are.”

“What…do you mean?” my voice cracked, and I didn’t have the strength to look in his eyes.

“He knows how complicated it would be. It will be him against the senate, against the public, against the congress. If he’ll meddle, they might take him down by dragging you into this mess because of your connection with me. They even have a shred of evidence that we met that night,” he smiled, tears now in his eyes. “And do you know why I kept saying I’m guilty?”

“Why…?” I asked, sobbing.

“If I plead not guilty, trials will happen. They might twist the evidence and might summon you in court and convince the public that we are partners in this crime,” his voice cracked. “I… I don’t want that. I don’t wanna see you suffer. I plead guilty not to hide things…”

“But to protect me as well…” I followed.

“When you were confined when you were nine and you kept crying due to the pain, I didn’t leave you. Day and night, I was there, guarding you. That’s when I had a promise to myself; to be by your side, and to protect you, at all times,” and tears fell from his eyes.

He then smiled weakly, tears glimmering in his eyes.

“If pleading guilty means protecting you, I will.”

Meeting his eyes made me burst out in tears.

“Can you…do me a favor?” he asked.

I looked at him.

“Please, don’t… don’t meddle anymore. Let me… let me be guilty. If any of it would be pointed in court, it means…I have to reveal my mom stabbed him. I…I don’t want her to suffer. I caused her enough trauma. Imagine what would the questions turn her into? Please… please tama na. Stop doing this. Stop tormenting my mom… she had enough. I’d love to see her be happy, be comfortable. Even though it was me who killed my dad, she can still be convicted through attempted murder, since she stabbed him. Please… please don’t make my mom suffer more. Tama na…”

“There’s…there’s a way still,” I said. “We… we can win this case. It’s… self-defense! If we can give a good argument then, both of you will be freed!”

“I don’t wanna risk it,” he said, “It might traumatize my mom more.”

“But self-dense can make you acquitted of all charges!”

“It won’t,” he firmly said. “In order for self-defense to be self-defense, the harm must be on me. My dad didn’t want to harm me that night, it was for my mom. There’s no excuse for me to be acquitted. It wasn’t self-defense, I poisoned him. I…murdered him, through my will.”

I felt chest pains invading my body.

“No. There must be a way still. How about…your aunt? She can request for an autopsy and we’ll prove your dad tried to—”

“You can’t,” he said. “My aunt, she was into this. She reported me. Even if your dad will ask for an autopsy, it can still be swayed by my aunt. There’s an only way to be out of a mandatory autopsy; through a burden of proof. And religious reasons can be a burden of proof,” he said. “She’ll use the fact that my dad is a Buddhist and that’s against their belief.”

“The mistress!” I said desperately. “We…we can directly trace her! Or…or find her and be our witness in court! She’ll reveal your dad tried to—“

“You still can’t,” he said, anger now in his voice.

“Why not?!” I reasoned out. “It’s reasonable!”

“It isn’t,” he firmly said.

“WHY?!?” I exclaimed.

“Because the mistress,” he said, jaw clenched, “ …is my aunt“

Beat.

My eyes grew bigger. I opened my mouth to say something, but none came out.

He stood up.

“I think we have nothing to talk about now. There’s no need to see tomorrow’s trial.”

He turned stone-cold again and in the blink of an eye, he went out of the room and was accompanied by police back to his prison cell.

My tears fell. I can’t handle all the things I discovered.

I looked at my phone and wiped out the tears on my cheeks.

“We’re done talking,” I said.

Someone on the other line answered.

“WHAT WAS THAT?! WHAT DID I JUST HEAR, COURTNEY?! WHAT THE FUCK?!”

Right. Someone was listening while we were talking.

“Prosecutor Tyler Scott,” I said, determination now in my voice. “You heard them all. You know what the truth is. Decide on your own and drop the case.”

The next thing I knew, the last trial started. It was moved to the other day since some of the juries didn’t make it to the trial. The trial had started hours ago and the courtroom was crowded. There were politicians, lawmakers, government officials, media, a bunch of lawyers, and such. The hall was also crowded with journalists, while outside the building were people protesting, all screaming to give him a verdict of guilty.

The prosecution was not as strong as they were before. I don’t know if it was because of what the prosecutor found out last time. All I knew was that it’s a good thing for the defense. In fact, the defense counsel had executed a really well performance.

Newt brought witnesses which all solidified his claim that Traise never had violent behavior. Our guidance counselor in high school was summoned, our guidance counselor in college and he even brought medical experts with him and all showed one thing; he had no record of violence and never executed one.

“Your Honor,” Newt, the defense said. “The guidance counselor, psychologist, and even school psychiatrist proved that the accused had no record of any kind of violence. In fact, when it was him who got bullied and was almost beaten up by a certain classmate, he didn’t even fight back. Similarly, the accused had no criminal record in his clearance. He never committed any crime at all. Thus, what happened to his dad wasn’t intentional, it was self-defense. I firmly stand for justifiable homicide, Your Honor,” and he smiled. “The defense rests its case.”

By that, loud noise can be heard. The President, Vice President, and even the Chief justice himself just arrived. Everyone was flabbergasted. I expected them to come, it was a national talk and exposure was a must for next month’s election, I thought.

“ORDER IN THE COURT!”

Everyone shut their mouth. Tyler, the prosecutor stood up but this time, his aura changed.

He looked at us, he smiled.

“At this very moment I would like to call out other party’s witness for some questions,” and he looked at me, and then he said my name.

Newt and Traise looked at me, both were confused.

What is it about?

Wait. Will he let me spill the beans?

But…

I looked at Traise, his eyes were telling me not to tell anything.

I closed my eyes.

“Please state your name for the record,”  the clerk started.

I stated my name.

“Take the oath of affirmation,” he commanded.

“I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I shall give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

“You’ve just stated the affirmation oath,” Prosecutor Tyler Scott said. “Are you willing to be responsible in case you tell a lie?” he added, looking deeply into my eyes, probably trying to scare me.

“I fear nothing, sir.”

He smirked.

“I would like to redirect your mind in the things you have said in the first trial which I highlighted. Can you recall them?”

“Sort of,” I said.

“You said you are ALWAYS together, am I right?”

He emphasized the always. I can sense his dark agenda.

“Not necessarily—”

“Are you debunking what you just have said?”

I saw the look in his eyes.

IT’S SCARY!

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

“I’m asking you,” he said, he smiled. “Do you debunk?”

“OBJECTION YOUR HONOR!” Newt, the defender said. “The prosecution is traumatizing the witness!”

“Objection overruled,” the judge said. “Prosecution, proceed.”

“Do you?” he asked, I met his eyes.

“Not literally—”

“Do you? I’m asking you. A yes or no will do.”

“I said—”

“Do you?”

“Yes but—“

“You said yes, so you’ve debunked. I’ll take note of that,” he said and he looked at his note without paying attention to me.

WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING?!

“Same question,” he said. “You said he went to you and you confessed your love, am I right?”

“Yes,” I said, my voice almost cracked.

“As someone who killed someone and amidst being caught by the police lurking around, is it reasonable to just go and see someone and just hear their love confession instead of surrendering yourself or running away?”

“It’s based on the—”

“A yes or no will do,” he halted me.

“It cannot be just—”

“Yes or no.”

“I said it’s based—”

“I repeat, just a yes or no,” he snapped.

“No, but of course—”

“You said no, that’ll be enough,” he cut me off. “So you’ve just said that what he did was NOT reasonable. Can we say he’s running away, perhaps, with you?”

My eyes grew bigger.

“OBJECTION YOUR HONOR!” Newt said. “THE PROSECUTION IS MAKING UP ASSUMPTIONS AND ALLEGATIONS!”

“Objection sustained. Change the question.”

Prosecutor Tyler Scott licked his lower lip out of frustration and looked back at me.

“You said you love him, do you?” he continued.

The crowd created a noise. I looked at Traise, he was looking at me too.

“I do.”

A loud noise.

“Love strong enough to sacrifice things?”

“Yes.”

“Love strong enough to stay by his side?”

“Yes.”

“Love strong enough to run away with him?”

Beat.

I can’t open my mouth!

“OBJECTION YOUR HONOR! THE PROSECUTION IS TRYING TO YIELD THINGS NOT SUITABLE FOR THE CASE!”

“Objection overruled. Make her answer.”

“I repeat, miss,” Prosecutor Tyler said, now looking in my teary eyes. “Love strong enough to run away with him?”

“But only under—”

“Yes or no.”

“How can it be answered by—”

“Just a yes or no.”

“Yes but—”

“That’s it, it’s a yes,” he said, smirking.

“HOW CAN IT BE UNDERSTOOD IF YOU WON’T LET ME EXPLAIN?” I shouted.

The judge then gave me a warning for my behavior.

Prosecutor Tyler Scott just smirked, being fascinated by the way I embarrass myself.

“At this very moment let’s talk about the comic book,” he said and flashed something on the screen.

“Do you recall our last discussion about it?”

“I do not,” mataray kong sabi.

He scoffed. “You can’t recall a week-old discussion but can recall what was his answer on a first-grade activity?”

“Yes because I dreamt of it,” depensa ko.

“When?” interesado niyang tanong.

“The night before the trial.”

The audience laughed.

“Alright,” the prosecutor said. “Now look at the book, is it familiar to you?”

“It is,” I said. “You presented it.”

“I did,” he said. “But I think I had a mistake.”

I saw how he twisted a playful smile as if telling me I’m doomed.

“It’s not the accused’s possession, it’s yours, am I right?”

My eyes grew bigger.

“Let’s take a look at the other exhibit,” he said and he flashed another thing. “You posted it online, am I correct?”

“I…I did…” I stuttered as I looked at the evidence I can’t ignore.

He smiled again.

“Your Honor and dear juries, as you have witnessed, the witness had revoked some of her previous testimonies thus a doubt of her credibility. Aside from this, she had shown aggression before. Moreover, she just had solidified my claim that her testimonies were blinded by love over facts, it was confirmed when she told us she’ll run away with him instead of surrendering him. Above this, the witness also didn’t bother to correct the misunderstanding about the said evidence.”

There was a loud cheering noise.

“Adding up to that, she has sworn the affirmation oath and she clearly violated it. Aside from taking her credibility again as a witness for today, I move a strike and I charge her of perjury.”

Wait.

WHAT?

I can’t open my mouth.

I THOUGHT HE’S ON OUR SIDE?!

“What a fox,”  Newt said soon as I went back to my seat. “He knows you’ll testify later and you’re our last ace. He moved a strike against you so we can no longer use whatever you were about to say!”

That created a bang in me.

“He’s playing dirty!” Newt furiously said. “Ruining someone’s reliability before they can even testify! I can’t even find the right words to describe how demonic he is!”

“At this moment,” the prosecutor said. “I would like to call another witness.”

“He still has more?!” Newt exclaimed.

“Of course he has,” the secretary complained. “The chief justice is here. It’s his dad.”

I sighed.

So that’s it.

He’s dumping our alliance because of his dad. Great.

A woman, in her 40’s, stood up on the witness stand. She looked so feminine, so classy.

“State your name for the record,” he said.

I looked at Traise and his expression seemed a mixture of anger and fear. Tears were forming in his eyes and his jaw was clenched.

“Auntie…” he uttered while looking at the woman in the witness stand.

My jaw partly dropped. looked at her too and I felt the sudden burst of anger inside me.

The trial started and I can’t count how many times I wanted to smack her face. She kept on blabbering things, like how she saw Traise, with blood and so forth. She’s witnessing to convict his nephew when in fact dapat s’ya ang makulong!

Conspiring to poison your sister just to get her husband?! How cheap could you be?

“Hindi ko nga alam kung bakit sinasabi nilang hindi bayolente ‘yan. Grabe nga mag-mura ‘yan sa tatay n’ya,” she said.

Now she’s telling lies! I know Trause. He hates cussing!

Now, she had touched a nerve.

“SHUT UP!” I shouted, standing up.

Everyone looked at me.

“STOP BLABBERING NONSENSE! WHY DON’T YOU JUST SAY THE TRUTH! WEREN’T YOU HIS—”

“Tama na,”  said by someone, and it was Traise. “Let her.”

“WARNING,” the judge said. “WE MIGHT ORDER YOU OUT OF THE COURTROOM ONE MORE VIOLENT ACT.”

With rage still in me, I sat down.

Someone went to the judge and they were in the middle of a serious discussion.

“Ano meron?” I asked. Newt just shrugged.

“WE HAVE SOMETHING TO ANNOUNCE,” the judge later then said.

The whole courtroom fell silent.

Wait, don’t tell me they dropped the case?

  “WE ARE SADDENED BY THE NEWS,” he followed.

And the next thing he said made my heart took a leap.

“THE MOTHER OF THE ACCUSED, AND THE WIFE OF THE VICTIM, HAS DIED…”

PART SEVEN: THE GAME CHANGER

“WE ARE SADDENED BY THE NEWS,” the judge said. “THE MOTHER OF THE ACCUSED, AND THE WIFE OF THE VICTIM, HAS DIED.”

Murmuring.

My eyes grew bigger.

What…

I looked at Traise, both of us were shocked. His eyes were wide opened, with tears forming in them, and his jaw dropped.

I walked and kneeled in front of him.

He looked at me in the eyes.

“Si…si mama,” he said, stuttering, tears in his eyes. “Si mama…” he said again, can’t come up with anything to say. I hugged him.

“The court takes a break for an hour,” the judge said.

Minutes had passed yet Traise can’t stop crying. He was just crying without a sound. He looked so miserable, so disturbed, so devastated. He kept telling ‘Si mama’, ‘Puntahan natin si mama.’

It broke me.

Until I saw a familiar figure in a nearby place, looking at us.

Aggressively, I walked towards him.

“Masaya ka na?” I asked.“ Masaya ka nang may nasisira kang buhay?“

Tyler’s eyes went emotionless. “Hindi ko sinisira ang buhay nila. Sila ang gumawa ng krimen, sila ang sumisira ng buhay nila.”

“Alam natin parehong it is a self-defense,” I said. “Pero bakit…bakit ka nagkaganyan?”

“It’s not my duty to prove his innocence, it’s his defense counsel’s. Don’t blame me. In life, you have to turn a blind eye.”

“What are you saying?” I asked furiously.

And in no time, a man in his 60’s approached us.

“Dad…” Tyler, the prosecutor said.

It was the chief justice

I smirked bitterly. Now I think I know why he changed.

“Hope the power that you can get can also put you to sleep,” I said bitterly while looking sharply in his eyes, and just then, I walked away.

When I went back to our place, Traise looked at me. Tears were glimmering  once again in his eyes.

“Let’s talk,” he said.

Minutes after, I found ourselves inside a room, with no one aside from us.

“Bakit?” I asked.

“I’ll…I’ll plea guilty,” he said, his eyes now red.

“WHAT?!” I exclaimed. “No. We’ll win this case!”

“This case has long been lost, hindi pa nagsisimula,” he said. “Please. Let it be guilty…”

I looked into his eyes, he looked so miserable and it pierced me.

“Don’t you think of what will your mom feel seeing his son being convicted? Can’t you imagine what would she feel?”

“And can you imagine what I feel also?” he said, tears in his eyes again.

“Listen to me.”

He cleared his throat.

“Growing up, I saw how miserable my life is. Dad will go home drunk, will beat mom to death, will seek for me but mom had hidden me and since I can’t be found, she’ll receive my beatings instead,” his voice cracked.

“A day won’t pass that she won’t be receiving a slap. She’ll work her ass off in the morning selling almusal, she’ll go at your house for cleanings, and will fix things at our house at night. Wala s’yang pahinga, nabubugbog pa s’ya. I grew up witnessing that, and crying myself to sleep knowing I can’t do anything. I have no dream for myself. I don’t wanna be successful, I just wanna see my mom away from pain, away from abuses. I wanna see her smiling, like the last time I saw her in our house the night I poisoned dad. If you can only see that…those smile…hanggang ngayon naiisip ko pa rin ’yung ngiti na ’yun.”

He gulped and tears fell from his eyes.

“Noon lang nagkaroon si mama ng gaanong ngiti. So please, patahimikin na natin s’ya. If you’ll prove it was self-defense, it has to be proved that she killed my dad. The whole country will hate her, I… don’t want anyone hating my mom. Even in her death, I…don’t want to. So please, patahimikin na natin s’ya, hmm? Pagod na pagod na s’ya… pagpahingahin na natin si mama…”

And I found myself crying, left with nothing to do.

He killed his dad to save his mom.

His mom died after hearing the news about him.

And he’s willing to take the death penalty because he didn’t want to put any dirt on his mom’s name, even after her death.

I closed my eyes hardly, didn’t know what to do.

The trial resumed. The witness testified again but this time, the defense counsel cross-examined her. Shockingly, it created a game changing scenario.

“I’m his mistress,” she said.

Everyone was shocked, the media was having a commotion through their coverage. With the sudden death of her sister, she broke down and confessed the sin.

She told the court they were conspiring to poison her sister for her insurance, and to reunite with her sister’s husband whom she’s having an affair. She was crying so damn hard.

The defense then presented a video, the same video I got from the prosecutor with her mom admitting the murder. It turned the table now, which means we can prove her mom did it, and he can be acquitted.

“How long are they gonna play the dumb card?” I heard Traise murmured. “It’s not by stabbing, it’s the poison. Stop dragging my mom…” he added in his murmur.

The trial went ongoing. But this time, not to convict him but to prove his mom did it.

It’s now the prosecution’s turn.

“I would like to take action about the acquired evidence,” he said, implying the video presented.

“The evidence was illegally acquired, without even the person being filmed’s consent. I demand to take it out of the record and consider it as false evidence.”

“What the hell …” Newt said. “I never thought of that!”

“Where did you get that?” I asked.

“I don’t know, someone sent that to us, I thought it was you?”

Then my eyes landed on the prosecutor.

Damn.

I just got fooled.

I bit my lip.

So he was playing a trick on us, huh? He sent us copies of it for us to commit false actions!

“And as of this moment, I would like to present the autopsy I got from the city’s coroner.”

WAIT.

WHAT?! There is an autopsy?!

Since he got an autopsy from the coroner, it means he can debunk our claim that his mom did the crime! By that, instead of the stabbing, the poisoning will be revealed, making his murder case stronger!

I looked at Traise, he was staring at Prosecutor Tyler and I can’t read the mixture of emotions on his face.

“The autopsy,” Prosecutor Tyler said. “…shows the victim died because of multiple stabs on his chest. Yes, the fingerprint that the forensics discovered was from the accused, but only because he uplifted it from his dad’s chest.”

There was murmuring. I saw how Traise bit his lip.

“I visited the accused’s mom weeks ago and I found out that she had gloves on her hands due to skin infection. Your Honor, I sent you a copy of that evidence. Therefore, his mom’s fingerprint cannot be traced. As per the autopsy, there was no poison at all. It means, the victim’s cause of death was the stabs, which the accused’s mom did. She admitted the crime through the given recording. I acknowledge the recording’s credibility but not the way it was acquired.”

He looked at the juries.

“This, Your Honor, and Dear Juries, will tell us that the accused didn’t murder his dad but just attempted to do so. However, since he tried to manipulate the case, I, therefore, add an additional charge to him, I charge him of tampering.”

ADDITIONAL CHARGE?

AND WHAT?!

No trace of poison!?!

I looked at Traise who was only beside me, confused.

“I didn’t poison him, I lied,” he said looking down. “I… played tricks on him as if I did it so mom will hear the truth in front of her. I didn’t switch their meals. I replaced them both with something that had no poison. As much as I want to, I just can’t. He’s still… my dad.”

“And from murder…” the prosecutor said, he gulped and he looked at me. “I’m dropping the case to attempted murder.”

WHAT?!

Dropping the case from murder to attempted murder lowers the chance of receiving the death penalty.

My mind seemed in chaos.

Kakampi ba s’ya o ano?!

“That concludes everything, Your Honor,” Prosecutor Tyler said. “The prosecution rests its case.”

The prosecution and defense said their closing argument. And hours later, the time to hear the final verdict had come.

“The accused has been charged of murder down to attempted murder. As the representative of the juries, and in front of People of the Philippines, with the power given us by the Constitution of the Philippines,  given the evidence and arguments presented, the juries find the accused…”

There was a long pause of silence.

All I can hear was my mind raging.

I can’t afford to hear the next few things.

What if, we lost?

But what if, we won?

Will he die? Will he receive the death penalty?

I don’t know anymore.

Deafening silence followed.

And then, the verdict echoed.

“GUILTY.”

Everything went as fast as light, I can hear people making noise out of joy and I can see Traise being accompanied by the police.

That was the last time I saw him.

The last time, our eyes met.

And the last time, I laid my eyes on him…

I closed my eyes.

"Attorney, have you heard the news?"

A loud and excited yet panicking voice met me soon as I answered the phone.

"Tungkol saan?" I asked.

"The case!" Newt, who's now my co-worker, said over the phone. "A prosecutor took it! The case you'll defend!"

"So?" I asked. "Normal naman na 'yun. I'm a lawyer now, Newt, hindi na 'ko iyong college student na kaibigan mo."

"Hindi!" he insisted. "Hindi 'yun ang tinutukoy ko. Kasi, 'yung prosecutor... 'yung nakalaban natin 8 years ago. S'ya ang makakaharap mo..."

I stopped. "WHAT?!"

"Oo! 'Yung nakalaban natin sa case ni..." he then stopped.

I smiled bitterly as pain started to occupy my chest.

"I'll take care of it," I said as I closed my eyes. "Bye."

I looked at the grave in front of me as I put the flowers beside it.

"See? That jerk still has the guts to be a prosecutor," I said, frowning. "Knowing what he did sa'yo before?"

I sat beside the grave. 

"Pasensya na ngayon nalang ako uli nakabisita. Dumarami na kasi case. Lawyer na 'ko, I did my promise," I said, smiling yet with tears. "Ikaw 'yung 'di tumupad ng promise eh..."

I sighed. 

"I'll win this case," I said. "I'll avenge you."

And I burst into tears.

"Sorry... kung hindi ko 'to nagawa before. I was... powerless," my voice cracked. "Sorry..." and I saw myself crying, as I looked at the photo near the grave.

I stood up and smiled.

"I'll see you later," I said. "Time to do some work."

A few hours later, I saw myself walking in a corridor.

"Andito po s'ya," the police said.

"Thank you," I said in return and entered the query room.

What I saw was a detainee, who seemed hopeless. I sat in front of him.

"I told you not to visit me," he said, as cold as he had ever been.

I smiled. "Is that how you greet a friend?" I asked. "In the span of 8 years you only let me see you twice, and Traise, that was 4 years ago!"

Suddenly, what happened years ago flashed in my mind as if it just happened yesterday.

"GUILTY. But with punishment limited to lifetime imprisonment, out of capital punishment."

He just sighed.

RUDE.

"I visited your mom," I said.

He weakly smiled. That was the first time he seemed interested.

"I wish I can too."

I smiled back. 

"Soon, you can."

He looked at me, confused.

"I'll re-open your case. I'll take you out of life imprisonment," I smiled. "I'll be defending you in court."

He looked at me, still, bewildered.

"I'm a lawyer now, you see..." I awkwardly smiled.

"You are?" he asked and for the first time in eight years, his eyes were gleaming with happiness.

I nodded.

"I'll be facing the same prosecutor who prosecuted you before," I said and I grinned. "I'll avenge you."

He smiled.

"Now say the thing that you told me a long time ago," I said, smiling back. "Say it. Ask me to defend you again."

He frowned. "Para saan pa?"

"Dali na!

"Ayoko!"

"Dali naaaa!"

"Ayoko nga!"

"Please?"

"Di ka titigil?"

"Oo," I said, grinning.

He then laughed. "Okay."

There was a long pause of silence until he turned dead serious, his eyes were looking at me.

From that moment, I can hear nothing but my heartbeat. As if everything zoomed out and he was the only figure my eyes could see and recognize.

"I longed for you, attorney..."

The smile on my face faded.

"I missed you, attorney..."

And with his eyes fixated on me, it became teary.

"I love you, attorney..."

# PART EIGHT: THE GAME CHANGER'S RETURN

"I love you, attorney..."

 

I felt a burning sensation on my cheeks and I know it was getting really red. I looked at the ceiling of my room, smiling from ear to ear like an idiot, embracing my banana pillow so tight, feeling not just the butterflies but the whole zoo inside my stomach.

I closed my eyes, thinking of a scenario that happened just hours ago.

"I...tried forgetting you," Traise said, pain still on him. "But even up to this moment, I'm trying still..." he then smiled painfully. "8 years had passed, pero ikaw pa rin..."
 

In no time, I found myself smiling and biting my pillow, fighting the urge not to scream.

And as I expected it, I found myself screaming while smiling still like an idiot, giggling. Pinagkakalampag ang kama, pinagpapatyag ang paa. Nang mahimasmasan, I laid back in bed, looking at the ceiling still. 

"I was just a witness before, powerless," I said to myself, as if he's in my room. "But this time, I'm in the position to fight for you. To defend you." 

I confidently smiled.

"I'll be your game changer." 

After hours of thinking things, with a smile still written on my face, I fell asleep. 

And then, I felt things feel so uneasy. It seemed so vague, so disturbing, utterly uncomfortable. 

And then I heard noises, really loud noises. 

"BUTI NAMAN!" one said. 

"DAPAT LANG 'YAN, 'NO! DAPAT NGA NOON PA 'YAN!" one angry man said. 

"'WAG N'YO NA PATAGALIN!"
 
angry people were complaining. 

Then, things became clearer to me now. There was a mad crowd in the middle of a place I don't know where. 

There were militaries and police all over the place as if securing their safety, and they were all screaming and shouting at a man standing on a stage. As I rerouted my eyes at the stage, I saw two familiar figures there— Tyler, the prosecutor and Traise. 

What's happening? 

And then the prosecutor smiled. "Your Honor," he said confidently. "I move a strike.

In a flash, police surrounded Traise and brought him up in a tool I can't recognize.

Wait.

WHAT?! 

And I found myself purely shocked when I recognized what it was; a guillotine. It was used for decapitation for the death penalty. It was being used to behead someone, cutting their head off in front of the public! 

The crowd was wildly cheering, and I found myself in lethal pain. Traise's eyes were wandering around as if seeking something and then our eyes met. 

He stared at me.

"If pleading guilty means protecting you,"

 he smiled so weakly.

 

"

...then I will."

 

And before I could move, I found blood spitting in the air, a head just got beheaded and the crowd was cheering insanely.

I heard a loud bang in my chest, everyone was celebrating, all joyful faces and I felt my tears just fell.
 

I opened my eyes, in tears. 

WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! 

Chasing my breath still, I sat up with my hand on my chest. I wiped off my tears. 

Geez. Glad it was just a dream. 

But why does it feel so real? 

I stood up as I felt my anxiety was aroused so I went out of my room. I went to the rooftop, trying to wash away the negativity in my mind. On my way there, I saw my dad looking at the stars. 

"A self-date?" I asked, smiling. I approached him. 

He looked at me, and he smiled back. 

"Kagigising mo lang?" 

I nodded. 

"Ba't mo alam, ha?" I jokingly asked.

"Mukha kang bruha, eh." 

We laughed. 

I stood beside him and looked at the stars too. There were plenty of them there. 

"You know," my dad said, looking at the midnight sky still. "Your mom loves the star. She often went here, just to look at them every night without knowing she's the brightest among them all." 

I smiled. "Do you miss her?" 

He looked at me, and flashed a weak smile. "Always." 

"So that's why you go here, to reminisce her memory?" 

"No," he said. "I don't reminisce her. Kasi I feel like she's here still, every night, with me." 

I felt the pain in my chest. My mom died when I was 5. She was a surgeon, a really well-known surgeon in the country. 

"Why don't you open your heart again, dad?" I asked. "I'm a grown-up woman now. You don't have to worry about me. It's the time to give time to yourself and allow yourself  to be happy." 

"In other words?" he asked. 

"In other words...be in love again." 

He shook his head. 

"Your mom is hard to forget. She'll forever be in my system. I won't love again if it won't be her, I guess," and  I saw tears glimmering in his eyes. "Sige na, papahinga na ko ha." 

And he turned his back. 

"Pa..." I said when my dream suddenly popped into my mind. My dad was a fanatic of science and mysteries. He can surely analyze my dream. 

"Yep?" he asked back. 

But what if...he'll say I was just overthinking? Or worse, he might think I was losing my mind? 

I smiled. "Wala po. Good night." 

When he vanished in my sight, I sighed. 

I visited Traise again. This time, he no longer looked like a detainee who seemed hopeless. He looked so cheerful, para s'yang bumata ng ilang taon kahit na mukha pa rin naman s'yang bata. He was the cutest in my eyes. 

"How will you defend me?" he asked  while I was typing on my laptop. 

"The case will be re-opened,"  I said without looking at him. 

"How?" 

"Through a petition," I said as I reached the last page, without looking at him still. 

"What petition?" 

"Petition for re-opening the case." 

"How things will happen?" 

"We will just present evidence which your former defense didn't present and we'll prove there's an anomaly in the prosecution. It'll be easy. This time we'll win, I promise you," I said, without looking at him still. 

"How sure are you?" 

"99 percent." 

"Why not 100?" 

"Because we shall always leave 1% for uncertainty—" 

A BLAG. 

He closed my laptop with his hand without standing up. 

"Bakit?" I asked, shocked. 

"You're not looking at me," he said. "When talking to me you should always look at me." 

"I'm typing—" 

"Kahit na." 

"Eh p'wede namang—" 

"Hindi p'wede. When you talk to me, you look at me." 

"Bakit ba—" 

"Because I wanna see your face," he cut me off, and he awkwardly gulped. "All the time." 

Beat. 

"Is that..." he said now, awkwardly. "...that...too much to ask for? Sorry, I just... missed you..." 

"But I visited you kaninang umaga." 

"Kahit na, we didn't see in the afternoon and I missed you that time." 

"Now I'm in front of you!" 

"At namimiss pa rin kita," he said, like a child having tantrums. "Even now..." 

I smiled. "Talaga?" 

"Talaga." 

"Paanong talaga?" I jokingly said. 

"Ganito." 

And in an instant, he inched the gap between our faces, he stood up while I was sitting still in front of him and there was a table between us. His face was coming closer like things were happening in slow motion, and his eyes fixed only at my eyes and I can't take my eyes off it. 

Soon enough, he inched the gap and our faces were too close, the bridge of his nose was even now touching the bridge of mine. 

"Ganito," he said in a really low voice and I felt his warm breath. "Ganito kalapit," and he looked in my eyes deeply. "Ganitong titig..." 

"Uh..." I said as I gulped, meeting his eyes. "O...Okay..." 

His eyes were fixated on my eyes until it went down to my nose and then at my lips, he gulped as well. 

"I'm trying not to think of it," he said, his warm breath now giving different feels on my skin. "But... I keep on wondering how do your lips taste..." 

I felt my heart pounding hard. 

And he looked at my lips again.

"Sorry." 

In a flash, his lips touched mine. Bewildered, I didn't move. His lips first devoured my upper lip, and it occupied my lower lip after while both of his hands were on the table. With a mixed emotion in me, I found myself being carried away by his lips, he touched my face, it felt surreal, there was a softness yet burning desire in his every kiss.

He was sitting on a chair now, and  I was on top of him, sitting on his lap with my hands around his neck and his hand around my waist. Until I felt he was biting my lower lip gently while sucking it and his hand caressing my waist at the same time. It felt so insane. Until his hand started to invade my upper cloth, I looked at him, afraid. 

"There's no CCTV in this part," he whispered in his most airy yet masculine way. 

His bangs were all down, his hair became much of a mess. His face was turning pinkish-red, his hazel brown eyes were visible due to sunlight passing through the window and sweats were on his face. His neck and ears turned pinkish-red as well. He became the hottest man I have ever seen. 

With a voice so masculine and breath so warm, he whispered something to me. 

"I'll be gentle..." 

Until he kissed me again but this time, much gentle as if he was tasting every detail of my lips, owning it, as if he was seeking something on it. His hand once again invaded my upper cloth but this time, I was not afraid anymore. Suddenly, I felt his soft yet warm palm on my chest, groping it, feeling it. 

The pleasure was enough to make you go insane. It was indescribable, something spectacular. 

"
AS MUCH AS I WANT TO LET YOU, I CAN'T."

I felt like jumping in the air when the door opened and a masculine voice spoke; it's the police! 

He smiled. "CONTROL YOURSELVES, BAWAL 'YAN!" 

And he walked away. 

We exchanged eye contact and awkward it may seem, we found ourselves laughing. 

The next morning, I went to the court to finally receive the court's decision about the case. In fact, we have filed it 10 days after the verdict came 8 years ago. Yes, 8 years ang inabot bago nila binigyang aksyon ang isang petisyon. 

It sounds gibberish but it's a fact.

They did all the things to deprive the case to go to a higher court. Ginawa nila lahat para mapabagal 'yung proseso. Yes, they made all that possible kasi lahat ng nag join force to convict him, they all won a government seat. The President, Vice President, and even the Chief Justice were at alliance. They did their best for justice to serve slower.

Eh paano, they all convicted him and if the defense can show proof that there was a manipulation involved, it will create a mess in their name. Yes, people greedy for power are that evil. 

"Are you ready?" Newt, the former defender lawyer asked me as we were waiting for it to be given to us. 

"'Di ko alam..." I said, nervous. "What if we're denied?" 

"And what if we are not?" he asked back. "Don't be too negative about it. We've waited for 8 straight years, ngayon ka pa ba panghihinaan?" 

Still, I sighed. 

"Excuse me, do you know where the clerk agent is?" 

Beat. 

I heard a familiar voice. 

A really, familiar voice that can make my blood boil. 

I looked at the man wearing his formal suit but this time, he became more masculine. A tall, and attractive yet betrayer prosecutor who almost ruined my life! 

"Tyler Scott..." I murmured. 

"When is he coming back?" Tyler asked the woman who seemed blushing. 

"Whoa!" Newt expressed, jaw dropped. "Look who's here..." 

My eyes gave him a sharp look. "Watch me." 

In a flash, I stood up, blood boiling, and with sharp eyes looking at him. 

"Huy, huy sa'n ka pupunta? Huy!" I heard Newt calling me. 

"Okay, thank you," Tyler said to the woman, smiling. 

Huh! Marunong pala s'yang ngumiti?

"Oh," he said soon as he saw me. I stopped in front of him. 

"How have you been? Why are you here?" he asked me with a smile still. 

"Work purposes, I supposed," I said without dodging his eyes. 

"Why...are you giving me that look?" he asked, awkwardly. 

I smiled. "Prosecutor, remember what happened years ago, when you moved a strike on me?" 

He contemplated. "On the first trial or the last? Can't recall which." 

I felt my blood really boiling. 

"Prosecutor," I said again. "What if... I'll move a strike on you, too?" 

Confused, he looked at me. 

I smirked. 

"A strike on your face!" 

In no time, he felt a flying fist on his face, he fell down, holding his face which turned red and blood then came out  from his nose. The people looked at us, the guards were coming. 

"HUY!" Newt exclaimed. "ANONG GINAWA MO?!" 

I looked at Tyler who was in pain. 

"DON'T YOU KNOW HOW I SUFFERED BECAUSE OF YOU?" I shouted, madly. "I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR EIGHT YEARS! WASN'T IT ENOUGH YOU REVOKED MY CREDIBILITY AS A WITNESS, KAILANGAN KASUHAN PA 'KO NG PERJURY?! AND A YES OR NO ANSWER? TUMAYO KA RIYAN! KAHIT BABAE AKO LALABANAN KITA! TUMAYO KA RIYAN! TAYO!" 

In the blink of an eye, I saw myself being forced out of the building, I madly obeyed. 

"Tignan mo 'yung duwag na 'yun, hindi manlang lumaban!" I said, anger all inside me. 

"CAN YOU CALM DOWN?!" Newt exclaimed. 

"I WON'T!" I answered back. "MUNTIKAN NA 'KONG MAKULONG NG ISANG TAON DAHIL DOON! GOOD THING IT WAS DISMISSED AT NAG COMMUNITY SERVICE LANG AKO, CLEANING THE STREETS IN A BROAD DAYLIGHT FOR SIX MONTHS!" 

I heaved a sigh and tried to compose myself. When I calmed down, I looked at him. 

"Ba't ganyan mukha mo?" 

He frowned and he faced a paper in front of me which says,
 'PETITION DENIED.' 

I blinked. 

I blinked again. 

And I blinked for a hundred time now, hoping the paper will magic itself and will change the decision. I was in my office, looking at the paper on my table, can't set my focus on the new petition I was writing. 

Whooo hirap maging lawyer gusto ko nalang maging kriminal!

 

I've waited 8 years just to get it. How long am I gonna wait again for another one? 

I heaved a sigh again, feeling a heavy chest pain. 

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I suddenly heard a loud, irritating voice I don't wanna hear for the rest of my life. Immediately, I stood up. 

"DID I HEAR IT RIGHT? YOU FILED A MOTION FOR RE-OPENING THE CASE?" 

He's our head. 

"It was filed 8 years—"

"AND YOU GOT THE RESULT?" 

I nodded. 

"DENIED?" 

I nodded again. 

"THAT'S RIGHT. DON'T—WHAT'S THAT?" he looked at my laptop. 

"YOU'RE WRITING FOR A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS?" 

I nodded. "The motion has been denied, it's the only way I can use to re-open the case and bring just—" 

"STOP IT!" he said. "YOU'RE JUST WASTING TIME! STOP FIGHTING FOR A CASE THAT HAS LONG BEEN LOST! ONCE A MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION WAS DENIED, IT'LL HARD TO APPEAL ANYMORE. SO STOP YOUR NONSENSE AND DON'T EVER OPEN THE CASE AGAIN! WE HAVE PLENTY OF CASES THAT NEEDS TO BE SOLVED. FOCUS ON THAT!" 

In an instant, mad as he always was, he walked out. 

I sighed again and again, close to crying. 

I was hopeless. 

The case was hopeless. 

I went home with a heavy heart, thinking about what will I do now. I promised to save him, but now everything seemed chaotic. It's depressing. 

"What do you wanna do once nakalaya ka na?" I asked him once.

 "Magpapatuloy

 ka ba sa med? Pupuntang mall? Sa fave nating fast food chain? Bibili ng libro?" 

"No," he said, smiling from ear to ear. "I have my own plan." 

"Ano?" I asked, curiously. 

He smiled. 

"I'll visit mom..."
 

Thinking of that scenario again, it made my heart weaker again. He wanted to do nothing but just visit his mom. Damn it, I wanna cry! 

Why is the justice system so fucked up? 

"Can we talk?" my dad suddenly asked me soon as I went inside the house.

"Para saan po?" I curiously asked. 

"Are you... planning to re-open the case?" 

"My motion got denied, dad." 

"But don't tell me you're after the writ of habeas corpus?" 

I didn't answer. 

"So you are..." he concluded. "Do you really wanna ruin his life more?" 

"Dad," I said, shocked. "I'm just helping him!" 

"And he doesn't need your help," my dad said. "Ikaw lang ang gumugulo sa buhay n'ya. In the first trial, he could've pleaded guilty before the trial started and receive life imprisonment just like what he's experiencing now, pero you risked his life, aiming to prove his innocence but your help just almost exposed him to death penalty. Hindi ka pa ba natututo?" 

My heart sunk. 

"He wanted to do that because he wanted me to know the truth!" I insisted. 

"And does your consciousness about it more important than his life?" my dad reasoned out. "Hindi mo s'ya tinutulungan to save him. Tinutulungan mo s'ya dahil tinutulungan mo lang ang sarili mo to feed your curiousity, to feed your stupid, selfish love!" 

My tears fell. 

"Dad it's not—" 

"IT IS!" he exclaimed. "Remember your mom? During her clinical malpractice lawsuit, she got a verdict of life imprisonment. Until I filed a motion and the case got reopened and you know what happened, right? She got a new verdict but that time, it was the death penalty. The case is similar. Re-opening the case means re-opening his exposure again to the death penalty if the prosecution has proof that this case is not attempted murder, but an intentional murder!" 

"But the law was twisted!" 

"So does your principle!" he said. 
"Your impulsiveness will soon kill him. Drop the case. Let him live. Learn from me, learn from your mistake!" 

Angry as he already was, he walked away and I was left hopeless and crying. 

Will I really cause him harm? 

Everything tells me there's nothing  I can do. 

Should I...drop the case? 

The day after, I went to the query room. In fact, he was now in front of me, staring at me while I read the case he had before. 

"Stop staring at me," I said. 

"Why? Can't I stare? 

"Just stop." 

"Too bad," he said. "I can't." 

I put what I was reading down and I felt my roots were about to disown me when I met his eyes. He was smiling at me, so genuine, so precious. 

"What's with the face?" he asked me. "It's been a while since I saw you frown." 

I cleared my throat. 

Should I tell him? He deserves the truth. 

"I have something to tell you," I said, my voice cracked. "About the case... it...it's..." 

"It got denied," he cut me off. 

"How...did you know?" I asked, shocked. 

"My former defense counsel told me." 

And I looked at Newt sitting in the corner, covering his face suddenly, reading as if. 

He smiled. "It's fine." 

"No, it's not!" I said. "I...promised to free you out..." 

"But it's fine," he said, and he smiled. "The petition got denied. There's nothing we can do." 

"There is," I said. "The writ of habeas corpus..." 

His eyes grew bigger. "That's too risky!" 

"I know!" I said abruptly. "It doesn't matter what it will cause me. Pero sa'yo...I'm...I'm afraid it might make things worse." 

"Do you want to fight the case?" he asked. 

"I do," I felt tears now forming in my eyes. "God knows I do. I was motivated to finish my pre-law course, my law degree, and pass the bar exam just for this. I wanted to do well in school because I wanted to clear your name. Pero hindi ko alam. Natatakot na 'ko....Natatakot ako sa posibleng maging dulot nito sa'yo..." 

Tears now fell from my eyes uncontrollably. 

"I trust you," he said. "I do have trust in you. If you think you can give a good fight, then do it." 

I looked at him. "Even it might cost you your life?" 

"Even it might cost my life." 

"Even if it might verdict you guilty?" 

He smiled. "Even if." 

"But," I said, anxious. "What if the verdict changed from attempted murder to frustrated murder? You... You might receive death penalty!" 

"I won't," he said. "Because I know you'll fight for me." 

"Why... do you trust me that much?" 

"Because I love you," and he smiled. "If before you're fighting alone, now I'll fight with you. We're all in this together." 

With heart fluttering, I smiled back. 

"GUYS!" Newt then exclaimed. "YOU WON'T BELIEVE THE NEWS!" 

We both looked at him.

He put his phone on the table, and with confusion, we looked at it. 

"KASO NG ISANG LALAKING NAPAGBINTANGAN PINATAY UMANO ANG SARILING AMA NA NIYANIG ANG BUONG BANSA ILANG TAON NA ANG NAKARARAAN," the news anchor said. 

"MABUBUKSAN MULI MATAPOS APRUBAHAN NG KORTE ANG ISINUMITE NA MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL DAHIL UMANO SA MGA BAGONG EBIDENSYANG NAKALAP NG ABOGADO NITO. BILANG TUGON NG PROSEKYUSYON, ANG KASO AY SISINTENSYAHAN NG MGA HURADO O TINATAWAG NA JURY NA BINUBUO NG IBA'T IBANG ABOGADO MULA SA KORTE SUPREMA MISMO. ILANG KABABAYAN NATIN ANG NA-ALARMA AT ANG ILAN PA NGA'Y ISINISIGAW NA BIGYAN DAW ANG AKUSADO NG SINTENSYANG BITAY." 

I was left astounded, can't even open my mouth. 

"WOW!" Newt exclaimed. "Naibasura ang motion for reconsideration natin, pero 'yung motion for new trial natin hindi!" he said, smiling from ear to ear. "Ang galing mo, attorney! Kailan ka nagpasa n'un?" 

I looked at him, confused. "Hindi ako nagpasa..." 

He got confused too. "Ha? Hindi rin ako nagpasa n'un..."

Silence. 

"Si...sino nagpasa?" Newt asked, confused still. 

We can't think of anyone. 

Is it my dad? NO, HE WON'T. 

The juries themselves? WHY WOULD THEY? 

We were amidst absolute perplexity when the door opened, and we all looked at it. 

"Have you heard the news?" 

What we saw was a man, a usual tall and white man, looking manlier now with his white long sleeves polo tucked inside his black slacks. 

My eyes grew bigger. 

"Ano ginagawa mo rito?!" I stood up. 

"Oh," he said. His last 'oh' was when he received a punch from me. "I bet you heard the news already."

"We did," Newt said. "And there's no need for you to come, Prosecutor Tyler Scott. See you in court." 

"You won't see me in court, Public Defender Newt Dahmer," he said, smiling. "Because I got kicked out of my job." 

"W-What?!" I exclaimed, eyes with loads of questions.

"They want me to drop the case and give it to a new prosecutor better than me that they can control, those dumb jerks," he said, smiling bitterly. "...and when I said I won't, they kicked me out." 

"So?" I asked. "Ano kinalaman namin d'yan?"

He smirked. "I am the one who filed the motion for a new trial, won't you even thank me, Attorney Courtney Spencer?" 

"WHAT?!" we all exclaimed. 

"How...how...did...how did you do that?!" Newt asked. 

"'Yung sa amin na denied, bakit 'yung iyo—" 

"Because I was the prosecutor of the case," he said, smiling. "One of the strong evidence needed for a motion of new trial be accepted is to prove the prosecution have deliberately withheld evidence that might have proved the accused's innocence," then he smirked. "...and I just did." 

"What evidence did you use?" the defender, Newt, asked. 

"The video of his mom admitting the crime." 

"Wait!" I said. "In order for the motion to be valid, dapat defense ang mag su-submit n'un. You're not a defense counsel. Paano?" 

He smiled. "Before I am not, but now I am," and he looked at us. "We have a good prosecutor here, which is me, who knows how to play tricks on evidence and knows how the prosecution works. We have a good defense counsel here who has the bravery to fight even though he's fighting against powerful authorities." 

He then looked at me. 

"And we have a new lawyer who has an experience of perjury so I assume she's good at spotting lies in a witness' testimony because she once lied." 

"BEFORE," I emphasized. 

"Alright, before," he said, smirking. 

"And knows how to throw a good punch as well." 

I gave him a sharp look, he smiled.

"So we're all set!" he added. "We are composed of a really good team. The juries now are from the Supreme Court, which may or may not an ally of officials trying to fail this case. I don't know who the prosecutors are. It's us versus the officials, us versus those who are in greed for power, us against anyone in court, and us against an oppressing system of elites." 

"Why will we accept you?" I asked bitterly. "Why you when you almost betrayed us in court? Why you, who intended to shut me up by moving countless strikes so I can't testify—" 

"Because you're impulsive!" he halted me. "Your dad was right when I demand an autopsy." 

"You..." Traise said. "It's you who demand...it?" 

He smiled. "It's me. At first, ayaw ng prosecution dahil baka madiskubre ko pang inosente ka kaysa guilty. But little did they know, I was curious as well. Why does the whole nation give you attention? Why do the politicians condemn you?" 

He then sat on the edge of the table.

"So I asked for a mandatory autopsy within 24 hours of your father's death at hindi ko lang ni-release dahil natatakot din ako sa possible kong malaman. Until, napatunayan ko na at napa-isip ako. Your mom killed your dad, pero bakit ikaw ang umaako sa krimen? Anong itinatago mo? At sino ang pinu-protektahan  mo?" 

He then gulped. 

"Kaya binisita ko ang mama mo. I immediately got another evidence that might prove your innocence and your mom as the real doer. Aware ako sa lahat. Kaya kong paikutin ang trial kung gugustuhin ko. Afterall, I had all the ace cards. However, when I heard your confession to Courtney through the phone, doon ako napa-isip. From that, I had the sudden urge to help you. Actually, your aunt doesn't want to testify and I got curious why because she's the star witness. S'ya ang nag-iisang nakakita ng krimen pero bakit ayaw n'ya tumistigo?" 

No one in the whole room was moving a nerve, all ears were at him. 

"She's so gorgeous and attractive so I thought why she has no husband, I mean, just why not? I investigated it. I got plenty of testimonies from your neighbor, from her neighbor, from the shop she always went and I found out she's dating someone before. They described it and in my horror, he matched your dad's physical feature." 

He smiled playfully. 

"So I talked to her, I summoned her in my office and told her I know she has a relationship with your dad and I have evidence when I literally have none. I didn't tell what kind of relationship or evidence, but she got so scared, she panicked and she cried. I got her trapped. That's...when I got to bring her to the witness stand. I was caught off guard when she turned the table, she accused you instead of revealing the truth. Then your mom's death was announced, which changed her stand. I convinced her, I did my best to talk to her after the trial break, almost begging her to say the truth in court."

"Kaya pala hindi ko na siya mahanap n'un!" Newt murmured. 

"And you!" he looked at me. "I moved a strike on you dahil napaka impulsive mo. Your love for the guy is too obvious, the court might even use that to think you planned the death with him. So I did my best to twist your testimonies and move a strike on you so you can't testify at the ending part of the trial because you might spill the facts before I could even testify his aunt for the crime. I put you in perjury just in case  i-extend nanaman ang trial for  new existing evidence, para hindi ka na mapag testify at maparatangan na kasabwat. You're that bad as a witness, you almost ruined things." 

SHOULD I PUNCH HIM OR SHOULD I KILL HIM? 

"So you see," he said and he looked at Traise. "I'm on your side all this time. Aren't you even wondering why the case is murder and not parricide?"

BANG. 

Newt exchanged confused eyes with me. 

"Murder is killing another person. Parricide is killing a relative, a family member. It should be parricide but those who were in power were really determined to convict him to the point that they pressured me through my dad to charge him with murder. Murder and Parricide have the same intensity of the crime, same penalty, same crime actually; killings but just different in terms. They want it to be murder because it will trigger the public's hate for him more," he twisted a bitter smile. "They are that worst." 

No one was moving between us. 

"And silly you!" he said, grinning.
"Why file a motion for re-trial? To re-open the trial? Then what, just waste time? Re-opening the trial will just re-open the case, it has a lower chance of winning. The prosecution owns that game, and you can't win over them, trust me," he said, and he looked at us again. "So what I filed is a motion for new trial. It means it's a new trial to join, new evidence to show, new witnesses to summon, all back to square one." 

He looked at Traise. 

"They knocked you out once, we'll break them twice this time." 

"Why are you telling us that?" I asked, emotionless yet suspicious in my tone. 

"Because you have no choice," he said. "Having a prosecutor of the case on your side admitting something went wrong in the first trial is a good card to win the case, isn't it?" he smirked. "So you see, if you want to win this trial in the dirty world of politics, you need me." 

"Why you?" I asked, bitter still. 

"Why me?" he asked, he looked into my eyes. 

Suddenly, he smirked. 

"Because I'm the game changer."

# PART NINE: SHE WHO RETURNED

Pile of papers.

Books scattered on the table. 

Sound of finger typing something. 

Serious faces. 

I sighed as I turned the last page of the documents I was reading about Traise's last trial case. 

"Are you done reviewing the case?" Newt, the defender, asked me, who was just sitting beside me. We were inside the query room which we often use as if it's our office. 

"Not yet," I replied, without looking at him, emotionless. 

"Sino nag re-review ng evidence?" the former prosecutor, Tyler, asked. 

I don't know, even though he was on our side already, I  call him prosecutor still and my blood boils the same way with the sight of him.

"Ako," Newt said, looking at his papers too. 

"I'm done reviewing the testimonies," Tyler said. "I'll summon past witnesses and new witnesses in court. We shall start brainstorming ten minutes from now." 

I smirked. "Minamanduhan mo ba kami?" 

"What?" he asked, caught off guard. "I'm just making things organized." 

I looked at him. "Just to remind you, you are in the defense counsel not the prosecution and whether you like it or not, you're under us." 

"Alright," he smiled. "If you say so." 

I rolled my eyes. I am not usually this rude, and I'm not actually rude. 

Maybe, just for him? I don't know. I developed hatred against him ever since I received perjury. I literally cleaned streets in broad daylight for six straight months! 

"Guys I've found out—" the prosecutor. 

"CAN YOU PLEASE LET US FINISH FIRST?" I frustratedly exclaimed. "YOU'RE DISTRACTING ME!" 

"Why are you treating me that way?"
he reasoned out, he was just on the side of the table and the other side was Traise, reading related cases. 

“You're treating me as if I did something bad to your ancestor!" 

"JUST STOP TALKING!" I exclaimed. “YOU LOOK LIKE A BUBBLE WRAP I WANNA POP!" 

Beat. 

Silence.

WAIT. 

WHAT DID I JUST SAY? 

Tyler tried his best not to laugh, and Newt burst out laughing. 

"That sounds so wrong!" Newt said in between his laugh, trying his best not to laugh anymore. "Sounds like something sexual!" 

"EXCUSE ME?!" I exclaimed and they all went back to what they were doing, fearing what could I do. 

It had been weeks since Tyler joined the team. It became too controversial, of course. Imagine the defense counsel and the prosecution of the same case joined forces to prove an accused's innocence. 

Ever since he joined us, some people started doubting if Traise really did it kasi nga 'di ba, bakit kakampihan ng prosecutor noon ang kriminal? It created division in public but there were still more people who condemned him. The verdict was attempted murder but for them it was intentional. 

The division in public made the prosecution more triggered to persecute him, though. Halatang  politicians were behind this. Pinag-aralan namin lahat ng juries representatives and more than half, and almost all of them actually were close to the officials before who manipulated the case na mga nasa gobyerno pa rin.

I know they'll do everything to make him guilty, at ganun din kami. In fact, we were having meetings almost every day just to brainstorm. We were going to different places, seeking for someone who could testify. On the other note, my father was strongly against it. Soon as he found out I took the case still, we barely talked. He was aloof, he was mad at me. 

This time, we were determined to win this case. More than determined than we were years ago. Oh no, scratch that. We are not just determined, we will surely win this. 

I looked at Traise who's scanning related cases that might help what approach we will use. Ever since we started, sobrang tahimik n’ya. Minsan lilipat lang 'yung tingin n'ya sa 'kin at kay Tyler. He seemed in a bad mood. 

I cleared my throat.

"Hey," I said. He looked at me, face emotionless. 

"May tanong ako," I started. "Nakita ko kasi isa sa evidence 'yung autopsy. Kasi 'di ba halatang stabbing na 'yung cause of death since he had stabs, so was the autopsy just a redundancy? Kasi, if oo we can take this one out." 

"Autopsy will only be done if the cause of death is suspicious," Traise said, "If the cause of death is obvious, hindi na kailangan unless the coroner will mandatorily ask." 

I nodded understandingly. 

"Siguro, i-cross out ko nalang ito.” 

"Don't!" Tyler said. "Baka magamit pa natin ‘yan balang araw.” 

"Ba't mo ba ako pinakikialaman?" I asked. 

"Siguro kasi kasali kasi rito?" he sarcastically answered. 

"Mind your own business!" I replied. 

"And this is my business!" 

I lost my temper. "BAKIT BA—" 

"CAN YOU TWO STOP?" Traise halted us and he looked at us, madly, and jaw clenched. He once again looked at his paper and in less than a minute, he placed it down. 

"You!" he said, looking at me. "Can you stop giving him the attention that you should’ve been giving me?!" 

I gulped. He sounded and looked so mad.

"W-What—" 

"STOP GIVING HIM TIME AS WELL!" he exclaimed at me. "I DON'T WANT ANYONE OCCUPYING YOUR TIME ASIDE FROM ME!" 

WHAT THE HELL IS HE SAYING?! 

"Bro," Tyler said, awkwardly smiling. "I think you've mistaken—" 

"AND CAN YOU STOP TALKING TO HER?" he asked. "YOU CAN ONLY TALK TO HER IF IT'S ABOUT THE CASE,” he said, his stare so lethal.

"No, Traise it's—"

“Don't tease her, don't make her mad, don't look at her, don't smile at her, don't make her feel in rage, don't occupy her time, it's my job." 

Tyler smiled bitterly. "You've misunder—" 

"You called me bro?" Traise halted him. "Then let's show a real brotherhood here. Don't cross the fence I built, or you'll be messing with me." 

There's a trace of warning in his voice. 

Then suddenly, I felt the tension inside the room. The atmosphere was suffocating. They were just looking at each other, no one dodging sharp eye contact, both jaws clenched. 

Then Tyler spoke. 

“I doubt that," he said and he smirked. 
“No one can tell. Will I cross, or will I not?" 

"You want to try me?" Traise asked while looking deadly in Tyler's eyes. 

Tyler smirked. "Threatened?" 

Traise smirked back. "You wish." 

WHAT ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT?!?! 

Then the door opened, and in my great horror, I felt my legs shaking. IT'S THE POLICE WHO CAUGHT US! 

He went in, and placed a pizza on the table. 

"Hindi ko na pinapasok ‘yung delivery boy," he said. "Ako na ‘ka ko 
magpapasok." 

"Oh, thank you officer," Tyler said. “Want some?" 

Umiling s’ya and then he looked at me and Traise. “Busog na ‘ko sa nakita ko eh. Sarap!" 

I felt my cheeks once again turning burning red. 

WHAT THE F*CK. 

And as I looked at Traise, he was emotionless. 

Paano n’ya ‘yan nagagawa habang ako mamatay na sa sobrang awkward! 

"Una na ako," the officer said, and with his eyes teasing us, he went out. 

"Matuto po tayong mag lock ha," he said, grinning as he closed the door. 

SH*T. THAT WAS AWKWARD! 

"Are you guys done arguing?" Newt asked. "Can we start?" 

We all prepared our case and argument. All the things we found from evidence, testimonies, to related cases we presented, we found something in common; the verdict is too heavy for the case. 

"We'll win it, for sure,” Newt said, smiling. “Napakaraming loopholes ng unang trial.” 

"That's why I joined you," Tyler said. "This time we'll solidify the self-defense claim." 

"No," Traise said. "We won't." 

I looked at him, confused. 

"Why not?" Tyler asked. “’Pag napatunayan nating it was self-defense, you'll be acquitted of all charges! Our evidence is solid. Makakalaya ka na.” 

"He's right," Newt said. “Our evidence are enough to support it. It's the best way." 

"No, it's not," Traise then said, all our eyes on him. 

He smiled.

"I have a tactic."
 

The next day, I found myself inside the court, with really loads of people inside. It doubled the attendees of the last trial 8 years ago. As expected, it's the main talk. People were rallying outside. The trial became a really, hot topic in the whole nation like it was ages ago. 

With legs shaking, I closed my eyes and sighed. 

"Ready ka na?" Newt asked, and he smiled. "We've been here before but this time, we're no longer powerless." 

"Ewan ko," I said. "Kinakabahan pa rin ako." 

"Oh, hello.” 

Suddenly, may lumapit sa aming babae. She was wearing a prosecutor's robe and my eyes grew bigger when I found out who was she. 

"Kumusta ang partner in crime ng kriminal?" 

THAT IRRITATING VOICE, SHE STILL HAS IT! 

She smirked. 

"Pinanindigan mo talaga, ano?" 

SHE'S THE WOMAN I PUNCHED BEFORE IN CLASS WHEN SHE INSULTED TRAISE’S CASE! 

"Avery, Anong...ginagawa mo rito?" I asked. 

She smiled. "Are you blind or something? Do you think I’m wearing this robe for nothing? Ano ako, choir?" 

She smiled widely, seeing me being uncomfortable. 

"Courtney, use your brain. I’m the other party. I'm the prosecutor." 

She let out an intimidating smirk. 

"If I were your friend, I'll tremble in fear. You know why? Because I'll make sure he'll be convicted, forever, or by death." 

“Since when did you get this brave, Prosecutor Avery Heimsworth?" I asked sarcastically. 

"'Dunno," she said. "I've always been brave. I never lose," she said and smirked. "Not even once." 

I scoffed. "Really? Eh, the last time I knew, you kissed the floor when I punched you.” 

She laughed. “Easy, Courtney. Resorting to violence doesn’t make you cool. Show some class!” 

"Wow," I said, with lower voice. "Class? Why don't you just convict your dad? Wasn't he corrupt? Oh, wait! I bet he still is?" 

Her smile faded and she smirked. Sge seemed insulted.

"Don't be too confident, Defense Courtney Spencer. You can't even surpass my scores in exam, so tell me, how will you beat me in this case? Pure luck and prayers, I supposed?" 

"By the truth," I said, meeting her eyes. “And nothing but the truth." 

"So inspiring," she said sarcastically. "Iiyak na ba 'ko?"

And in a flash, a man in his 60's approached us. I immediately recognized him. 

"Dad…" Avery uttered. Her face softened.

"Why are you wasting your time here? Go review the case!" 

She looked at me and her father. She then sighed.

"O-Opo…" hesitant, she walked away. 

The man looked at me. 

"So you're the defender now?” 

"I am, sir," I said. 

"Do you know me?" 

"Y-Yes…" 

"The case is too complicated, isn't it?" he asked. 

"Indeed it is, sir," I said, trying to show dominance.

"Why not drop it?" 

It rendered me speechless. I was caught off guard.

He smiled. “You still have time, miss." 

He's intimidating me! He's trying to use his power over me! 

"It might cause you trouble and worse...alam mo na ‘yun. Aren't you scared?” 

I looked at his eyes, staring at it and I smiled back. 

"Fear is associated with dishonesty, sir," I said. "But with the truth on our side, I don't fear it. People who keep on twisting it should.” 

He looked offended.

With a smile on my face, I walked away.

# PART TEN: THE JACK OF ALL TRADES

The trial started.

"Are you ready?" Newt asked me and I smiled.

"I always am."

The trial started with opening remarks.

"Is the defense ready for the trial?" the court clerk asked.

"The defense is ready to prove its case," Newt said.

The trial was trial by jury, not a bench trial. The bench trial is the usual trial wherein the judge makes the decision while trial by jury is the case wherein a set of selected people will make the court decision based on facts that both parties have presented while the judge will facilitate the case.

"The court will now pick the juries."

In no time, juries have been picked but it was suspicious. Literally the whole juries were allies of the government officials who wanted to give Traise the death penalty before.

I sighed.

Umpisa palang, minamanipula na nila.

The trial finally started.

"The defense will now prove its case, Your Honor," I said and I looked at the crowd.

They were all looking at me, eyes all fixed at me.

This is it. I've waited for it for 8 straight years.

"Eight years ago," I introduced. "The accused had been charged with a murder case, saying the accused killed his father. During the entire trial, the prosecution focused on prosecuting the accused without even looking at the possibility of his innocence. With the new evidence we gathered, and evidence we labeled as false evidence, and witnesses testifying with misleading testimonies, we filed a motion for new trial which apparently got approved." 

I faced everyone. 

"Today, at this trial, as commanded by Your Honor and the law, we will present and prove the urgency for this case to be considered."

There was complete silence and everyone was just looking at me.

"I, therefore, summon to the witness stand, the former prosecutor of the case."

I looked at Traise who was sitting beside Newt and I gave him a small smile, remembering the things we talked about that night.

"First tactic," Traise said, looking determined as we looked at him seriously. "You, Tyler as the prosecutor, won't be in the defense counsel for the first trial."

"WHAT?!" the three of us exclaimed.

"Why?" Tyler asked.

"Since first trial ito at kailangan natin makumbinsi ang juries na kinakailangan nga ng new trial, kailangan mapatunayan ng defense na maraming pagkakamali sa naunang trial eight years ago."

"That's the idea," Newt said. "Kailangan natin s'ya para maging miyembro ng defense para magmukhang marami talagang pagkakamali kaya sumali s'ya sa atin just to fix that. So why take him out of the defense sa first day wherein it's one of the important trials?"

"I agree," I said. "We need him there."

"No," Traise said. "You misunderstood me. What I mean is he won't sit as a defense first, but as a witness."

We all looked at him, confused.

"Look," he said, convincing us. "Kung magiging miyembro na agad s'ya ng defense sa unang trial, we can no longer use him as a witness kasi nga miyembro na s'ya ng defense, 'di ba? I-re-revoke lang ang credibility n'ya. Pero kung gagamitin natin s'ya as a witness first then join the counsel after, the prosecution can't revoke him, even if they try to."

We looked at each other, can't talk.

"Kung nasa defense na s'ya at mag te-testify, the prosecution will insist his testimony is emotionally driven kaya ma re-revoke agad s'ya umpisa palang and we'll lose because his testimony is what we need to prove there were errors. If his testimony got discarded, the case will be closed and we'll lose, that fast. Pero kung ilalagay natin s'ya bilang witness bago maging miyembro ng defense, walang magiging problema dahil sinabi n'ya 'yon bago maging defense." 

He looked at us. 

"The first trial is one of the crucial trials, and we need to prove at first the urgency for new trial, that there were errors, and the only person that can prove that is the former prosecutor of the case, which is you, Tyler. The new prosecution can't do anything about it, you know the prosecution trial before more than they do. With that, we can win the first hour of the trial."

And he smiled.

"That's our first card."

There were murmuring. I caught the prosecution whispering at each other, they seemed panicking as if they didn't expect our opening bomb.

I smirked.

That's it! You knocked us once before, we'll break you twice this time!

Tyler came out and the court room was filled with some people giggling.

Wtf?!

"Please state your name for the record," the clerk said after the noise faded.

He stated his name.

"Take the oath of affirmation."

"I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I shall give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

Nostalgic.

8 years ago, I was here standing and saying the exact same thing too. But it was a different case. I was a witness who was humiliated in court, got a strike, and charged with perjury by the same person I am facing now. 

Difference is, I was a witness and he was the prosecutor. This time, the tables have turned. I am the defense and he's the witness. Should I show a score board and avenge myself?

"You've just stated the affirmation oath," I said and smirked. "Are you willing to be responsible in case you tell a lie?"

He smiled, remembering the exact same words he told me before.

He smirked.

"I fear nothing, attorney."

He said the exact same words I said before.

I didn't expect this. I know we'll see in court someday, but as rivals not as allies.

"Let's proceed," I said.

I cleared my throat.

"So who are you to meddle with the case?!"

He got shocked, everyone did. I sounded like inaaway ko s'ya, as if sinasabihan ko lang s'ya ng 'sino ka para makialam dito' that even me, got shocked.

"I'm the prosecutor of the case, attorney," he said, smiling trying not to laugh.

I closed my eyes.

Self, umayos ka! Kakampi mo 'yan, hindi kalaban! Ba't ba kasi ako nandito? Ba't ba kasi ako napili rito?

Then I remembered the night our team talked.

"And when Tyler testifies, that's when we'll reveal the errors," Traise said.

"Okay, I can do that," Newt said.

"No, not you," Traise objected. "If ikaw ang kikilos, that may be a loophole."

"Why?" Newt said. "It's reasonable. Ako ang nag handle ng kaso noon so it means I have the full knowledge of the case."

"And that's the problem," Traise said. "You are the defense of the case and you have the full knowledge of it but why you didn't spot the errors?"

A silence.

"Kung ikaw ang mag e-examine sa kanya, the prosecution will find ways to fail the new trial. Pwede nilang i-rason na may errors ang prosecution pero hindi napansin ng defense kaya hindi iyon error kung hindi kapabayaan ng defense. Na may mali pero nagpabaya ang defense dahil hindi nila ito nakita when in fact the defense's job is to find those errors and prove them court, pero 'di nila nagawa. Kaya kung ikaw ang gagamitin, maibabasura tayo in the first trial because we failed to attest that it was an error, not a negligence."

"It seems hopeless then," Tyler said.

"No, it's not," Traise said. "We have a solution still. They can prove na it was negligence instead of error kung ang mag e-examine sa witness ay ang defense na nag handle ng kaso noon. Pero kung ang mag e-examine ay bagong miyembro na hindi kasali sa naunang trials, it means wala s'yang alam sa imbestigasyon na nangyari sa naunang trial kaya hindi s'ya puwedeng kuwestyunin ng prosecution kung mayroon mang kapabayaan kasi wala s'yang responsbilidad sa kaso noon. So they can't strike that person, no matter how much they try."

He then looked at me. 

"And it's you, Courtney. You're the second card."

I sighed.

"You are the former prosecutor of the case and what was your job?" I finally asked, sounding professional now.

"To prosecute the suspect, attorney." 

"And what do you mean by to prosecute?"

"To prove they are guilty." 

"And what do you mean by guilty?" 

"It means they committed the crime, attorney. Beyong reasonable doubt."

"As a prosecutor, may I know how the prosecution handles the work?"

"Our work starts when an incident happened.

"Obviously," I said, cutting him off and sounded as if binabara ko s'ya when I actually am not. Even I, got shocked.

"When a case was reported, we look at it first before the court," Tyler added 

"And who charges the suspects?" I asked.

"It's us, attorney," he said. "If the family filed a charge, we'll handle. But if they don't we have the power to file still. They can't also drop a case if they changed their minds, it's for us to decide."

"So can I say the prosecution's decision is powerful than the victim, am I right?" 

"Sort of."

I smiled.

"No sort ofs, just answer a yes or no."

"I guess—"

"No guessing, state a fact." 

"But it's based on the victim's—"

"But you promised to tell nothing but the truth."

"It's—"

"A yes or no will do." 

"But it can't be—"

"I repeat, yes or no."

"We cannot—"

"A yes or no, I affirm." 

"The prosecutio—"

"I repeat, is the prosecution more-"

"Yes in some—"

"Stop!" I said, smiling. "I'll take that as a yes." 

He looked confused. 

That's right! That was also my face before!

"So," I said. "When you received the case, will you prosecute them instantly?"

"We seek if there is a probable cause to charge them, attorney." 

"And if there is, I assume, you'll prosecute them, am I right?" 

"Yes."

"What does the prosecution have in mind when they prosecute someone, is it to prove they are guilty?" 

"Indeed, attorney." 

"Even though they are innocent?" 

"To prove their innocence is the job of the defense, attorney."

"But you said you have to prove someone's guilty, then the prosecution I must say focuses on that, am I right?" 

"Yes." 

"But the law said 'innocent until proven guilty' but based on what you have just said the accused is guilty already, the prosecution, perhaps, do not obey the law?"

His eyes grew bigger.

"It's not—"

"But you said it, you told us that what the prosecution had in mind is to prove they are guilty, but not to give justice and clear things up. Do you debunk what you just have said?"

He looked at me, remembering a familiar question.

"I repeat, do you?"

"Attorney, it's—"

"Do you?"

"It's not about—"

"I said, do you?"

"The prosecution, I—"

"I repeat, do you?"

"How many times—"

"Just answer a yes or no."

"I don't—"

"A yes or no."

"But—"

"I repeat, just a yes or no." 

"Of course it has—"

"I heard of course," I said, and I smiled. "I'll note of that as a yes."

I saw how he got irritated, he turned madly red.

Revenge time!

"So you as a prosecutor wanted to prosecute than to give justice, am I right?"

"As stated in the Section 17, Article III of the 1987 Constitution, no person shall be compelled to be a witness against himself. I therefore invoke my rights against self-incrimination, attorney. I refuse to answer."

There was a loud noise from people.

Wait, I didn't expect that!

"Defense, change your question."

I closed my eyes.

Sh*t.

I looked at him, and I smiled frustratedly.

"I acknowledge your rights. But since you have debunked what you have jsaid it means you lied." 

I then smiled as I met his dumbfounded eyes.

"I move a strike."

"OBJECTION, YOUR HONOR!"

We all looked at the voice opposing and in my surprise, IT WAS NEWT, THE DEFENDER.

Wait.

The defender lawyer is on my team.

And this witness is on my team

And we're on that team

WHY ARE WE ALL FIGHTING AGAINST EACH OTHER?

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

I heard people laughing, even the juries, even the prosecution. 

"You can't object your own defense team, defense," the judge said and he looked at me. "You can't move a strike on your witness too, attorney, since you are not cross-examining and he's your own witness."

I closed my eyes.

STUPID!

Until my mind went back to the night we talked about the tactics.

"What would be the next?" I asked Traise, confused.

He smiled. "You have to present the evidence."

I looked at the judge,

"Sorry for the mistake, Your Honor," I said. "I was just carried away."

And I looked at the prosecutor who's in my witness stand, smiling amusely at me humiliating myself.

"As of this moment, I would like to set your attention on the screen, what can you see?"

"A video."

"Is it familiar to you?"

"It is," Tyler said.

"OBJECTION YOUR HONOR!"

The prosecution said, and Avery stood up, as if waiting for this very moment.

I suddenly remembered the night again.

"
What evidence?" Newt then asked.

"Mas okay kung ang ilalabas natin ay ang autopsy report," Tyler said. "That'll prove you're not guilty at all."

"As much as I want to, hindi puwede at hindi dapat," Traise said.

"Why not?" I asked. "It's a good throw."

"It is," he said. "But too risky. Puwede silang manghingi ng ebidensya kung kumuha nga ba ng autopsy report ang defense at malalagay tayo sa alanganin dahil hindi tayo kumuha noon. It means they found out that we didn't ask one because it should've been our evidence instead of the prosecution, malalaman nilang nasa atin ang mali. Hence, it would be decided as a negligence more than an error."

"So anong naiisip mo?" I asked.

"We'll use the video of my mom admitting the crime. I'm fine with it now."

"Pero," Newt said. "It was labeled as a false evidence, we can't use it anymore. The prosecution can wipe it out again."

"They can't," Traise said. "Naging false evidence s'ya noon nang gamitin mo, Newt, dahil hindi ikaw ang kumuha ng video at walang consent ng may-ari," and he looked at Tyler. 

"But with you, it isn't. You owned the video. You filmed it. You have the consent thus they can no longer wipe it out," and he smiled. 

"That's our third card."

My mind went back to present, looking at my schoolmate before, Avery, as she was oozing with confidence.

"THE DEFENSE IS USING AN OLD EVIDENCE THAT HAD BEEN CONSIDERED FALSE IN THE LAST TRIAL. I DEMAND TO STRIKE IT OUT!" she said.

I smirked.

B*tch, shut up. I own this game.

"Your Honor," I said calmly. "The video was considered false evidence for the defense because the defense had no legal consent for it but the same decision has no effect on the former prosecutor's side, most especially because he owns the video, thus he has a legal consent of it."

"It's true, Your Honor," Tyler said. "It's mine."

"And we have an evidence for it," I said, handling the judge the documents, he examined it.

"With the given circumstances, I therefore overruled the objection. Defense, present the evidence."

"Thank you, Your Honor," I said, smiling and I flashed the video on screen. I played it.

"Can you tell us something about the video?"

And he told us the confession.

"Your Honor," I said. "As you have witnessed, there are plenty of errors with the trial existed 8 years ago. From evidence to testimonies and even to the prosecution, there were errors which affected the verdict." 

I met everyone's eyes. 

"Thus, to bring light and justice to the case, we would like to invoke the accused's right to due process stated in the 1987 Constitution Article 3, Bill of Rights Section One which says, No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws. In light with this, we demand for a new trial to give the accused the fair and square trial he was deprived of years ago." 

I smiled.

"I rest my case."

With a proud yet heavy chest, I went back to the defense seat and soon as I got there, Newt and Traise gave me a smile.

"Did I do well?" I asked.

"Extremely well," Traise said. "Now we just have to wait for them to take the bait," he said, looking determined.

In an instant, an above average height woman with silky black hair walked in front, with a face of an angel but a mind of a demon, wearing her prosecutor robe.

She stood in front

"With the given circumstances, new evidence given, and proven errors admitted by the former prosecutor of the case," she said. "The prosecution approves the new trial, however, with a new case to charge. From attempted murder, the prosecution would like to elevate the case back to murder due to a probable cause."

And there were noises.

"In addition, we demand the accused of death penalty or capital punishment."

There was loud cheering noise.

She smiled. 

"We rest our case."

I felt Traise pressed my hand after seeing the worry on my face, and he gave me a weak smile.

"It's fine."

What he said the night flashed on my mind again. 

"
And the final stage, is the verdict," Traise said.

"We'll plea for a self-defense again this time, kaya naman na nating patunayan," Tyler said.

"I'm afraid we should not," Traise told us.

We all got confused.

"Why not? It's the same case before," said by Tyler. "You lost because of the errors, but this time we'll correct it and we'll prove it was self-defense. If we win, you will be acquitted of all charges!"

"Yes, posible nga pero kung mag fi-file tayo ng maling kaso, matatalo agad tayo," he reasoned out. "It wasn't self-defense, because the harm wasn't on me. My dad had no intention to harm me. My mom was her only target that night." 

"If you did it just to save your mom then it falls under Defense of a Relative category which is under Self Defense still in the Article 11, No .2 of the Revised Penal Code," Tyler began to argue.

"Yes, it falls under that pero kung titingnan mo ang buong sinasabi nito, self-defense is the presence of unlawful aggression or actual physical assault or a threat to inflict real imminent danger. In my case, I knew dad will poison my mom, I had enough time to call the police, to throw out the poison or to do any action but I did not. Instead, I had a thought of killing him still pero hindi lang natuloy nang 'di ko pinakain sa kanya 'yung may lason. Instead, I played tricks for him to confess in front of my mom about his supposed crime. The threat was immediate, but my action was not. So it won't fall under self-defense."

"No," Tyler insisted. "You hesitated, it means you have no full intention to kill. That's acceptable case!"

"The second element is the reasonable necessity of means of self-defense. Poisoning my dad back is not a self-defense. It was an attempted murder."

"We can still have a way to prove it!"

"No we can't!"

"We can!" Tyler said.

"No we can't!"

"Yes we can!"

WAIT, ARE THEY ARGUING???

"Matatalo uli tayo kung ang hihingin natin ay self-defense," Traise reasoned out. "Because the law says innocent until proven guilty. Pleading it was self-defense means we are admitting the crime, which makes the law invalid for me since it becomes guilty until proven innocent, which is wrong. By that, we are helping the prosecution to prove I am guilty by unconsciously admitting that I am guilty."

"But we have enough evidence to support the plea," Tyler said. "When I said things, I am sure of them. I studied the constitution and many cases for so many years, I know the law better than you."

"And I've been convicted for eight straight years and been reviewing it that long, I know my case well better than you," Traise said back.

They were both looking at each other, no one was dodging an eye contact.

Newt and I exchanged looks.

"So what will we do?" I asked.

Traise looked at me.

"Trust me this time. I surely know they will elevate the case whether parricide or murder because if they will use attempted murder on me, it's double jeopardy and the law won't allow them kasi bawal mo kasuhan ng parehong kaso ang iisang tao. If they elevate it to either murder or parricide and we plead self-defense, it means I'm guilty, and we are admitting it."

"So what do we have to plea now?" Newt asked.

Traise looked at us. 

"That's when you guys will take over. You have to prove my innocence. We'll plea not guilty, of any case, of any charge, of any crime. If they changed the charge to either parricide or murder, they took our bait," and he smiled. 

"That's our last and fourth card."

Just like he predicted, they plead guilty to murder.

THEY TOOK THE BAIT.

I looked at Traise, my mind now in present. 

"How did you predict them the way they are? You do not even study law."

Traise smirked.

"Because I'm the Jack of all trades, master of none."

"Defense," the judge called out.

I went in front and I smiled.

"In light of the new charge filed by the prosecution, the defense disregards the self-defense plea, and we plea of not guilty of any case, of any charge, of any crime; even murder," and I looked at the crowd. "The defense rests its case."

There was a noise coming from every side. There were flashes from media cameras. Right, this a hot topic, indeed it is.

I looked at the defense side, and there, I saw Newt, the defender, Traise, the accused, and Tyler, the former prosecutor. They were all looking at me, smiling, while Newt was giving me a thumbs up.

That's right.

We have an expert prosecutor who knows how to yield facts and evidence and knows how the opposing party works.

We have the brave defender who took the case before despite of it being controversial.

We have an innocent accused who studies his case the way we do.

And they have me, the attorney who'll clear her love's name of any crime and of any charge.

Afterall, the prosecutor was right. We composed the best team, and we're ready to break them twice.

I smiled.

Days have passed, and we really took this case seriously. It became a hot topic, in front page of every newspaper, headlines of every article, featured in every news, and trending topic online. I bet it triggered the people behind the anomalies of the trial eight years ago. Since that day, we prepared thoroughly for the next trial. 

We cannot afford to lose any minute, we have to own every trial, we have to make it an all-kill winning strike on our side. In fact, we were inside the query room again, reading articles, analyzing evidence.

"Look what I found," Newt said, reading his pile documents on the table. "I found a case which is quite similar to us," he added, and no one was responding since we were all busy.

"It was a case years ago," he continued. "The accused was the last victim of the death penalty and after her death tsaka na-alis uli ang death penalty and na-balik 8 years ago," he said.

"That's a pity," I said. "Hindi manlang n'ya inabot yung pagkawala before she got prosecuted."

"Oooh," Newt said. "Tyler, your dad was the judge of the trial."

"My dad?"

He nodded.

"Oh," Newt said again. "Wait. WHAT?!"

We all looked at him as he seemed arguing with the paper he was holding.

"Why?" Tyler asked.

"Why...is your mom one of the witnesses?"

"My mom?" Tyler asked back, flabbergasted.

"No," and he looked at Traise. "Your mom."

My eyes grew bigger.

"WHAT?" Traise exclaimed.

And the two approached Newt, reading the paper.

"Why will my mom testify? Bakit 'di ko 'to alam?" he asked.

"I don't know," Newt said.

"Shit. It's really my dad!" 

"Oh, it's really my mom!"

They both exclaimed.

"And one interesting fact is that the juries of the woman's case were the same officials who were eager to convict you before," Newt said to Traise.

"What is the case about?" I asked, confused. "Who's the accused?"

They searched for it, and all their eyes grew bigger. They got dumbstruck, dumbfounded, caught off guard.

I let out an awkward facial expression, with my hard pounding, nervous.

"What... What's with the look?"

"A... Attorney..." Newt said, stuttering.

And what he just said made my world stopped.

"I... It's your mom's.."

# PART ELEVEN: THE GAME CONTROLLER 

"UNA NA 'KO HA." 

I looked at the owner of the voice, it was Newt. We were outside the detention building, going home. It was 11 in the evening. 

"Ingat," I said. 

In no time, his car departed and I was left, watching it vanished from my sight. I put my hands inside the pockets of my coat, seeking for warmth. 

"Uuwi ka na?" Tyler asked me as he was standing beside me.

"Yup," I said weakly. 

He grinned. "Ayos ah, 'di ka pabalang sumagot ngayon." 

"ANO?" I asked, with slight change of tone. 

"Ayan pabalang na," he laughed. "Wala." 

I looked at the sky, billion of stars were scattered, twinkling as they showed themselves. 

I sighed. 

"Iniisip mo pa rin ba 'yung kanina?" Tyler asked me.

As I looked at him, he was staring at the stars too. That's when I noticed his features. His neck and adam's apple were contributing factors of his masculinity. He was no longer wearing his coat, in fact he's holding it and just wearing a long sleeve white polo, with the sleeves rolled up, revealing his arm and with few buttons opened, tucked inside his slacks. 

"Don't be," he added, and he met my eyes. "I know my dad. He seems like a manipulative person, but he's not. He judges people based on facts and nothing but the facts." 

That's the case. I know the prosecutor's dad judged things objectively and rationally. I know my friend's mom had principles I admire, so she won't testify on something that ain't real. 

My mom case was a clinical malpractice, and the article said it was intentional. My mom killed someone, intentionally, taking advantage of her profession. The article however did not reveal who the victim was, and did not provide necessary information for me to have a full grasp of the case. 

But seeing the people inclined, the judge, and witness, I have this feeling that caused me chest pain. What if, my mom did it? And what if mom really did it? I studied law, and has high principle of obeying the law but on the other side of the coin, I was a daughter of a criminal. 

I sighed again. 

"Pwede ba tumigil ka na kakabuntong hininga?" he said. "Para kang kambing."

I looked at him sharply. 

"Kidding," he said. "I was just trying to lift up the mood. Ang unusual ng atmosphere, saan na napunta 'yung maldita kong ka-trabaho na kahit witness n'ya i-s-strike n'ya?" 

"I'm not in the mood to fight back," I said, feeling now a much heavier chest pain. "I wanna go home." 

"Alright," he said. "Uh...my car is parked on the other side," he said awkwardly, pointing at the car on the other lane. 

I looked at him. "So?" 

"And...I only bought that last month. It has a nice air con, you won't even sweat unless you'll do something that would make you sweat-" he stopped himself. "Wait, that sounds so wrong..." 

"Stop overtalking, you're no help," I said emotionless and turned my back but then in my great shock, he blocked my way. 

"Uh...you...don't really wanna...uh...ride me?" 

My eyes grew bigger. 

"No, no!" he said, defensively. "I mean, my car. It's brand new." 

"If you wanna talk about your car, how much you bought it or how classy it is, wala akong panahong makipag yabangan, okay?" 

And I walked again but he blocked me again. 

Alright, he's making my blood boil again! 

"You're dumb!" he said, looking irritated. "I'm not bragging about my car. I'm just worried about you. With your condition and your mind flying in the outer space, I'm afraid on what will happen to you!" 

That caught me off guard, he looked like me a mad boyfriend. 

"S-So?" I asked, trying to maintain my posture. 

"SO?!" he exclaimed. "You're giving me migraine! Gusto kitang ihatid, okay?!" 

What is he saying? 

"Ba't mo naman ako ihahatid? Boyfriend ba kita?" 

He opened his mouth, but he closed it again and he sighed. "I'm just worried." 

But then a car stopped in front of us. 

"Ayan na 'yung grab," I said, looking at him. "I can manage myself." 

"Grab?" he asked. "Why take a grab if I can drive you home?" 

"Why drive me home when I can take a grab?" I asked back, twisting his statement, and opened the grab's door but then he closed it, halting me from coming in. 

"Ano ba?!" I irritatedly asked. 

"Paano kapag napag diskitahan ka n'yan?" he asked. "Teka lang. I'll talk to him." 

"WHAT?!"

"Sir," he approached the driver before I could even stop him. "I'll be taking note of your plate number po, ha? Here's my phone number and once she safely gets home, please do text me about it. May I see your driver's license, sir, just for further details, I hope you won't get offended. Thank you." 

After negotiating with the driver, he looked at me. 

"Arte mo." 

He then crossed the other lane and in no time, his car departed. 

"Boyfriend n'yo ba 'yun ma'am?" the driver asked me. "Nakakatakot."

"Ay, hindi po," I said. 

As I opened the door of the car, for no apparent reason, I looked at the detention building. In my surprise, one room's light was still on, and someone's looking at the window. 
My heart pounded hard when I noticed who it was; it was Traise.

I smiled at him and I waved, but in my horror, he turned his back and he faded from my sight... 

Soon as I went home, I saw dad in the rooftop, looking at the stars still. I felt the urge to talk to him, but just like my any other attempts, he'll just ignore me, he'll be aloof, saying I should only talk to him if ever I've knocked myself back to my senses.

I remembered then what my dad said when we were in the rooftop last time. 

"Your mom is hard to forget. She'll forever be in my system. I won't love again if it won't be her, I guess."
 

But then I remembered also what he said about Traise and his mom.

"Remember your mom? During her clinical malpractice lawsuit she got a verdict of lifetime imprisonment. Until I filed a motion and the case got re-opened and you know what happened, right? She got a new verdict but that time, it was death penalty. The case is similar. Re-opening the case means re-opening his exposure again to death penalty if the prosecution has a proof that this case is not attempted murder, but an intentional murder!"

The only thing I know was my mom had a lawsuit of clinical malpractice and she was sentenced to lifetime imprisonment. Until my dad fought again, re-opening the case and she got a verdict of death penalty. 

All along, Dad was right. He had been telling me not to meddle with the case because he was right. He knew my mom's case was similar with Traise. The same juries, the same people around it. Both got a verdict of lifetime imprisonment and after re-opening, it elevated to death sentence. The case was very much alike, the only difference is my mom was guilty, and Traise is not.

However, will they yield the same outcome? Will it yield to same tragic death? 

I blinked. I remembered another thing my dad said. 

"Hindi mo s'ya tinutulungan to save him, tinutulungan mo s'ya dahil tinutulungan mo lang ang sarili mo to feed your curiousity, to feed your stupid, selfish love!" 

That made my heart stopped for a minute. Now it makes sense. My mom is guilty, dad re-oepened it because of his love. Similarly to me, regardless of guilty or not guilty, I'll re-open the case because of my love, my stupid selfish love. 

All this time, my dad was right all along. 

The history repeats itself, but this time would I even able to change it? 

Tomorrow morning, we were in the query room again, examining the evidence and the arguments we will present in court days from now. It had been hours since we were here but the atmosphere felt uneasy. 

Traise won't even talk to me unless I'll talk to him, which was unusual. He's the kind of person who'll talk to me all the time, guguluhin ako kapag nag ty-type sa laptop, manlalambing kapag nagbabasa, mang-aasar kapag halatang badtrip na 'ko.

Even when I was reading documents, he'll just sit in front me, watching me doing my things, smiling and will sometimes ask for attention. 

Minsan pa nga, tatawagin n'ya ako for no reason and once I looked at him, he'll smile at sasabihing wala lang. I know he was doing those because he wanted my time, he wanted my attention. Pero ngayon, mailap siya. Whenever I asked him, he'll reply but very limited. No emotion could be traced in his voice, he won't even look at me once I talked to him.

Newt and Tyler felt it too, and they were also affected with the sudden unusual atmosphere. 

"May...tanong ako," I said, looking at him. He was just sitting in front me, table in the center, reading cases.

"Hmm?" sagot niya.

I felt my heart broke. He looked uninterested. 

"Uh..." I started, stutttering. "About...the forensic evidence... can DNA traces be...tampered?" 

"Yes," he answered briefly, without even looking at me. 

"How so?" I asked back, looking at him with pain in my eyes.

"It just happens," he replied, with a really uninterested tone as if I'm being such a nuisance.

"Okay..." I said as I bit my lower lip. 

"Attorney," Tyler said, who's only beside me, and put a book on the table right in front of me and adjusted his chair right beside me. "I think it is best if you'll-"

And suddenly, a noise coming from someone who closed the book hardly and almost slamming it got our attention. 

"What did you just call her?" 

It came from the man in front of me. It was Traise. 

"And can you put enough space between you, please?" 

He looked so mad, but he looked cold more.

"What?" Tyler asked, baffled. "I just called her attorney." 

"Why would you call her that?" he asked back, a sign of warning in his tone. 

"Because she is an attorney...?" Tyler reasoned out. 

"Yeah she is," Traise said, but then a fire burning glare aroused from his eyes. "BUT STOP CALLING HER ATTORNEY, I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS THE RIGHT TO CALL HER ATTORNEY."

"What?!" Tyler exclaimed. "What do you want me to call her then?" 

"ANYTHING. JUST DON'T CALL HER ATTORNEY BECAUSE I AM THE ONLY ONE ALLOWED." 

"Anything?" he then asked, "What about darling, baby, love?"

My eyes grew bigger. 

"Are you picking a fight with me?!" Traise asked. 

"Or what about..." Tyler contemplated. "Honeybunch, Sugarplum, Pumpy-umpy-umpkin?"

WHAT THE HELL?

"CRINGE!" I exclaimed.

Tyler looked at me. "You're my Sweetie Pie, You're my Cuppycake~"

"Stop it!" I said. 

"STOP CALLING HER THAT!" Traise said, he looked irritated but the prosecutor didn't stop. 

"Gumdrop, Snoogums-Boogums~" 

"I said stop it!" I said, warning him. 

"WON'T YOU STOP BOTHERING HER?" Traise exclaimed. 

"You're the Apple of my Eye~" 

"STOP IT!" I exclaimed. 

"I SAID STOP BOTHERING HER!" 

"YOU SAID I CAN CALL HER ANYTHING!" 

"BUT I DID NOT SAY YOU CAN CALL ME ANYTHING! I'M NOT INTERESTED IN MAKING ANY NICKNAMES WITH YOU!" 

"BUT YOU JUST CALLED ME DUMB  WHEN YOU ANSWERED MY PHONE CALL LAST NIGHT!" 

"WOW, SO YOU'RE CALLING EACH OTHER EVERY NIGHT WITHOUT ME KNOWING?" 

"WE ARE!" 

"WE ARE NOT! THAT WAS JUST LAST NIGHT-" 

"
PUTANGINAAAAA!!!"
 

We all stopped arguing when Newt slammed the table and cursed. He looked so stressed out and disturbed. 

"ANG INGAY INGAY! ANG GULO GULO! PURO KAYO AWAY! HINDI AKO MAKASALI! HINDI AKO MAKA RELATE!" Newt shouted at us, red faced. 

And then the door opened and someone went inside carrying a flat box with him-it's the police officer, and he smiled. 

"Uh...pizza?" 

After hours, we started reviewing the case and we started the brainstorming. However, we kept on relating the case we have now to my mom's case. Everything was just related which made things more confusing yet thrilling. 

The thing about what we noticed was that, the documents about that case had been well suppressed. We can't get information aside from the verdict, the accused, the witnesses, and the date of the case. 

Some pieces were just missing, like who was the victim? What was the evidence? On the other note, we also talked about Traise's mom. 

Like, if his mom testified in court against my mom, then why did my dad hire her to do our laundries? Why did my dad grant Traise, the son of the woman who testified against my mom, a scholarship? 

Everything was confusing, an epitome of irony. In fact, we were all quiet now. 

"ALRIGHT!" Tyler suddenly spoke, breaking the ice. We all looked at him. "This won't do. 'Di tayo makakapag focus, masyado nating iniisip 'yung case. We all have what-ifs. So, let's go!" 

He said and he stood up, carrying his coat. 

"Saan tayo pupunta?" Newt asked. 

"Saan pa ba? Edi we'll seek for the documents of that case. Let's go!" 

"Kayo nalang," Traise then said, closing the book. 

"Why?" Tyler asked. 

He smilled bitterly. "I'm a detainee, have you forgotten?" 

And he walked out of the room, accompanied by the police officer, without saying his usual good bye, or without even looking at me... 

In no time, I found myself inside the prosecution office. Newt was outside, serving as a look out. It was a thrilling story on how we passed all the guards without us being caught. 

Great, we are really a good team. Two robbers, one look out. 

"Bakit dito?!" I asked with a low yet panicking voice. 

"The prosecution has a collection of cases it handles," he said. "And we'll seek for it." 

"Paano kung may makahuli sa 'tin? Yari tayo! They can use it in court!" 

"Eh paano kung wala? Eh 'di.. wait, may naririnig ako..." Tyler said. 

Pinakiramdaman namin ang paligid, and that's when we realized the foot steps were coming towards the room. Suddenly, we heard a knock on the door. That's a sign from our look out that someone was coming.

Immediately, we occupied the space under the table. Magkabilang table ang in-occupy namin pero magkaharap. Then we heard the door opened, it was accompanied by two women laughing. 

"Are you sure we are going to use that?" the one said. 

"Of course we will. Paglalaruan natin sila." 

That voice was familiar. It's from my schoolmate who's now the new prosecutor of the case! 

"Avery, it might make them cry," one joked. 

"That's the idea, I want them to cry and pee on their pants during the trial due to fear," my schoolmate said. 

This bitch! 

"Imagine, the parents of the former prosecutor, the accused, and her family were in the same trial before," she said. "I can't imagine how awful her face would be when she found out whom did her mom kill." 

I felt my heart pounding hard. I looked at Tyler who's in front of me, he was shocked as well. 

SHE KNOWS THE CASE! 

"Eh sino ba kasi 'yung victim?" the other one said. 

"Your dad didn't tell you?" Avery asked. I can imagine her face smiling sarcastically by seeing someone who's not knowledgeable as her. 

"'Wag ka maingay ha," she said. 

And what I heard made my heart stopped beating. 

"It was the 13th president..." 

It was a president. I closed my eyes, and I opened it again. I was outside our house, yet I wasn't going inside. It had been 15 minutes since I arrived here yet I wasn't even moving. 

Right after hearing that my mom killed a president, it made sense. There was a president who died years ago due to an operation. My mom killed a president, and the case was not widely known because it was suppressed from a total dissemination. 

There were many people who knew the case still and they were the people who lived during that year and only few from the generation now because it got filtered out, and slowly being crossed out, as if someone wanted to completely bury something. 

Soon as I heard that, I went to my mom's previously owned hospital. She was regarded as the best surgeon before, so it did make sense if the president will appoint her as his surgeon. 

However, what I found out from interviewing people in the hospital  convinced me that my mom did the crime. She was known as the scariest surgeon in the whole hospital. She had an attitude, and there was even a case wherein a child died in the hospital before he was even operated because the surgeon in charge was late, mom did not apologize at all. 

"'Di ka papasok?" I almost jumped when I heard my dad. He was standing behind my back. 

"Dad..." I said, in a lower voice and my eyes started to be teary. 

"'Wag kang umiyak. Panindigan mo ang desisyon mo," he said, and he walked passed me. 

"ABOUT MOM," I said, that made him stopped walking. 

"She killed a president, didn't she?" 

My dad was shocked with the sudden punch of question. He looked back at me, with face full of pain and confusion. 

"Don't believe anything you just heard somewhere."

"And you told me to drop the case because it reminds you of her case, isn't it?"

"You only found that out now? You're really dumb, mana ka nga sa mama mo." 

My tears fell.

"Was she... a criminal?" 

Dad's facial expression changed, his face went blank.

"Stop digging the past. If you realized my intention, you know dropping the case is still the best option. Let the boy live."

And just like that, he turned his back, while I was left alone, confused, and crying. Soon as I went inside, I saw my mom's photo with me in the frame. I looked at it. 

"Ma," I said, my tears flowing. "Sino ka ba talaga?" 

 I looked at her smile. 

"Ano ka ba talaga..." 

Tomorrow morning, I composed myself. The trial was coming nearer and I should not let my personal issues meddle with my job. In fact, it took me the whole day to gather enough witnesses for the trial. 

"One hour nalang," the police officer said. I was now outside the query room. "After that, close na ang visiting." 

"Noted, officer," I said 

He smirked. "Make things quick." 

He then winked at me, referring to the scene where he caught Traise and I kissing.

With the feeling of awkwardness, I went inside immediately and from there, I saw him, sitting already with his emotionless face and his eyes with its usual cold gaze. 

"I told you no visit at night."

He really hated visitation at night. 

I sat in front of him, just looking at him.

"Do you have anything to say? Let's make it quick, I wanna rest."

But I didn't speak, I was just looking at him. 

"If you don't have anything to say, I'll leave-" 

"Bakit mo 'ko iniiwasan?" I asked and pain was in my voice. 

"Hindi kita iniiwasan-" 

"Bakit ang cold mo bigla?" 

His cold eyes were now melting when he saw the pain that was written on my face. Tears started to form in it.

"Bakit ayaw mo na 'ko kausapin? Bakit hindi ka na tumitingin sa 'kiin? Bakit hindi mo na hinihingi oras ko? Bakit-"

"BECAUSE I'M JEALOUS!" he halted me. 

My eyes grew bigger. 

"Traise..." 

He bit his lower lip. 

"I'm jealous of anyone who can be beside you whenever they want, of anyone na kaya kang ihatid just to make sure you're safe, of anyone who can call you whenever they want to. I'm jealous, and I'm scared!" 

"Why would you be jealous, don't...don't you have a trust on me?" 

"I trust you," he said, pain now in his eyes. "But I don't trust anyone around you," and he looked down. "I.. I saw you with the prosecutor, arguing outside. You...you look like a couple...anyone who saw might think you guys are."

"No," I said. "Nothing's going on between us-" 

"I know!" he halted. "Yet I'm scared still, I'm jealous still. For you, wala lang 'yun. Pero sa kanya ba, wala rin?" 

"Of course!" 

"How sure are you?" he said. "He's giving you the same look I am giving you, how can you expect me to sit still and do nothing? He's there when you need him. You can watch movies together, can go to concert together, anything together because he's there, one call away. Eh ako? I'm...I'm locked up here. I can't even call you, I can't even tell you good night before you sleep, I can't even do anything when I'm missing you and that's worst because I can't do anything but to just miss you. It... it sucks being like this. It sucks being in this situation, it sucks being me!" 

I felt a bang in my chest.

"Pero... kahit ganto ako... kahit ganto sitwasyon ko..." he said, and he bit his lower lip, trying his best no to make his tears flow. "Can you...can you wait for me? Can you...stay until I get my life back? Please, don't go to anyone. Just...just be with me...wait for me....please... can you?" 

The pain in his eyes was enough to break my heart into tiny million pieces.

I looked at him. 

"Do you want me to prove you that I won't come to anyone else?" I asked, my voice cracked. 

He looked at me, confused. "What...do you mean?" 

In a flash, I stood up. I walked towards the door and I locked it. 

He looked at me, alarmed. 

"The CCTV's still not functioning, right?" 

He gulped as he nodded.

"Let's...let's do it," I said, as I went to his seat. 

"This...This ain't what I'm—"

He got halted when I sat on his lap, looking in his eyes. 

"Let's do it tonight." 

"But—"

He stopped when I started kissing him, he wasn't fighting first. I started devouring his upper lip, squeezing it through my lips, and then his lower lip, and I started kissing him with passion, with fire, feeling his warm breath, tasting his lips.

He wasn't moving at first until he started answering my kisses. It was clear that he got aroused. His hands were now around my waist, and my hands were around his neck. This time, his kisses were more reckless than gentle, there was a feeling of strong emotion than any desire, a strong emotion of love and longingness. 

He kissed my lower lip, while gently biting it, and I felt his tongue playing on it. Without breaking the kiss, he stood up, he carried me and in the blink of an eye, I felt myself being pinned against the wall. My hands were still wrapped around his neck and my legs around his hips. 

His kiss was more than just a kiss, it's like the star, the moon, the clouds, and the sun all colliding into one. His lips then went down to my chin, to my jaw, and now I felt it on my neck, kissing any part, sucking it, licking, devouring through his lips along with his tounge moving, tracing every detail of my skin. It was the hottest feeling I have ever felt, and I found myself moaning.

"I love how your voice sounds when it moans for me," he whispered in my ears, with voice so sexy yet masculine, and his breath so warm. 

He then kissed me again, but this time, it was gentle, much careful yet passionate, and then he placed me on top of the table. I was sitting on the edge, my legs were spread and he was in between of it. My hands were still around his neck while we were looking at each other's eyes, and with his rock hard fly pressing against me, he turned serious yet provocative.

"Can you feel me?" he asked me, with a masculine voice which seemed like a whisper.

I nodded. 

But then, my world almost stopped when he took off his shirt, without halting an eye contact with me. 

 It revealed his perfectly built body;  his neck and some parts of his chest were pinkish red, his chest has moles on it, his face was pinkish red as well, his black hair was sort of messy, sweats were all over his body and was flowing in between his manly chest  his eyes looked so pleasing and attractive, and his lips are wet. 

I gulped. 

In no time, he laid me on top of the tableband he placed himself on top of me. He put both of my hands on each side of my head and locked them through his hands. He looked in my eyes thoroughly as if he was seeking my soul through it. Just then, a small smile curved on his lips.

"I love you..." he mouthed.

And from that, he started kissing me again. He first sucked my upper lip then he stopped, my lower lip then he stopped, as if he was teasing me to crave and beg for more. I felt his small smirk after seeing that turned me on. 

"You like it, huh?" he whispered. His warm yet masculine voice gave me goosebumps which turned me on.

From that moment, he sucked both of my lips. The passion faded. The teasing eased. The gentleness was gone. It became wilder than before, as if he was seeking something through my mouth. It was burning wild. I felt his hands slowly unbottoning my cloth as he started kissed my neck. I let out a moan, a really satisfying moan I can't no longer hold when he sucked my neck and his tongue later played it. 

When he was done unbottoning my cloth, I felt his hand invading my bra. Without taking it off, his hands went inside it and I later felt his warm yet soft hand on my breast. He was feeling them, groping them carefully, playing them slowly as if he had the luxuary of time so there was no time to hurry. I closed my eyes with the pleasure I can't contain. 

"Don't close your eyes..." he whispered. "I want you to see everything, detail to detail." 

He successfully took off my bra without halting our kiss. He then stopped and pressed his bulge on me enough for me to feel that he was longing for this too. 

He lips then started to explore my collar bone, down to the gap between my chest and finally reached my breast. He started tasting it, kissing it, with his hand exploring and giving warmth to every part of my body. 

 In my surprise, he suddenly stopped. He looked at my eyes. When I looked at him too, he smiled and he stood up. He went to the window, and in my horror, he opened it and the light coming from the moon invaded the room, but only limited to the table, as if the moon was giving a literal spotlight on me. 

Traise just stood there, topless, and his face, neck, and chest were pinkish red. Sweats were all over his face and was even flowing in between his chest. Nabasa na rin ng pawis ang gulo-gulo nitong itim na buhok.

He remained standing and was just looking at my face and my body with nothing but admiration in his eyes.

"You look like an art," he said, with eyes full of genuineness. "You look so beautiful." 

"Aren't you gonna kiss me again?" I asked. 

"I'm afraid, I won't be able to stop myself." 

"I'm giving you the permission," I said.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Courtney," he said, smiling. "Once I let you see my naked body, I'm up for a full blast and there's no way that I could stop."

I opened my mouth but nothing cane out.

 "Let's not rush things, hmm?" he said and looked deeply in my eyes. "I want to marry you first." 

I let out a weak smile, understanding him. 

"I have a question," I asked him, soon as I dressed up. "What do you do when you miss me?" 

"Nothing," he said while wearing back his shirt and I even had a glimpse of his abs. "I just look at the stars, thinking at least, we're standing the same ground, breathing the same air, seeing the same stars, and under the same sky." 

I smiled. "Why am I so lucky to have you?" 

"No, let's rephrase that," he said and cupped my face. "I am lucky to have you." 

 Before I can even answer, we heard someone was trying to open the door.  We both looked at it. 

"OOPS, NAKA LOCK..." the police officer said.

"BABALIK AKO MGA 15 MINUTES HA, KUNWARI WALA AKONG ALAM. AALIS NA 'KO HA, AALIS NA!" 

When we heard the footateps zooming out, I looked at Traise and we  both laughed. 

"May tanong ako," I said while I was preparing to go home. "Bakit hindi mo 'ko hinayaang bisitahin ka for four years? Nakakatampo 'yun ha!"

He smiled. "Someone told me you 
have a boyfriend. I was jealous."

"BOYFRIEND?!" I exclaimed. "I never had a boyfriend! Who told you?" 

He twisted a smile.

"The new prosecutor." 

The second trial started. As always, it was a hot topic and the place was too crowded. 

"Is the defense ready?" the court clerk asked. 

"The defense is ready to present its case," Newt said. 

I was sitting in between Traise and Tyler who seemed to dislike each other a lot. 

"YOUR HONOR," the new prosecutor, Avery, suddenly meddled. "MAY I REQUEST TO HAVE THE OPENING FOR THE PROSECUTION TO TAKE?"

Newt and I exchanged looks. 

"S-Sure," Newt said. It was obvious that he was confused.

"Thank you," Avery smilingly said. 

Bakas sa ngiti niya na may binabalak ito. Lalong lumakas ang kalabog ng dibdib ko.

The whole court was quiet, no one was making a noise. In fact, the only noise you can hear was the foot steps coming from Avery. Soon as she reached the center part, she smiled. 

"Before the trial starts, I would like to present something that concerns both the prosecution and the defense," she said. "I won't make it any longer. Let's look at the exhibit A." 

We all looked at the screen. 

"Exhibit A is the autopsy report of the accused's father which shows the victim died due to multiple stabs, and a direct hit on his organs." 

"Obvious ba?" Newt murmured in his seat and he looked at me. "Nagsasayang lang ng oras eh, alam na nga natin lahat 'yan." 

But that's not it. Why do I feel so heavy? 

Avery was oozing with confidence at nakakabahala iyon.

"But I'm afraid, Your Honor," she said, and she smirked. "The autopsy might had been tampered." 

There was a loud murmuring noise from the public. Newt, Tyler, and I exchanged a baffled yet flabbergasted look. 

And I looked at Traise, he was just staring at her with emotionless face as if it had no effect on him. 

"My claim is supported by Exhibit B," she said and she flashed something on the screen. "The autopsy used in the former trial and the autopsy we acquired have different results, Your Honor." 

A loud murmuring. 

"Ano bang sinasabi niya?!" Newt asked. He was getting mad. 

"She's a real devil," Tyler also said, looking at her madly. "No wonder why they appointed her to this case. That woman didn't come to play."

Traise's face was still emotionless. 

"Therefore," she said. "I would like to summon the coroner of the case to clear things up and I'll charge him of tampering, if proven." 

My eyes widened.

Sinabi ba niyang coroner?!

"Para sa mga 'di nakaka-alam, the coroner is the father of our very own Courtney Spencer from the Defense," she added and she looked at me with fascinated eyes. 

Lahat ay nagtinginan sa amin. 

I closed my eyes hardly.

WHY DOES SHE NEED TO DRAG MY DAD INTO THIS?! 

"I would also like to summon the former prosecutor of the case who's part of the defense now. Acquiring false evidence is a not a sign of the prosecution's error, but the defense's sign of negligence. That's a basic stuff, ain't it?  He's a BAR passer, he should know better."

Murmuring.

Tyler was obviously offended. He just smiled frustratedly when Avery gave him a mocking smirk. 

"I n light with that, Your Honor, the prosecution motions this case to be dismissed once proven." 

The crowd was getting insane with the loud murmuring. 

"As for the accused, the prosecution is dropping the case from murder to parricide." 

Fck.

Tyler and I exchanged eye contacts, remembering one of our strategies. 

"If they file murder, it's a complicated case and they have to prove the crime, the weapon, the intention, the everything. But with parricide, they just need an evidence that will show he killed his dad, nothing more. So as long as they're not thinking of this strategy, we have a chance to win." 

But now she found out! 

"OBJECTION YOUR HONOR!" Newt stood up. Nanginginig ito. "The prosecution has no basis to change the case!"  

She smiled and looked at Newt as if he was some sort of a garbage in her eyes.

"Your Honor, the autopsy we acquired is an autopsy report from the same medical facility the victim died," Avery said confidently. "It shows the victim didn't die because of the stabbing." 

And he looked at me, her eyes were mocking me. "But by poisoning." 

The murmuring noise became more disturbing now. There were flashes from different media cameras. My eyes grew bigger. Everyone in the defense was all caught off guard. 

Avery licked her lower lip while smiling, a sign that she was having fun. 

"It means, Your Honor, the accused killed his father, and the previous charge of attempted murder is wrong because he did not attempt to kill his father. Why?" she asked and her smile faded as he looked at our side. "Because he intentionally killed his father not by knife, but by an aconite." 

I looked at Traise, he was looking at her. Ang kanina niyang walang emosyong mukha ay napalitan ng takot at galit. Kung titingnan, he seemed like he was caught.

I looked at him emotionally.

Are you... really innocent? Or just like what my dad said, I am defending a criminal because of a stupid, selfish love? 

"The prosecution rests its case," Avery finally said. 

 She started to walk but then she stopped and she looked backat me. When our eyes met, she smiled.

Suddenly, what happened before the trial started flashed in my mind. 

"You heard me, didn't you?" she said that made me stopped walking. I was about to go inside the court room. 

"Heard what?" I asked.

"Heard me talking about your mom. I saw you, under the table."

I got shocked. "W-Why did...w-why did you..." 

"Stop stuttering," she said, her eyes were mocking me. "I won't do anything. In fact, I love the fear in your face." 

"What do you know about my mom?!" I asked her accusingly. 

"That's for you to find out," she said. "And you know what's more to anticipate? On how I'll convict your murderer childhood sweetheart, forever, or by death." 

"Who are you to do that?" I asked. "What are you to do that?!" 

"Who am I?" she asked and she inched the gap between us. "I'm the game changer, Courtney." 

I heard a bang in my chest.

She then flashed a mischievous yet cunning 

smile

.

"And I'm not just a typical game changer," she said, smirking, then her expression changed, her face turned dead serious. 

"Because I control the game."

# PART TWELVE: THE CONFESSION

My legs were shaking. I felt a lethal pain in my chest as if someone was stabbing me multiple times at once. 

The whole crowd went insane. All of us in the defense counsel were knocked out, we can't all talk. We can't even look at each other. We felt so weak, as if we were all hopeless. As if as of this moment, we have already lost the battle. 

I looked once again at Traise and I observed him. He was not talking but he seemed uneasy and he seemed  disturbed. His legs were also shaking and he seemed nervous. 

"Defense," the judge called.

I stood up but then I almost fell when my legs were about to disown me. Good thing Tyler got to hold me by my wrist and back and with weak eyes, I met his gaze. 

"Take your seat," he said, his voice seems worried and he smiled. "I'll handle this."

I took my seat and Traise looked at me. Within few seconds of a sudden eye contact, he put his gaze somewhere else. 

I sighed. 

Are you... still my friend? 

Suddenly, I remembered what he what said to me before.

"You fought for me with just the thought of I can't commit such horrendous crime, but Courtney, I just did. You know, drop your overly angelic image of me on you. I'm no longer the same friend you had. It wasn't self-defense, I poisoned him. I...murdered him, through my will." 

I closed my eyes, fearing my tears might flow. I didn’t want anyone to see me in this state, most particularly  Avery. She’s right, afterall. She controls the game now, she's playing our lives now. 

Medical autopsies cannot be easily tampered, most particularly the medical facility she got the autopsy report from. It means, the information she got was real. The victim didn't die because of the stabs, but because of the poison. If that's the case it means Traise lied to me. 

He lied...to the person who'll risk everything for him. 

I looked at Traise again. 

Did you really change or I never really knew you at all? Were you just playing with me, seeing someone would fight for you unconditionally whether you are guilty or not? 

"Your Honor," I heard Tyler started. "I would like to question the prosecution's motion to dismiss this case labelling it as a negligence on the defense's side," he said, with all eyes and ears on him. “Because first and foremost, the evidence they used, the false autopsy to be exact, was something I obtained before when I was the prosecutor of the case. How could it be a negligence on their part if it doesn’t belong to them?" 

"Objection, You Honor," Avery stood up. “That's the idea of it. If they have to prove the accused was innocent, they should've mandatorily asked for an autopsy, in which they did not."

"Objection as well, Your Honor," Tyler said.  "The prosecution is making up false assumption. The defense did not ask for it because their plea was self-defense. They have no obligation to prove the accused didn't kill his dad, their mindset was to prove it was a self-defense." 

"If it was self-defense then that means he's admitting the crime," Avery suddenly flashed a mocking smile. “Does it mean you're admitting the crime?" 

A loud murmuring noise. 

This woman's really a devil psychotic bitch! She mastered how to play people in her hand! 

"You're the prosecutor," Tyler said. “Don't make allegations, prove it." 

"ORDER IN THE COURT!" the judge said. “WARNING FOR BOTH SIDES. YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN THE COURT ETIQUETTE!" 

"Apologies, Your Honor," they both said. 

"Furthermore," Tyler said. "It was an error because the first autopsy came from the prosecution I was handling before. I want to put a motion for it to be a false evidence since I acquired it myself, and the prosecution used it without my consent." 

"I bet to disagree, Your Honor," Avery said. "The former prosecutor may had acquired it himself but only because it was his job. The autopsy evidence was registered under the prosecution, not in the former prosecutor’s name. In light with that, I put a motion for the defense be banned from using it. In addition, I put the coroner under subpoena and in case he won't attend, I'll order his arrest," she smiled, looking in Tyler's eyes and giving him a you're-doomed-look. “The prosecution rests its case." 

WHAT THE HELL?!

MY DAD WAS THE CORONER SHE'LL PUT UNDER SUBPOENA! SUBPOENA IS MANDATORILY ATTENDING A TRIAL. SHE'LL EVEN ORDER MY DAD'S ARREST! 

"She masters this trial well," I heard Newt murmuring. "She's not easy to be an opponent. She's a devil, a really monstrous devil!" 

Tyler went back to his seat, with face who seemed irritated. 

"With the change in the charge and new evidence filed," the judge said. “I command the trial be stopped for this day and moved for another day to give both parties necessary time to file a new report." 

In no time, I saw myself in the query room with Newt, Tyler, and Traise. We were all worried and disturbed, but Traise won't even talk. 

"Ano na gagawin natin?" Newt asked. "Nasa kanila na lahat ng alas. They...they can literally knock us out in the next trial! They changed the charge to parricide. Hindi iyon ma-proseso gaya ng murder. It means, one solid proof he killed his dad and the court may issue a guilty verdict against him in the next trial, that fast!" he said, frustrated. 

No one was talking between us aside from him.

"And that autopsy!" he exclaimed. 
"Once their new autopsy got proven as the real medical report instead of the coroner's, wala na! Talo na tayo! Walang wala na 'tong kasong ‘to!" 

"Calm down,” Tyler said. "We won't be able to think of anything if you'll keep yourself mad!" 

"I'm not mad, I'm worried!" he exclaimed. "I'm worried that we waited 8 straight years only to lose this case over that woman who's just using a piece of autopsy! Hindi mo ba s’ya nakita? Napaka confident n’ya! I never saw her being worried like us. And from the first trial, it was her who just keeps on defending. Hindi pa nagsasalita 'yung isa. Pero look at us here. Tatlo tayo pero why are we no match to just one woman?!" 

He's right. Thinking of it now, maybe she's really something monstrous. Maybe, masyado ko lang s’yang minaliit. 

"Now we can't even have a copy of the autopsy, she banned us!” Newt said. "And not just that, she filed a case for this case to be dismissed. Kung hindi n’ya maipanalo ang kaso, matatalo pa rin tayo kapag na-approve 'yung motion n’ya na 'yun. She's playing with two cards, parricide and a motion to dismiss. Can't you see how powerful she is?!"

I felt a loud bang in my heart.

"Calm, okay? Just calm,” Tyler said, trying to be optimistic. “May iba pang paraan. We just have to think of it, without panicking.” 

"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Newt said frustratedly and he looked at Traise. "BE MAD AT ME BUT DID YOU REALLY DO THAT? DID YOU... REALLY KILL YOUR DAD? DID YOU POISON HIM?" 

"THAT'S INSENSITIVE!" Tyler exclaimed. 

"I DON'T CARE WHETHER IT IS INSENSITIVE OR NOT! HE BETTER TELL US THE TRUTH! IN ORDER TO DEFEND HIM WE BETTER KNOW THE CASE OF WHAT WE ARE FIGHTING FOR!" and he looked at Traise again with red-faced and mad eyes. "DID YOU? OR YOU'RE JUST PLAYING AROUND FOR EIGHT STRAIGHT YEARS?" 

We all looked at Traise, he was looking down, emotionless. And then he looked at Newt with cold eyes. 

"Section 17, Article III of the 1987 Constitution," he said, with voice emotionless too. "I invoke my rights against self-incrimination. I refuse to answer." 

And he stood up, went to the door and without looking back, he vanished. 

"He's guilty…" Newt said, he looked like he was about to cry. "I've been saving a criminal all this time. I...feel so betrayed!" he said, breaking down on the table. 

I closed my eyes hardly.

Before, he kept on admitting he's guilty but I never believed him. Pero bakit ngayon, kahit hind n'ya sabihin ramdam ko na rin... 

Soon as I went inside our house, I saw my dad sitting and when he looked at me, I noticed the letter from his hand.

"So you received it," I said. 

 "The new prosecutor is a genius," he said and bahagyang ngumiti. "She orders my arrest if I won't come gamit ang subpoena, a sort of blackmail but supported by law." 

"Did you do it?" I asked him, with a tone of hate in my voice. "Did you tamper the autopsy?" 

His face turned blank whenhe looked at me. “What if I did, will you hate me?" 

That's when my tears uncontrollably fell. "I already hate the fact that I don't know what kind of family we are. But with the tone of your voice, I bet you did."

I saw pain in my dad's face. 

"Mom killed the president, didn't she?" I asked.

"Stop—” 

"DON'T LIE ANYMORE!" I shouted and tears escaped my eyes. "I ALREADY KNOW THE TRUTH!" 

"Who...who told you?" he asked, his voice was shaky.

"Does it matter?" I asked, my sight now getting blurry because of tears. "The fact that you kept it shut from me is enough for me to know how bad this family is!” 

I bit my lower lip, feeling the pain that was swallowing me alive. 

"My mom killed a president using her profession, my dad tampered autopsies through his profession, and now I am defending a criminal using my profession." 

I looked at my dad's eyes. Hate and pain were all over my face. 

"Dad, tell me. How many blood in your hands do I still have to clean? How many lives did this family kill?" 

"I told you," my dad now said, tears building up in his eyes. “Re-opening the case will make things complicated for you. You still have time. I've said it too many times, and I'm telling you this again. Don't commit the mistake I did. If you love that boy, let him live." 

And in an instant, he walked upstairs and I was left alone, breaking down. 

Tomorrow morning, I went to the coffee shop to read the case. Tyler and Newt were in the office, while Traise didn’t want to be visited. Soon as I got my order, I checked my emails first and suddenly, someone sat in front me. I looked at her. 

"Hi, classmate," she said, smiling. 

The heaven knows how much I hate her and her presence. 

"Go away, Avery," sabi ko at tiningnan muli ang laptop ko. 

She laughed.

"Courtney, hanggang dito ba naman trabaho ka pa rin? Loosen up, hindi ko gagalingan sa next trial, promise!"

I looked at her. "Wala ako sa mood makipag-away. Get another table and don't talk to me." 

"Eh paano ‘yan, gusto kita kausap?" she said, smiling as she teased me. 

"I'm not your toy to play with," I said. "Umalis ka na before pa ko mainis." 

"Wow, I'm scared!" she said. “Paano ka ba mainis? You'll punch someone? Ganyan ba ang lawyer? Oops! You can't even fight me as a lawyer. That Tyler guy fought me instead of you. Why, Courtney? Natatakot ka na ba? I thought it's a battle between us but now you're asking help from your knight in shining armor." 

She then smiled widely. 

"I mean, I can't blame you, though. You're not yet on that level to face me. Practice more, Courtney. Try harder."

"Don't mess with me," I said. “Umalis ka na." 

"Paano 'yan, ikaw ang gusto kong umalis?" 

"Ako ang nauna rito." 

"I don't care. If you want peace, ikaw ang lumipat."

I looked at her sharply. "Do you want to try me?" 

She nodded. 

"Okay."

I smiled. 

"MAGNANAKAAAAAAAAAAW!" 

Her eyes grew bigger after I shouted so loud, all eyes looked at us. 

"MAY MAGNANAKAAAAAAW!" 

"Hey," she said, bewildered. “Can you—" 

In her horror, the security guard went to us. 

"Ma'am, bakit? Ano po 'yun?!" he said, panicking. 

I looked at my wallet. "Ay, kuya wala po. Akala ko kasi may nawawala sakin," and I looked at Avery. “May nakita kasi ako, mula sa pamilya ng magnanakaw." 

I saw her face turned madly red. 

"Sigurado po ba kayo? Gusto n'yo po i-check natin CCTV?" 

"No, kuya okay lang po." 

And the guard walked away. 

"IS THAT HOW YOU PLAY?" she asked angrily. 

"I told you. I play the dirtiest shits," I said. "Don't mess with me again. Go away." 

"Dirtiest shits?" she asked and she smirked. "You mean, your family?" 

I looked at her. I was shocked with her audacity to drag my family. 

She stood up. 

"A mother who murders, a dad who tampers, and a daughter who defends a criminal. Really, dirty shits!" 

She smirked, and she walked away. 

An hour later, I found myself in the hospital again, which my mom previously owned but now my family still has shares on it. In fact, high officials in the hospital knew me. Soon as I went there, I saw the hospital full of patients. 

This hospital was one of the top hospitals in the country. Its name was originally derived from my mom's name but after what happened to her, the shareholders decided to change it. 

"Naparito ka?" I almost screamed when a nurse talked to me. I recognized her instantly, she was the chief nurse of the hospital. 

I smiled at her. 

In no time, I found myself inside her office. Chief nurse has their own office too since they supervise the health of all patients. 

He placed a coffee in front of me while I was sitting on the table. 

"So bakit ka pala naparito?" 

I looked at her, hesitant first and I sighed. I looked at her again. It's now or never. 

"You're...close with my mom before, right?" I asked her. 

"Y-Yes..." she stuttered, and her eyes can't focus. 

"Would you...mind if I'll ask 
something...about her case?" 

She looked at me and I saw pity in her eyes. "As much as I want to, I have no right to tell you." 

"W-Why?" I asked. "Did my dad ask you not to?" 

She looked at me and she later looked down. 

"That's—" 

But then her telephone rang. 

"Excuse me," she said, and answered it. 

Just then, I saw a pile of papers on her table and my eyes grew bigger when I saw the title of the folder, 

“DOCUMENTS REQUESTED BY THE PROSECUTION,” I murmured. 

Wow. Avery’s  really determined to beat me in this case. 

I looked at the chief nurse and she was talking with someone over the phone. As quick as I can and carefully, I opened the folder and the first page of the paper left me flabbergasted.

 It was a medical report of...heck! It’s Traise’s mom! 

I scanned the paper quickly but what I saw made my heart pound harder. 

CAUSE OF DEATH: Unknown 

AUTOPSY: Denied by the family and coroner
.

"Anong tinitingnan mo riyan?" 

I immediately looked back. 

"W-Wala po..." 

Few hours later, I saw myself inside a taxi, going home. 

Napatingin ako sa relo ko and it's 11PM. 

Dad was trying to silence everyone about my mom's case and he denied the autopsy of Traise’s mom, which was the cause of death was unknown. Unknown cause of death requires mandatory autopsies but he just denied it. 

Bakit? May itinatago ba sila? 

Did they... Did they do 
something...something bad again? 

I closed my eyes, feeling my head now aching. I've been living for years now yet, I never knew my family was this complicated. Hindi ko kilala ang sarili ko, hindi ko na kilala ang kaibigan ko, hindi ko na makilala mga magulang ko. Ang gulo-gulo, nakakasakit na ng ulo. Nakakatakot. Sobrang nakakatakot. 

As I looked at the window, I noticed the car was now taking a wrong path. 

"Kuya," I said. "Bakit...parang iba po 'tong daan natin?" 

But he was not answering. 

"Kuya," I asked again. "Naliligaw po ba tayo?" 

But he was not answering still. 

"Kuya..." but then I realized we were heading to an isolated high way.

I felt my heart banging inside. 

"Kuya...bababa na po ako…" I said, nervously.

The driver met my eyes through the rearview mirror and he smirked.

"Sino nagsabing may plano akong pababain ka?" 

Beat.

Hours later, I found myself sitting in the corner while my clothes were partially torn. 

Then in a flash, a man showed up wearing a plain white shirt and a black shorts with his black hair all down, looking worried. 

"ARE YOU FINE?!” he hurriedly asked me soon as he walked towards me. 

"TELL ME YOU ARE FINE!" he shouted. WHO...WHO DID THAT? WHAT...WHAT DID THEY DO?!" 

I looked at him, meeting his eyes. 

I smiled so weak. 

"Tyler, don't worry,” I said. "Walang nangyari. May check point sa nadaanan namin. He...he failed to rape me." 

"RAPE?!" he exclaimed and he stood up. "WHERE THE F*CK IS THAT RAPIST?!" 

"Sir, kumalma po kayo," said by the police in the police station. 

"JUST SHOW HIM  AND LET ME BEAT HIM UP!" 

"Sir kumalma po nasa presinto po kayo." 

It took him long time to finally calm down and he sat beside me. 

"Are you now fine?" he asked. 

"Yes," I said. "Sorry kung ikaw natawagan ko. I'm afraid to tell dad." 

"Okay lang," he said. “Anytime." 

"Natutulog ka na ba n’ung tinawagan kita?" 

He nodded. “Nawala nga antok ko n’ung narinig kitang umiiyak. Nag panic ako."

I smiled. "Sorry." 

"Ba't kasi gabi ka na umuwi?" 

"I...studied his case." 

He smiled. "You love him that much?"

“Kahit magulo na." 

"He loves you too," he said. “I can see it. He's really in love with a bad girl."

"Bad girl?!” I exclaimed, shocked. “Am I?”

"Yes," he said. "Bad at everything." 

We laughed. 

"You know," he said. "He loves you, so much too. I know when a man is madly inlove with someone because I'm a man and I experienced it too." 

"Really? With whom?" I asked. 

He looked in my eyes, and he smiled. 

"With someone I know that will never be mine." 

I suddenly felt sad. 

He flashed a weak smile. "Siguro kung ‘yung kaibigan mo pumunta rito, magwawala ‘yun." 

I smiled. "He surely will. Naaalala ko nga dati, kapag may nang-aaway sa kanya hindi n’ya ginagantihan. Pero kapag ako na ‘yung ina-api, handa s’ya makipag basag-ulo. Sa katunayan, n’ung burol ni mama, mayroong batang bumisita at inaway ako but he came and defended me. That's how we met." 

He nodded understandingly. Then silence devoured us. 

"Your clothes are torn," he told me, as we were waiting for the process of filing a charge to the person who attacked me. "May pamalit ka ba?" he then asked.

I shook my head. 

"Wala?" 

In my great surprise, hinubad n’ya ang damit n’ya, revealing his great body built and moles on his chest. He was just wearing his sando now. 

"Magpalit ka," he said. "I don't want anyone to look at you with malicious eyes." 

"Paano ka?" I asked. 

"I can handle myself," he said smilingly.

"Thanks," I awkwardly said.

"Oh," he said and he lifted something from his pocket and handed it to me; it's a flashdrive. 

"A-Ano to?" I asked. 

"My dad, the chief justice, was the judge of your mom's case, right?" he said. “My dad has a stock room for his papers and I happened to find the information about the case there. Hindi ko kinuha, but I took photos and compiled them into one file. Nand’yaan lahat, I know you're curious about it." 

My eyes became teary, feeling so moved about his genuine act. 

"Why... are you doing this?" I asked, emotions mixed. "I...I'm rude towards you...pero bakit...bakit mo ‘ko tinutulungan?" 

He smiled. 

"Because I like you." 

I looked at him, shocked. 

"Don't look at me like that," he said, smiling so weak. "Silly, isn't it?" 

"B-But—“ 

"Sssh," he halted me. "You don't have to tell anything. I confessed because I believe you have to know. It started when I saw you helping him 8 years ago. You were so eager, which turns my curiousity more. Until you smacked me last month, and we met again and got to work in the same case. I admit, I fell. I fell in love with you and now...the feeling just won’t go away." 

I bit my lower lip. 

He smiled. "That guy, your friend, he oftentimes caught me looking at you. I was stealing glances and when I can't take it anymore, I'll tease you. He'll give me sharp look then." 

"Pero..." I said, but can't come up with anything to say. 

"Hey," he said. "I just told you I like you but that doesn't mean you have to accept or reject it. I just wanna let you know that in everything you do, every silly words you say, and every tears you shed, someone is falling in love with you," he smiled but his eyes seemed sad. 

"And that's me," 
he added and looked deeply in my eyes. 
"It'll always be me..."

# PART THIRTEEN: THE GAME CREATOR 

This is it.

I just have to face it, I guess.

It had been hours but I still can't sleep.

 In fact, I have been looking at the ceiling of my room for an hour already and I was wide awake. I don't know what's bothering me more; Is it my mom's identity, the unknown caused of death of Traise's mom, the sudden confession from Tyler, or is it my almost rape incident?

Speaking of my mom, the flash drive Tyler gave me was still in my hand. I was holding it tight and I haven't  checked it yet since I was afraid of what I might found out.

I looked at it and I sighed. With determination aroused inside me, I sat up.

It's now or never.

I looked at it again and heaved a sigh.

Let's do this. Let's face the facts...

The next day, the third trial started. It was chaotic. The defense summoned witnesses, and the prosecution summoned the medical facility head. It was proven that the autopsy they have was authentic, which meant the tampered evidence was the one my dad provided. She summoned my dad in court, and she examined him.

"You are a coroner, what does a coroner do?" Avery asked.

"We conduct mandatory autopsies," my dad replied.

"For what?"

"For a record."

"Do you have a power to do so?" Avery asked with a sassy voice.

"Yes," my dad answered.

"Powerful enough to acquire one?"

"Yes."

"Powerful enough to mandatory ask for it without the family's consent?"

"Yes."

"Powerful enough to keep the records?"

"Yes."

"Powerful enough to manipulate it?" 

My dad got shocked. 

"That... That's—"

"—not just manipulating but to forge, dismiss, abuse, and tamper?"

I felt the urge to smack her, he's traumatizing my dad!

"That's not—"

"And even strong enough to fool the defense and suppress the information, implanting false record, abusing your power, and twisting the law?"

"You're—"

"A yes or no, sir."

"I don't—"

"JUST A YES OR NO."

I closed my eyes as I heard her almost shouting at my dad. She was humiliating him in front of everyone!

Tyler Newt, and I have decided beforehand that we won't object and will just watch so we can know the truth but this time, I can no longer take it! Ibang usapan na 'pag dawit ang tatay ko.

 I was about to stand but Newt held my wrist and gave me a sign not to. I closed my eyes hardly and sat back.

"I can't—"

"AGAIN, A YES OR NO, SIR," Avery said with finality.

"Can you—"

"A YES OR NO!"

"That's not—"

"AGAIN, I REPEAT!" she said. "JUST A YES OR NO."

"That's too hard to—"

"I SAID A YES—"

"OKAY!" my dad then shouted back that made us all shocked. "I... I DID IT! I TAMPERED THE EVIDENCE! I MANIPULATED THE AUTOPSY!"

I gasped.

Dad...

Avery smiled. "Your Honor, as clearly as it is." 

She then looked at my side and she saw the anger on my face, she smirked.

 "The coroner admits the crime. I rest my case."

There were noises coming from every corner. Yet, my dad was there, sitting still, with no one to help him, not even his own daughter.

"Defense," the judge asked. "Would you like to cross-examine?"

"We do," I said.

 Newt and Tyler looked at me and they were shocked since we planned not to cross-examine my dad para hindi na makadagdag pa sa pressure na nararamdaman niya.

I stood up and went in front.

"Your Honor, I won't cross-examine the witness. I will present evidence concerned with the witness. Let's look at the screen."

There were murmuring.

Then everyone got confused.

"Objection, Your Honor!" Avery argued. Just as I expected it, she got alarmed with what she saw.
"The defense... the defense is using something that has no connection with the case!"

"There is, You Honor," I said and I looked at her with sharp eyes. "You wait and see," there was a warning in my voice.

Avery opened her mouth to speak but she seemed can't think of anything to say. She sat back instead.

"The exhibit A," I said, pertaining to the photo on the screen. "...was the 13th president's autopsy report who died because of a medical malpractice happened years ago."

There were loud noise and flashes of camera.

"The same person on the witness stand was the same coroner who did the autopsy to the president. Whether there's a manipulation involved, we shall investigate."

I flashed something again.

"This is the medical report of the accused's mom who was proven as the one who stabbed her husband, which is this case's victim. The medial report says her death is unknown and no autopsy was done but I'm afraid, on the coroner's log of services, he did an autopsy to the deceased 23 hours after her death."

I flashed exhibit C which showed the log I stole from dad's office.

"In other words, Your Honor, the person in the witness stand, has a history of tampering autopsy reports and he was also the one who did an autopsy to the accused's mom and to the former president,"I then looked at the crowd. "With new evidence found and probable cause to consider, I am re-opening the medical malpractice case happened years ago."

Everyone almost stood up.

Tyler was shocked.

Newt's jaw dropped.

Avery's eyes widened.

The crowd stood up too, even the judge, and even the juries.

"I, therefore, summon all the parties involved that time; the living juries, the former chief justice, the judge, 10 senators, people from the congress, and the lawmakers involved. I summon them all and put them under subpoena and if proven guilty, I demand for either lifetime imprisonment or their own medicine, the death penalty."

With tears in my eyes and pain on my chest, I looked at my father.

My tears fell.

"Even you, Dad...."

~~~~~

THIRD PERSON P.O.V

Inside a room in the detention building, a man wearing a formal attire, known as the prosecutor, was sitting in front of a man whose shirt says 
'DETAINEE'.

"Why do you like to see me?" the man in formal suit asked.

The man which has a 'detainee' on his shirt wasn't responding. He was just looking at the man who spoke, seeking something through his eyes. Until he finally gulped and smirked. He looked at the man with sharp eyes.

"The game...it started," the detainee said.

"Game?" the prosecutor asked, baffled. "Traise...what game?"

The detainee with the name of 'Traise' once again smirked. 

"Drop the act, Tyler. I know who you are."

The man in formal suit with the name of 'Tyler' became more confused.

 "You know what exactly?"

"Everything," Traise said and he placed a news paper in front of Tyler.

Tyler looked at it, and it was dated eight years ago.

"My case," Traise said. "I was originally handled by your cousin. You took it away from him, Tyler."

Tyler scoffed while looking at the news paper before he rerouted his eyes at Traise.

"Because I was interested, Traise. I told you that before."

 "Really?" Traise asked. "You know you can't fool me, Tyler. I can see through you."

"Rule of the thumb," Tyler said. "Stop giving assumptions, start spitting facts."

"Be careful what you wish for," Traise said fiercely and he placed something on the table. When Tyler looked at it,  it was an article again.

"What's with that?" Tyler asked, he started to feel alarmed.

"You said I should spit facts," Traise said and he turned dead serious. "The articles says that your dad, the Chief Justice, is incapable of producing a child."

Tyler's eyes widened. He knew Traise was smart but he never knew he was at this level.

"And?" Tyler asked. He was partly alarmed and partly impressed by Traise's intelligence.

"If that's the case, there's no chance that you can be his legitimate child," Traise said while giving Tyler a sharp look. 

Tyler gulped. It was a family secret they were trying to hide. 

"You..." Traise uttered and his gaze was undeniably lethal. His jaw then clenched. "You're the son of the 13th president, am I right?"

There was a long pause of silence. The smile on Tyler's lips faded away and just in few seconds, a smirk replaced it.

"How does it feel to get exposed by a detainee, huh?" Traise asked and his voice was bitter. "You freak." 

Tyler forced a laugh.

"I'm afraid, Mr. Stevens, that may be nothing but pure fiction," he said. "How can I be the son of the 13th president when first lady was incapable of carrying a child?

The detainee smirked back. "She is incapable but the president isn't." 

Again, Tyler taken a back. He was caught off guard. 

"You're talking to a biology major, Tyler. Stop lying, you're starting to look pitiful."

Tyler licked his lower lip. He felt challenged.

"The former Chief Justice was an ally of the 13th president. The whole nation knows the first lady is incapable, so you are an illegitimate child and revealing you will be controversial. That's why you were kept, that's why the chief justice adopted you..."

Tyler's jaw clenched. 

Traise placed another article from a news paper published by a tabloid.

"It's an article about you. You weren't kicked out of your job," he said. "Tyler, you resigned."

"Why would I do that?" Tyler asked.

"That's the question. Why would you do that? I already know long time ago that you were the 13th president's child. I investigated everyone inclined with my case when I got imprisoned for eight years. Kilala ko kayong lahat. Until you came, and you came at Courtney. I kept asking myself anong kailangan mo sa kanya until the recent trial revealed things. I thought you just like her, but I was wrong. Kinuha mo ang kaso dahil tungkol ito sa akin, na anak ng nag-iisang witness sa kaso ng presidente." 

Hate was in his voice. 

"Wala kang planong tulungan ako, Tyler. Ginawa mo lang 'yun dahil nalaman mong parte rin dito si Courtney, na anak ng doktor na sinasabing pumatay sa tatay mo." 

Tyler glared at him.

"So you didn't convict me. Kasi alam mong convicting me is a small payback on your dad's death, so you aimed for something higher. Sinadya mong ibaba sa attempted murder para ma re-open mo ang kaso. You submitted a motion for new trial 10 days after my verdict, the same day the defense passed a motion for re-trial. Hindi sila na reject because of their content, they were rejected kasi nauna kang nagpasa. You fooled them!"

Tyler gave him a sharper look. If there is something he hates, it's when someone discovers his plan even before he wins.

"After hearing it got approved, you resigned and joined us. Hindi para i-salba o i-convict ako. Kung 'di para i-trigger si Courtney na buksan muli ang kaso because she has the right dahil anak s'ya ng dating defense. 'Yung article na nabasa ni Newt about her mom which first triggered her curiousity, ikaw naglagay n'un sa table n'ya. When you went to prosecution's office, you planned it also so she could hear from Prosecutor Avery that it was the 13th president. I heard that, when you talked with Avery after the trial. The whole case about her mom in which you put in a flashdrive, walang autopsy iyon.  You added the autopsy you acquired lately to trigger her to re-open the case!"

Traise looked at Tyler with mad eyes. He was utterly condemning him.

"SHE TRUSTED YOU BUT YOU JUST USED HER!" he madly said.

Tyler gulped. He didn't know exactly what to say.

"All this time, you're the real game changer, playing us all in your palm," Traise said. Tears started to form in his eyes out of anger. "It's been a while, Tyler, you snake..." 

Tyler looked down and sighed. Suddenly, a dark smirk curved on his lips.

"As expected from you, Traise," he said and he smiled. "You caught me..." 

There was a long pause of silence until Tyler finally looked at Traise's eyes. 

"But I'm afraid, Traise. You focused too much on me to the point that you didn't notice the real snake."

"W-What?!" Traise asked, shocked. 

Tyler placed a paper in front of him. In his surprise, it was a resignation letter from Newt.

"He's leaving," Tyler said. "To join the prosecution to convict you."

Traise's eyes grew bigger and tears were forming in it. He felt betrayed.

"From the start his intention was to lose. Can't you see how petty he was? He's the spy..."

"Why...Why would he..." Traise said. He can't believe what he just found out.

"Kanino ba s'yang scholar?" Tyler asked and he smiled. "Yes. The coroner's. His loyalty is with the coroner, the attorney's dad."

Tears finally fell from Traise's eyes.

Tyler smiled after seeing it. He then stood up.

"Game changer?" he asked. "What a nonsense concept. Everyone can be a game changer. The new prosecutor, the defender, the attorney, even you, the detainee, can be a game changer," he said, and he sat on the edge of the table. "But you know, I'm different. I'm not just the game changer who returns. Wanna know why?"

He looked at Traise's eyes.

He smirked.
               

"Because I created this game..."

# PART FOURTEEN: CONVICT ME, ATTORNEY

I blinked.

And I blinked again.

I closed my eyes hardly and I opened it again.

I sighed as I looked once more at Newt's resignation letter that was left on my desk. His things were no longer in the office and he was literally nowhere to be found. I read again the letter and I can't absorb anything.

Why would he leave now that the trial is soon to end? Now that we're soon to lose? Now that I need him more than anything to fight with me in the trial? 

Just...just why would he?

I tried to call him but he wasn't answering. I texted yet I received no reply. This won't do. I have to tell Tyler about this, we have to plan about it. 

That's right! Tyler knows what to do. He's the ace of this group. He... he can help me still. I just have to inform him!

I took my coat on the table and hurriedly took a grab going to the detention center.

"Good evening ma'am," the police officer greeted me.

"Good evening," I said without looking at him.

Finally, I reached the door and it wasn't locked. I opened it slight to see if there was someone inside and I saw Tyler and Traise were talking. Nakatalikod si Tyler while Traise was facing me.

Few seconds later, Traise saw me. When our eyes met, his eyes were sending me a message I couldn't decipher.

I saw him gulped and his eyes went back to Tyler who was in front of him.

"You..." Traise suddenly said. "You're the son of the 13th President, am I right?"

Beat.

13th president...?

My eyes widened. 

Don't tell me...?

"As expected from you, Traise. You caught me..."

My eyes literally grew bigger. I even covered my mouth because it was too much to handle.

Until they revealed the revelations I never thought that would happen. He's the son of the president, and he used me...

What shocked me more was the reason why Newt resigned. It made sense. He was my dad's scholar. Dad appointed him as the defense. Dad wanted me to drop the case. He was a spy...all this time.

I felt like I could die from the pain the sudden betrayals brought me. It's killing me alive. I trusted them more than my dad. I trusted Tyler because of his genuine act more than my own decisions because I thought he cared. Turned out Tyler did those because of his agenda. He never cared for me at all.

"How can you say that?" Traise asked. "Knowing she treated this team as her family?"

"Family?" Tyler mockingly asked. "I never considered you as a family but don't worry, I don't need her anymore. She re-opened the case already, and that's her only use. It's time for me now to control the game I created with you as my players. I'll tell her soon enough."

"You don't have to tell her," Traise said with bitter voice. "Because she already knows."

That was the time I opened the door with eyes mixed with pain and anger. 

My tears fell.

When Tyler looked at me, he was shocked at first but he later smiled/

"Then that's good," he said looking at me.

His smile then faded.

"The game starts now."

~~~~~

THIRD PERSON P.O.V.

A boy can be seen reading a book. As he turned the next page of the book, he saw the face of the 13th president as if it was smiling at him. The boy's serious face immediately changed into a smile.

"Oh, it's dad..."

The boy next to him looked at the photo he was talking to and the boy laughed. He then stood up and faced the class.

"Everyone, the outcast just said the president is his dad!"

They all laughed.

He was so used to it. Being bullied just because he has no family was normal for him. But little did they know, he was saying the truth. Little did they know, his dad was the president.

"Why can't you just accept me?" he asked the man reading in the sofa besides him. It was the president.

"You know the answer," it said.

"Is an illegitimate child unacceptable in malacañang?" he innocently asked.

The president laughed. "No. I am not hiding you because you are illegitimate. I just fear my enemies in politics might use you against me and might bring you in harm. I don't want my son in that situation, am I clear?"

"How about the first lady?" he asked. "She only calls me child, does she hate me?"

The president looked at him. "Whether she hates you or not, Dad loves you, okay? I love you. In fact, I will announce to the public that you are my child soon when these political wars ceased."

The child's eyes grew bigger. "Really? Then it means I can call you dad and I don't have to hide now?"

"Yes. You don't have to hide now. After my operation, I will announce you in public, if you want. Can you wait for me?"

"Yes, president!" the boy excitedly said. He was even smiling from ear to ear.

"Why call me president? You can call me anything now. Call me dad."

Tears built up in the child's eyes. It was the moment he had been waiting for. To be acknowledged by his own dad, and to be able to call him dad.

The child looked at the president, his heart was hurting so good.

He smiled at him as tears fell to his cheeks.

"Y-Yes, dad..."

Tomorrow evening, the operation was set to start.

"Are you nervous?" the child asked the president who was lying in bed, getting ready for the operation.

"No," he said and he smiled.

"I will wait for you, dad," the boy said. "Tomorrow is my birthday. Tomorrow is the end of your operation as well. I don't need anything, the only gift I need is your safety. So be safe, can you?"

He smiled. "For my son, I will." 

Until the president was being moved to the operation room and the child was with them. He was holding his dad's hand until they reached the door. Slowly, their hands started to detach from each other.

"DAD, I LOVE YOU!" the boy shouted.

The president looked at him and he mouthed, "I love you more."

Just then, the president faded from his sight. The judge, who'll eventually be a chief justice, stood beside the child.

"Dad will be okay, won't he?" the child asked.

The judge looked at him. "He's being operated by the best surgeon in the country so worry no more. Come, I'll buy you ice cream."

However, tomorrow morning, the surgeons went out and later announced the president's death. The boy was devastated. He was expecting him to come out stronger, because that's what he promised him. He had a lot of promises to him. Like he'll announce him as his son, they'll finally eat dinner together because never in his life he got to dine with his father together, attend school family day celebration because he never joined it even once, he'll teach him how to ride a bike and all but now, he can't. He was anticipating him to come out fine.

Tragically, the smile he saw from his father before the operation was the last memory he had about him. He can no longer hold his hand or even hug him. Because he's gone....on his birthday.

"Hey," the judge said, standing beside him as he cried at his dad's dead body. "Your dad told me I'll be your guardian if things won't turn out okay."

The child looked at him. The judge smiled back but with eyes full of pain.

"Can I be your dad?"

Until the time came that it was revealed that his dad didn't die because of his illness, but because of a clinical malpractice. It was chaotic. It was a national issue. Until the surgeon got proven guilty and got lifetime imprisonment. 

The case was re-opened, but turned out it wasn't a medical malpractice. According to the court decision, she intentionally killed his dad because his dad once threatened to take down her hospital if they won't obey the law. She was found guilty and death penalty was served. She was executed through an electric chair.

With hate inside him, he visited the burial of the woman who killed his father.

"Hey," a girl greeted him. "You're visiting my mom? It's rare. People hate her but I love her."

He looked at her with sharp eyes. "She deserves the hate. She's a killer!"

"No, she isn't!" the girl insisted.

"She is!"

"She's not!"

"SHE IS! SHE KILLED MY DAD! YOUR MOTHER IS A PSYCHOTIC BITCH!"

The girl's face turned red and she cried.

Until a boy came and he protected the crying girl.

"Don't shout at her, that's bad!"

"ANO BA 'YAN? WAG KAYO MAG AWAY!" a woman approached them and he knew her. She was the witness who testified against the surgeon at first but after the case was re-opened, she changed her testimony and went to the surgeon's side.

He just looked at them and with hate in his eyes, he departed. That was the day, he decided to study law, to protect people like his dad, and to serve justice at all cost.

"AMA, PINATAY NG SARILING ANAK HABANG ANG INA'Y NA-TRAUMA." 

He looked at the screen of the television and his eyes grew bigger after seeing who the mother was—it was the witness of his dad's case years ago!

"I accepted the case," his cousin proudly said, who was just sitting beside him.

"You did?" he asked curiously.

"I'm excited," he said. "The case is a bomb! It's dope, man."

Something was coming up in his mind. He wanted to take revenge, he wanted to ruin their life like how that witness twisted facts so that his dad won't be given justice.

"Remember when I covered up your drug usage in the party last year?" he asked his cousin, with warning in his voice. "I didn't tell father about that."

His cousin was caught off guard. "W-what do you mean?"

He didn't answer and just met his eyes.

"Wait...Tyler..." his cousin said. "Are you...blackmailing me?"

He smirked. "If that's the term then maybe I do."

His cousin's jaw partly dropped.

"No more words," he said and he turned serious. "Give me the case."

He took the case and it was a national talk.

"What brings you here, prosecutor?" a man asked.

"Coroner, I want the victim's autopsy report."

"Why would I give you that?" The coroner asked.

He looked at him darkly. He's the husband of the woman who killed his dad.

"Because I'm the prosecutor, and I am the son of the Chief Justice. Everyone supports me, will you fight against me?"

The coroner was taken aback. 

"I...I don't know what you're talking about."

He just laughed. 

"I didn't expect your idiocy will reach this far," he said and met the coroner's eyes. "Just do as I say and don't stand in my way. The last time you did stand against someone as powerful as me, your wife died. Would you afford to lose another loved one?"

The coroner's eyes grew bigger.

"T-Tyler Scott...?"

"I'm glad you know me," he said and smirked.

The coroner didn't know exactly what to say. He had never been this scared before.

"Give me the autopsy and don't block my eye" he said, his smile was cunning. "Give me now."

"WHAT?!" Newt, the public defender exclaimed. "The coroner said I'll plea guilty!"

"But I said you should not," the prosecutor said, convincing the defense before the preliminary trial started. "I have the country's support. Do what I say. Besides, I talked to the coroner last night, he knows it."

"Really? So it means what his daughter told me when she locked me up in the rest room was right."

"Daughter?"

The defender smiled. "Yes. Ni-lock niya ko sa CR kanina para lang sabihing pinasasabi raw ng papa niya na mag plea ng not guilty. Hindi nga ako naniniwala, buti nalang sinabi mo. Thank you ha." 

Just then, the CR opened and a girl came out from it. 

"Newt, 'yong sinasabi ko ha!" sigaw nito. "'Wag mong kalilimutan! 'Di ako aalis dito hangga't 'di 'yon nangyayari!"

"Oo na!" naiiritang sabi ni Newt at tumingin sa kaniya. "That's her."

He looked once again at the woman and when their eyes met, she smiled at him. He snobbed her.

The next days, he visited the accused's mom in the hospital.

"Your son won't plea guilty because if he does, hindi s'ya aabutan ng death penalty. I want him to plea self-defense and I'll prove he's guilty and by the time he got the verdict, he'll be the receiver of death penalty. How's that?" he smirked.

The woman cried.

"Hindi...hindi mamamatay tao ang anak ko... ako... ako ang sumaksak sa... sa... sino ba 'yun? Teka...sino ka ba? Ba't ako nandito? Asaan si mommy? Si daddy?"

"Baliw ka na. Nakakabaliw bang manipulahin ang katotohanan? Umanib sa ibang tao para lang pagtakpan kasalanan nila? Ha?"

The woman looked at him. "Si...sino ka...?"

"I'm the son of the president that the surgeon killed," he hardly said and his voice was full of hate. "I am the son of the man who almost didn't get the justice he deserves after you switched sides!"

The woman cried. "Hindi...hindi' yan totoo....tinakot ako...tinakot nila ako...."

"Ti...tinakot?" he asked, shocked. It was the first time he heard it.

"Papatayin daw nila ang anak ko kapag...kapag hindi ako tumestigo laban sa doktor... ayoko....ayoko mamatay ang anak ko..."

The woman cried hard.

He got bewildered. It means someone out there was involved.

"Someone out there manipulated things. The guy doesn't have to die yet. If he'll die, it means the case is closed. No, no," he murmured to himself, inside his car and something popped in his mind. "Right. I need to use the coroner's daughter this time."

He called the girl and he handed the video of the accused's mom admitting the crime and he cut out other things aside from it.

He smiled as she took it.

Until the guy was proven guilty but with lifetime imprisonment. 10 days after the verdict, he filed the motion for new trial. 8 years after, the motion got approved. He resigned to his office and joined the defense.

"Be careful with the detainee," Newt said. "He's more than just a detainee. He's a genius."

So he tried his best to act not with the presence of Traise Stevens. He put the article about Courtney's mom on  Newt's side. They read it and she got curious. He lured her in the prosecution office so she'll hear everything. Newt as the look out outside was in the plan too including Prosecutor Avery Heimsworth's script as well.

"That's too easy," Avery said once he requested for it. "Just promise me that this will destroy her and I'll do well."

When she was in the police station, he handed him the flash drive. As expected, it triggered her. Until everything fell in the right place when Courtney re-opened the case and summoned all the juries, the judge, the senators, lawmakers. and other figures involved under subpoena.

The plan was successful. He looked at his dad's grave, he smiled.

"The players are set. Now is the time to play the real game, dad..."

~~~~

COURTNEY.

I found myself sitting in front of Traise inside the detention building room. He was there, staring at me still as I stared at him too.

His face seemed so weary. He seemed so tired of everything, so do I.

I cleared my throat.

"So as you know," I started. "The prosecutor used me and the defender was a spy. In the next trial, I won't be surprised if I'll see both of them in the prosecution side. It will be Tyler, Avery, and Newt in one team so it's basically me against them, you see," I said with tears in my eyes. My voice cracked as I tried not to cry. 

"So I want you be honest with me para alam ko kung paano kita ipaglalaban. So, tell me. Ginawa mo ba 'yon?" I asked. His face was emotionless. "Did you...kill your dad?"

He looked at me and pain started to build up in his eyes. "Why, Courtney? Are you confused now?"

"I'm not just confused, Traise," I said bitterly. "I...I'm afraid. There's a part of me na ayaw nang maniwala sa'yo."

He looked down and he smiled bitterly weakly. "I see,..."

"Don't get me wrong, Traise, please," I said and my voice was shaky. My eyesight started to become blurry with tears building in it. "Mahal kita. Mahal na mahal kita. Gusto ko mang maniwala sa 'yo pero masyado na 'kong nabubugbog ng pagtitiwala ko sa lahat..."

Tears were in his eyes too.

"You don't have to explain yourself," he said and smiled at me weakly. "I understand. I'd understand."

I finally bursted into tears.

"Gusto kong maniwala sa 'yo," I said while crying uncontrollably. "I want to help you...I want to fight for you..." my voice cracked. "Pero sa mga nangyayari, sa pagsisinungaling mo, hindi ko na alam, Traise... a huge part of me doesn't trust you anymore. A huge part of me got damaged with the sudden betrayals. So... help me, please?" 

I looked down and cried hard.

"Gusto kitang ipaglaban kahit magulo na, kahit nakakasakit na," I said and my voice was again broke. "Kaya tulungan mo naman ako, hmm? Tell me everything with no lies."

"Everything?" he asked me while  looking deeply in my eyes while tears were on his too.

"Everything." I reiterated.

"With no lies?"

"With no lies," I said.

"Will you... love me still?" he asked, his voice cracked.

Tears fell from my eyes after seeing the pain that was swallowing him alive.

"Let's..." I said, feeling my heart breaking into tiny million pieces. "Let's see, hmm? Tell me the truth first.  Ask me to defend you, like before. Give me the strength para lumaban, please... I'm begging, Traise..."

"Okay," he said and he looked in my eyes.  From there, I can see how he was drowning from too much pain and suffering too.

He gulped.

He met my eyes.

His tears fell as he smiled at me weakly.

"Convict Me, Attorney..."

# PART FIFTEEN: THE GAME DESTROYER 

Things started to feel uneasy. It seemed so vague, so disturbing, and utterly uncomfortable. And then I heard noise, a really loud noise.

"BUTI NAMAN!" one said.

"DAPAT LANG 'YAN, 'NO! DAPAT NGA NOON PA 'YAN!" one angry man said.

"'WAG N'YO NA PATAGALIN!" angry people were complaining. 

Then, things became clearer to me now. There was a mad crowd in a middle of place I don't know where. There were militaries and police all over the place as if securing its safety, and they were all screaming and shouting at a man standing on a stage. As I rerouted my eyes at the stage, I saw Tyler, Traise, Newt, Avery, and my dad on one stage.

What's happening?

And then Tyler smiled. "Your Honor," he said confidently. "I move a strike."

Avery smirked. "Your Honor, I demand a death penalty."

Newt agreed. "In light with that, I demand this case be closed."

In a flash, police surrounded Traise and my dad, they brought them up in a tool I can't recognize.

Wait.

WHAT?!

And I found myself in pure shockingness when I recognized what it was; a guillotine. It was used for decapitation for death penalty. It was being used to behead someone, cutting their head off in front of the public!

The crowd were cheering wildly and I found myself in a lethal pain. Traise's eyes were wandering around, as if seeking for something and then our eyes met.

He stared at me. "I SAID YOU SHOULD CONVICT ME!" he shouted angrily.

"YOU STUBBORN!" I heard my dad. "I TOLD YOU TO DROP THE CASE!"

And before I could even move, I found blood spitting in the air, two heads just got beheaded. The crowd were cheering insanely after seeing the bloods that were flowing like a river in the whole place. 

Newt and Avery laughed. Tyler looked at me with a smirk on his lips and he announced,

"GAME OVER."

I opened my eyes and I sat up with tears in it.

Dream, just...another dream but it felt so real. It was similar with my first dream about Traise's case but this time, some things changed and my dad got included in the scene. 

With a heavy chest and gasping for air, I stood up and walked downstairs for a water to cleanse my mind but in my great shockness, I found my dad sitting in the sofa and he was reading papers.

"Why are you still awake?" he asked with eyes still in his paper.

"Naalimpungatan lang po," I said back with pain in my chest.

"Okay," he said.

I looked at my dad and the scene in my dream popped in my head once more. 

 No... I don't want dad to die...

"Bakit?" my dad asked when he felt my presence still there.

"Dad..." I said. "About Newt..." 

"Have you received his resignation letter?"

"Y-Yes," I answered.

"That bastard," my dad mockingly said. "That was his dream."

"P-Po?" I asked, confused.

"He resigned to join the prosecution because he saw a probable cause to prosecute your friend. It was his dream, to be in prosecution, but I let him handle a defense. He was mad for 8 years."

"Hindi n'yo po s'ya inutusang umalis?" I asked.

My dad shook his head. "No. It was his will."

My jaw clenched. He quitted because we were losing and he joined the other side because their chance of winning was higher. Snce it was a national topic, being in a winning team is a good opportinity for his law career.

There was silence.

"Dad..." I now said, looking at him. "I... I'm sorry..."

Finally, he looked at me.

"Sorry kung...kung hindi kita sinunod...Sorry kung...kung hindi ako nakinig. Only If I know..." I bit my lower lip. "Sorry..." and my tears fell.

"Why apologize? Will you drop the case now?"

I closed my eyes hardly. "I... I don't know. Everything seems so messed up. The defender whom I considered a brother betrayed me for his career, the prosecutor I thought who cared for me just...just used me for his own gain. The person I am fighting for eight straight years...just...lied to me. I don't know anymore, dad. I feel so weak, so fragile, so dumb. I feel so damaged."

"The prosecutor is the devil ever since I met him when he asked for the autopsy," dad said, there was bitterness in his voice.

"Why did you tamper the autopsy, dad?"

"I didn't do it intently," he said. "I did it because he won't use it in court and he's just digging something I don't know so I faked it."

"Dad..." I said. "He's the son that mom apparently killed...he's the son of the 13th president..."

My dad got petrified for a moment. He can't talk.

"Dad..." I said with tears flowing uncontrollably from my eyes. "Did...mom really kill the president...?"

Dad's mood  evidently changed. His face went blank.

"Dad, please, tell me," I sobbed. "Did she do it?"

"I...can't tell you that," my dad said. "But I believe, these can."

He handed me a box.

Before I could answer, he smiled at me.

"Don't focus on your mom's case yet. Focusing on it will divert your focus from Traise's case. But focusing on your Traise's case will give you answers about your mom's case, if that makes sense."

"I don't know anymore, dad," I said, now barely crying. "Pakiramdam ko bagsak na bagsak na 'ko. Pakiramdam ko pinagkakaisahan na 'ko ng lahat..."

"Quitting will give you no good," dad said, giving me an encouraging smile. "Dropping the case will cause your friend's death, and losing the case will give him death too. So, I'm giving you the consent to fight for him. Like what I did to your mom before."

"But dad..." I said. "I... I don't know. I feel so lost, so broken so....so vague. I don't know who to trust, I don't know what to do. I...I don't even know where to start. Everything seems hopeless, as if... as if I'm fighting an already lost battle. As if...as if this game is not for me to play."

"If you feel lost then start here," he placed a paper in front of me.

Baffled, I looked at it.

"AUTOPSY REPORT."

My eyes grew bigger. 

It's the autopsy report of Traise's mom!

"I hid that," my dad said. "Because I know someday you'll need it."

I looked at it thoroughly.

CAUSE OF DEATH: INSULIN POISONING

WHAT THE HECK?!

My dad placed another paper in front of me.

"It's a consent form to have an access in the hospital's security cameras. His mom didn't die naturally, she died because of the drugs being injected to her. I already talked to the chief nurse, she'll help you if you need to see any records," my dad looked at my teary eyes, and he smiled at me like an encouraging father.

"The game is not for you to play. You're not the game creator and you can't even control it. You're not a game changer either. You're just...a player. A mere player. But do you know what a player does? They act in the game. They may be a dot in the game but the game won't be completed if not because of them. They may be just a player, a mere player, but they can destroy the game," and he placed his hand on my cheek. "And that'll be your role."

He then smiled.

"Be the game destroyer."

~~~~~

"What documents do you need?"

I looked at the chief nurse skimming documents on her table.

"I need the medicines she's been taking, the doctors, and nurse in charge."

The chief nurse smiled. "That rings some sort of bell."

Confused, I asked, "Po?"

She faced me.

"That's your dad's line before when he was asking me for the records to help your mom," and she looked for the documents again. "History really do repeats itself."

"Did mom do it?" I asked again. "Did she kill the president?"

But she didn't answer and just handed me the documents.

 She smiled. "Good luck." 

Just then, she went out.

I looked at the papers and from there, I found out that Traise's mom was diabetic and been taking insulin. 

Confirmed! She's been taking insulins and she was overdosed!

I looked at the doctors and nurse in charge, but there were plenty of them. I immediately went to the security office and I saw them arguing.

"SOMEONE PLAGIARIZED  OUR LOGO! WE NEED TO SUE THEM!" a man shouted.

"WE NEED TO TALK TO THEM FIRST!"

"NO! WE NEED TO FILE A CHARGE! 1 YEAR IMPRISONMENT AND 100,000 FINE OF PLAGIARISM OR VIOLATION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES WILL DO!"

"NO, IT IS JUST 5 YEARS AND 50,000!"

"1 YEAR!"

"5 YEARS!"

"ONE YEAR!!!"

"FIVE YEARS!!!"

"It's ten years," I meddled, and they both looked at me. "... and 150,000." I added and I smiled. 

"Po?" tanong ng isa. 

I forced a smile. "I'm a lawyer and I need to view your security cameras for case reasons."

In no time, I found myself inside one of the hospital rooms with a nurse in front of me. I viewed the cctv cameras and I found one nurse who kept on coming back and forth in Traise's mom's room everyday with a man in suit I can't recognize who.

"I told you," she said with sharp eyes after I caught her in her attempt to run away earlier. "I won't tell anything."

"Of course you will," I said. "Because I will force you to."

She smirked. "Like what, attorney? Will you kill me?"

I smirked as well. "I can, but I won't because I don't wanna be a murderer like you."

She laughed. "You don't have an evidence, attorney."

"Well, I have," and I placed an autopsy report in front of her. Her eyes grew bigger.

"The victim died because of insulin poisoning. You are in charge of her medicine," and my jaw clenched. 

Her eyes started to become tensed.

"Why did you do it?" and I felt anger in me. "WHY DID YOU KILL HER?!"

Yet, she was not answering. She was just shocked and scared.

I placed a syringe on the table. "It has your fingerprints."

Her eyes grew more bigger and then she cried.

"Attorney..." she said, crying. "Tinakot nila ako...ayoko mamatay..."

My eyes widened, shocked at the sudden confession.

"Tinakot...?"

She held my hand eagerly. "Attorney, tulungan mo 'ko, hindi ako pinatatahimik ng konsensya ko. Papatayin daw nila ako, ang pamilya ko kapag hindi ako sumunod..."

I felt a loud bang in my chest. 

Someone's manipulating something!

"Bakit?" I asked, eyes confused. "Bakit s'ya?"

She looked at me. "She was the nurse of the case before."

"What...case?" I asked.

"THE CASE OF THE 13TH PRESIDENT..."

Beat.

"Sino..." I asked. "SINO NAG-UTOS SA'YO?"

She shook her head. "Ayoko, attorney. Ayoko..."

"Trust me," I said eagerly, holding her hand. "Tell me."

She cried hard. "Papatayin nila ako..."

"Put your trust on me," I said. "Sino...sino nag-utos sa'yo?"

"Attorney... they  are powerful...."

"Tell me," I said with eagerness in my eyes.

She gulped and she cried hard.
She opened her mouth, and what she said rendered me speechless...

I heaved a sigh as I looked at the ceiling of my room. It was a tough day. I found a witness who agreed to testify in tomorrow's trial and revealed things I never thought that would be real. 

She didn't know the syringe I presented had no fingerprint of her. I lied and she just bit my trap. I visited Traise to tell him all the things I found out but in my great surprise, he knew them all, even his mom's death. Turned out, my dad told him everything days after his verdict 8 years ago. He didn't want to see me, saying there was no need for me to investigate since he'll plea guilty.

I don't know what to react.

Will I destroy this game, or will the game destroy me?

I looked at the photo of me and my mom when I was 3 on the table, and I sighed.

"What's the real you, mom?"

Tomorrow morning, the trial started. The thing was, the audience got doubled. The medias were all over. Politicians and lawmakers were watching, and the pressure can be felt in the whole atmosphere of the courtroom.

"Your Honor," Avery said. "As what you have heard, under oath, the former defense, which is Mr. Newt Dahmer, admitted the negligence on their part as a defense in acquiring autopsy reports and related medical and forensic evidence to defend the accused. I thefore request this case to be dismissed before the verdict. I rest my case."

I looked at Newt who was in the witness stand. I felt myself fuming with anger as he had that thick face to look at us without any guilt.

Newt stood as a witness first before joining the prosecution in order for his testimonies to be valid. He just copied our tactic.

"That fucktard..." I murmured.

"Defense," the judge called. "Would you like to cross-examine?"

I heaved a sigh."No, Your Honor."

Avery looked at me, shocked at first but she managed to smile.

"But I'll present my own witness."

Her smiled faded and I smiled back at her.

"Begin," the judge said and I walked in front, facing the crowd.

"I call to the witness stand the nurse from the medical facility the victim and the wife of the victim died."

There was murmuring.

But then, no one was coming.

I looked at the crowd, and there was no presence of the nurse.

"Again," I said, hoping she'll hear me wherever she was. "I call to the witness stand, the nurse from the medical facility the victim and the wife of the victim died."

But what I heard was just a noise, a really loud murmuring noise accompanied by a "Boo!" sound.

"Again," I said, and I closed my eyes. "I call to the—"

"Your Honor," Avery stood up. "Her witness clearly didn't show up. We are just wasting time. I demand to—"

"Shut up," I said, with eyes confused and unsure. "She'll come."

"Show us," Avery said, smilingly mocking me. "Call your witness and stop being pitiful."

I faced the crowd and cleared my throat.

"I call—"

"Your Honor," the court clerk said. "I have something to tell."

It rendered loud murmuring again and I was left dumbfounded in the middle of the court, didn't know what to do

"See?" Avery said, fascinated by seeing me in this state. "I told you."

The court clerk and the judge were done talking and the judge faced us.

"I would like to make an announcement," the judge said. "The registered witness of the defense has found dead in her condo unit."

My eyes grew bigger.

WHAT THE F*CK?!

I felt my legs shaking.

"Your Honor," Avery stood up. "With that situation, I therefore request to strike out her witness."

"Request granted. Defense, you may take your seat."

I can't absorb the things that were happening.

 What just happened? 

How come....how come she's dead? 

No, it... maybe, it's a trick!

 I.... I have to call her!

I opened my phone and accidentally, in my surprise, I saw a notification from my email that was sent an hour ago. Astounded, the email came from the nurse who just died.

With hands trembling, I opened it and a video met my eyes.

I immediately clicked it.

"Attorney..." she said, sobbing, she seemed scared and terrified. "...may mga taong umaaligid na sa labas ng unit ko...naririnig ko sila attorney...they....they might kill me anytime now. Attorney...natatakot na 'ko....attorney...." 

I heard a knock on her door.

"Nandito na sila. I think... I won't make it to the trial. Just... just check the file attached, attorney. If something bad happens, you know who did it,"
 and she cried. 
"Sorry..."
 and the video ended.

I checked the file, and it was the medicine injected to Traise's mom, and a recording was below it.

My legs almost disowned me. I felt scared.

"Your Honor" I said, facing everyone. "My witness didn't die...she was... killed."

A loud noise then occupied the whole court.

"That's a serious allegation, can you support it?" the judge said.

I looked at the prosecution with determination in my eyes. "I can, Your Honor."

"Proceed, then," the judge said.

"First, I would like to play this video."

And I played the video I received from the nurse. People was shocked after hearing it.

"OBJECTION, YOUR HONOR!" Avery stood up. "THE DEFENSE ACQUIRED AN ILLEGAL VIDEO!"

"It's not illegal, she sent to me, You Honor."

We exchanged sharp looks.

"Objection overruled. Defense, continue."

Avery and I looked once again at each other fiercely before I faced the judge. 

"As you can see in the video," I said. "The witness experienced threat in her life after being registered as the witness of this case. The witness was the nurse of the victim's wife and accused's mom who agreed to testify because of the power manipulation she got inclined into. To justify that, I would like to play this recording."

I played the recording which contained our conversation yesterday in the hospital.

"As what you have heard, the witness was threatened to do such act. And what's that act?" I rhetorically asked and I faced the crowd.

"8 years ago, the accused's mom who could've been the star witness of this case died. It was believed that the cause of death was a natural death. However, the autopsy report conducted by the coroner showed the accused's mom's eyes were dilated, there were bloodstrained froth in her nose and her blood drops. Prior to this, let's take a look at the medical report the witness sent me," and I flashed it on screen.

"The accused's mom had been experiencing a depressed mood, nausea, personality change, pale skin, sweating, sleep disturbance, and fatigue. The medical facility refused to present her in court because they thought she developed a mental condition they can't figure out what."

And I flashed another evidence on the screen.

"These are the medicines that the accused's mom had been taking and injecting directly through her bloodstream. One of them is insulin. And all the symptoms aforementioned from depressed mood to fatigue are all sign of one thing."

I flashed an autopsy report on the screen.

"The accused's mom didn't die of a natural death, because she was killed by insulin poisoning."

There was a loud noise.

"The accused's mom was supposed to be the star witness of this case but was taken out of the list because of her said mental condition which turned out doesn't exist. If we can recall, the accused's mom is also the star witness of the 13th president's case years ago."

"OBJECTION YOUR HONOR!" Avery stood up  "THE DEFENSE IS JUST MAKING UP ALLEGATIONS SHE HAS NO WILL TO PROVE!"

I smirked. "Don't worry. I will."

"Then do it," Avery said fiercely said. 

"How will I do it if you keep on interrupting me?" I asked. "Nag pa-panic ka na ba?

The crowd was thrilled.

Avery scoffed as she sat back. She seemed offended. 

"Objection overruled," the judge. "Continue."

I smiled as I looked at Avery. She had her face up, an indication that she's up for a war.

"So who did it?" I asked, and I played a recording. "Let's play this."

"
Papatayin nila ako..." a woman voice can be heard, fear can be detected.

"Trust
 me," my voice. "Sino...sino nag-utos sayo?"

"Attorney....they are powerful..."

"Tell me."

The woman cried hard.

"It's...it's..." the voice is hesitant. "...it's the former vice president..." 

It rendered a much louder murmuring. Almost everyone stood up, even the judge, with the sudden revelation.

"To prove that," I said. "I'd like to play this video"

And the video contained 1 week footage of the vice president with the nurse coming back and forth to Traise's mom's room.

"With the evidence shown and not abiding the subpoena the defense filed, I therefore demand the arrest of the former vice president, the 10 senators, some people in the congress, few lawmakers and medical practitioners involved," and I looked at Avery's shocked face. "Even the new prosecutor's dad."

The people were now panicking, flashew from the media cameras became louder

"W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Avery asked, losing her cool. "WHO ARE YOU TO DO THAT?!"

"Who am I?" I asked. "I am the player who'll destroy this game," and I smirked.

"
I'm the game destroyer."

"Really?" she said. "Then I demand your dad's arrest for hiding an autopsy report for eight years which is against the Presidential Decree no.1829 and as a punishment I'd like to file a charge and demand to take him out of his position," she looked in my eyes sharply. "You forgot, you cannot destroy the game I can manipulate. I'm the game controller."

"And I'm the game creator."

We both looked at the owner of the voice and in my surprise, it was Tyler.

"Your Honor, I request to take over."

I looked at him. "You're no longer part of the defense, back off!"

"I'm still part of it, I did not resign so sit back and watch the show."

"Request granted."

He smirked.

Left with no choice, I sat back. I looked at Traise and there, I saw his eyes full of anger, his jaw clenched, and he was red-faced.

"Auntie..." he murmured.

As I looked at the middle of the court, I got dumbstruck when I noticed whom Tyler was with.

IT WAS TRAISE'S AUNT.

The witness inquiry started. He was  roasting her through his questions.

"So you admit he's been beating up the accused?"

"Yes," the woman said.

"So bad?"

"Y-Yes," the woman hardly uttered.

"Bad enough for the accused to fight back and defend himself?"

"WHAT?!" the woman asked.

"Just a yes or no ma'am."

"I can't—"

"Yes or no."

"But—"

"Just a yes or no, I said."

"He's not like that, he's good—"

"I know but a yes or no will do."

"He loved him as a child before. He doesn't beat him up for no reason—"

"I understand but I said yes or no."

"He's just hurt by what—"

"A yes or no ma'am—"

"SHUT UP!!!!" The auntie got mad. "HE'S NOT BEATING HIM UP FOR NO REASON! HE LOVED THAT CHILD BEFORE BETTER THAN HOW HE LOVES HIMSELF! BUT MY SISTER IS A WHORE! SHE'S INDEED A WHORE!"

"SHUT UP!" Traise stood up. "YOU RUINED MY FAMILY SO SHUT UP!" 

"YOUR MOM RUINED YOUR FAMILY!l FIRST!" the auntie cried.

"STOP DEFAMING MY MOM!" Traise shouted.

"I AM NOT DEFAMING YOUR MOM, I AM JUST TELLING THE TRUTH!"

"ORDER IN THE COURT!"

"WHAT TRUTH?!?! THAT YOU AND MY DAD CHEATED BEHIND HER BACK?!"

"YOUR MOM FIRST CHEATED!" she shouted, crying. "YOUR DAD STARTED RUINING HIS LIFE AFTER HE FOUND OUT THAT YOU...YOU—" her tears fell like river.

"STOP TELLING LIES—"

"—THAT YOU'RE NOT HIS SON!"

A silence.

"Anak ka ni ate sa ibang lalaki...." and she cried hard.

I felt a bang in my chest.

Traise was standing still. His tears fell.

I looked at Tyler. He looked Traise and he looked at me. 

After seeing the mess he did, a smirk formed in his lips, and he said,

"Bull's Eye"

# PART SIXTEEN: GAME OVER 

"Due to the absence of the supposed to be witnesses, and the situation aroused by new evidence acquired, I therefore move the day of the last trial the day after tomorrow to give way to new reports both the prosecution and the defense need to file."

Matapos niyon ay tunog ng gavel ang maririnig mula sa judge. Nagsimulang magbulungan ang mga tao.

I looked around. From there, I saw people were one by one leaving while their eyes were looking at us still.

As I looked at Avery, she was looking at me sharply. Traise's aunt was still standing in the witness stand while uncontrollably crying. Newt seemed confused. Tyler, on the other hand, looked like he was amused.

"Leave..."

I looked at Traise who was beside me. He seemed devastated. His face turned madly red and there were tears in his eyes.

"But—"

"I said leave!" he exclaimed to me while his jaw was clenched.

He probably can't believe still the revelation his auntie just spilled. Few seconds later, he was escorted by a police out of the court room and in a blink of an eye, he disappeared from my sight.

"Well, I guess that's it for today."

I heard a mocking voice said and I looked at the owner of it. When our eyes met, I looked at him sharply as if I can kill him anytime. When he saw the anger written all over my face, a smirk formed on his lips. He then turned his back and walked away.

"So what are you up to?!" I asked while following him but he wasn't looking back.

"Hindi pa ba sapat sa 'yo 'yung niloko mo kaming lahat? Na nagpanggap ka at pinaniwalang kakampi ka pero ang totoo ay ginamit mo lang kami, ha? Na ginamit mo lang ako?"

That's when he stopped and he looked back.

"Courtney, think whatever you wanna think. I have my own agenda to fulfill."

"Agenda?" I bitterly smiled. "Anong agenda, Tyler? Na gaguhin kaming lahat?"

"You know," he said. "In the first place, you should not be mad at me. Tinutulungan pa nga kitang kilalanin mo ang sarili mo."

"What?" I asked, confused.

He smiled. "Who gave you enough resources to know about your mom? It was me. Who gave you an idea about your mom? It was me. And now I'm helping you unraveling your family's secret."

"Family secret? What do you mean?" I asked.

He walked towards me while his eyes were fixated at me.

"It was revealed that Traise Stevens, your dear friend, is an illegitimate child. Nanay niya ang tumestigo laban sa nanay mo para mabigyan siya ng death penalty, which apparently caused her death. If that's the case, bakit siya tutulungan ng tatay mo kahit na siya ang isa sa mga dahilan kung bakit nakulong ang nanay mo? Bakit siya bibigyan ng tatay mo ng trabaho after ng malaman ng tatay ni Traise na hindi niya tunay na anak ito?"

I felt a bang in my chest.

"And why would your dad support the education, even giving allowances, of the son of the woman who testified against his wife, making way for you and Traise to get close?" 

I felt my heart stopped beating.

He inched the gap of our face.

"Tell me, is your friend...really your friend, or he's more than that?"

He smirked.

"Stay tuned."

His smile faded. He turned dead serious, and he walked away.

With mind in absolute confused state, I went inside our house and I saw my dad on the sofa and he was reading something

"That was a nice move," he said, and he put down the paper he had been reading. "How you presented the evidence was perfect."

I looked at him with blurry sight, as tears were forming now in my eyes.

"What's with the look?" he asked me, and then he smiled. "Are they gonna arrest me soon?"

"They will," I said and I looked at him thoroughly. "Dad, is there something you wanna tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"About myself, about this family, about FUCKING everything!"

My dad's expression changed with the sudden change of my mood, he turned dead serious.

"I told you," he said. "The box can answer your questions."

"BUT I WANT YOU TO TELL ME EVERYTHING!" I shouted. "Alam n'yo ba ano nararamdaman ko ngayon? Parang... Parang hindi ko kilala ang sarili ko. Napakaraming sikreto, napakarami kong hindi alam! Pakiramdam ko hindi ko kayo kilala. Parang joke time lang lahat. Ang gulo gulo, dad. Sobrang gulo. So please....please tell me everything...please... I'm begging..."

My dad's eyes turned teary and pain was written all over it.

"Would you...be able to handle them?"

"I will and I can," I said.

"Even if it means...letting go of things you can't live without?"

I heard a bang in my chest.

"Did you..." I said, stuttering, tears flowing like a river, "Just...just confirm...that my friend and I...are...are siblings...?"

My dad looked down.

I saw tears from his eyes fell...

~~~~

THIRD PERSON P.O.V

A man in his 20's with the word 

'DETAINEE'

  in his shirt entered the query room and he was suddenly stunned after seeing who was waiting for him inside.

It wasn't the former prosecutor he knows, or the defender he once considered a brother, or his friend he oftentimes called attorney. It was the woman with the sweet face of an angel but has the mind of a clever devil. She was the one who controls the game that anyone should not mess with.

"I hope you're pleased to see me," she said with her usual smile.

The man sat in front of her with an emotionless face.

"Well I'm a bit flustered," he said. "I never thought someone as successful as you, Avery Heimsworth, would visit me."

"The last time I did was four years ago, am I right?" she asked, smiling still.

"Yes," he said. "And you told me Courtney has a boyfriend when she had none."

She laughed. "I was just kidding that time, Traise. Don't tell me you believed me?"

The man smiled. "I did."

The woman laughed.

"You still look the same," she said. "And acts the same."

"Well contrary to me, you've changed," he said, looking at her. "What happened to you?"

"You ask yourself that question," she said and her facial expression changed. "What did you do to me?"

"I told you," he said. "I don't need your—"

"YOU NEED MY HELP," she halted him. Her voice was authoritative yet there was pain on it. "Can't you see things now? Courtney can't defend you. She can't defeat me. She's overly distracted now because of her mom's case that overlaps with your case. I told you four years ago to wait for me, for me to defend you but you turned me down! You turned me down saying—"

"She can defend me," he halted her. "She can and she will."

"I thought you're smarter than me," she said, pain in her eyes. "She can't even beat my scores in tests and she can't even make it to any rankings. How will she defeat me in court?"

"Just wait and see," he said, determined.

"Why do you trust her that much?" she asked. " Yet you can't even trust me? You even turned me down not just once, not just twice, but thrice because of her! Remember when you didn't accept my love letter back in high school? Remember when you chose to teach her of basic calculus instead of joining the national academic competition that will give you a door for international school? Remember how many opportunities you sacrificed just because you don't wanna be apart from her? Remember how you ruined your life for her?!"

"That's my choice," he said. "It's not living if it's not with her."

She looked down and tears formed in her eyes. "How long are you gonna hurt me?"

"No," the man said. "How long are you gonna hurt yourself?" 

He looked in her eyes. 

"When you confessed your love for me several times and I oftentimes turned you down, that doesn't mean I don't like you. Well, I like how smart you are. I like how goal-oriented you are. I like how competitive you are. But you know, I can't see you as something suitable for me. You're too good."

She weakly smiled. "You really know how to turn someone down in a nice way, huh?"

"It's a talent, I guess," he said, smiling back at her.

"But I think, it's over for you two," she said.

"What...do you mean?" he asked, confused.

"You're illegitimate child and your dad abused you for being one. Think of it. Your mom testified against the coroner's wife, but why did the coroner gave your mom a job and gave you a scholarship?"

He opened his mouth to say something but he can't come up with any words to say.

She smirked after she saw how it caught him off guard. 

 "Strange, isn't it?"

"It is," the man said. "But can you do me a favor?"

"Let's see. What is it?"

He smiled.

"Do your best to convict me."

~~~~~

COURTNEY
.

"Whoa-ho-ho, guess who came, the almighty attorney!"

I looked at the man sitting in front of me inside the detention query room.

"Former vice president, how's life treating you here?" I asked, smiling at him sarcastically.

"It's fine," he mockingly said. "Comfortable so far. Guess what power can do?"

I smiled bitterly.

"It should be fine and you should start to adjust," I said. "After all, you'll spend the rest of your life here."

He laughed. "I never met any woman as brave as you," he said, but then his expression changed. "Oh there is! Your mom, but my bad, she's dead."

My expression also changed.

"Have you seen her expression when she got killed by electric chair? It was fun to see."

My jaw clenched.

"Don't worry," I said, anger now in my eyes. "You'll experience it soon."

"Really, attorney?" he asked while smiling sarcastically.  "I have the power, but I wonder if your dad has?"

My eyes grew bigger.

"Don't drag my dad into this," I said and my eyes were giving him a warning. 

"We'll see, attorney," he said and met my eyes. "Revealing things about me also means revealing things about your dad tampering important evidence. Seeing me in electric chair also means seeing your dad beside me, being killed by the exact same electricity."

Then he laughed.

"In order to prove me guilty, you have to prove your dad also is," he then inched the gap of our face and with a twist of smile on his lips, he whispered,

"I wonder if you can do that, attorney..."

Hours later, I found myself inside the query room with the familiar man in front of me. I have been here for 15 minutes and we were just looking at each other for the entire time.

"How long are you gonna look at me?" he asked me with his signature emotionless face. 

"As much as I want to," I said. "As much as I can to."

"Why?" he asked. "Is this my last night?"

I didn't answer.

"Oh," he said. "Bukas na pala ang last trial. So it may be my last night, I guess."

"Traise, did you really do it?" I asked again.

He smiled. "I already told you the answer. Don't worry, I'll plea guilty tomorrow. There's no need for you to defend me, just...just use tomorrow's platform for your mom's case. I'll...take my verdict wholeheartedly. That's—"

"Why are you doing this?" I asked and the tears I had long been trying to suppress fell to the ground. "I can defend you still. I can do things for you still but why are you telling me to stop—"

"Because I can't see you in pain anymore," he said. "Can you see yourself now? You looked so stressed, you seemed sleep deprived, you are disturbed. You're bothered also about your mom's case. Your dad got inclined. You carry the whole word now in your shoulder."

He then looked down. 

" I... I can't afford to see you being roasted in court with those objection logic. I can't see you being played and labeled by media as criminal defender. I can't afford to see you being hated by the whole nation alone. I can't see you cry, I... I don't wanna see you in pain. So please...please take a rest," he said and met my eyes. "I'll handle myself."

"You told me we're all in this together," I said eagerly. "Then we'll end this together."

"No," he objected. "You should stop. Don't torment yourself anymore, please? Do it... do it for me"

"I can't," my voice broke.

"You can," he encouraged.

"I SAID I CAN'T!" I exclaimed.

"You can, Courtney. Listen to me, hmm?" he insisted. His former emotionless face started to get emotional. "I... I studied my case well. If you'll defend me still, it means you have to drag influential politicians into this. Even your dad, Courtney, you have to drag me into this mess." 

He gulped. 

"Once proven, they will all face the same imprisonment or worse, death. It's gonna be you against the whole nation, the ruling elites, and you even have to sacrifice your dad. But if I'll plea guilty, everything will end. It's only me who needs to sacrifice so there will be no more casualties.... So please do me a favor."

I met his eyes. Tears started to form in his eyes too.

"Sacrifice me." 

"I can't," I said and burst into tears.

"You can..." he said, tears were glimmering in his eyes. "Whatever our relationship is, best friends or siblings, please always remember I love you forever, forever and always..."

I looked at him and I saw how much pain was on his face.

"You...also think...we are siblings?"

He smiled bitterly. "I guess we are."

"And what if we are?" I asked and my voice cracked.

"Then," he said. "I... I have to let you go..."

"WHAT?!" I exclaimed. "Can... Can you hear yourself?!?"

"We can't do anything," he said. "It's against the law of society, it's wrong in everyone else's eyes. As much as I want to, I... I can't see you being humiliated by just anyone. I want you to be happy, even if it's not with me, even if it no longer includes me."

"What..are you saying?" I asked. "Are you...perhaps...building gap between us...?"

"If that's the term then I am."

"Don't you love me anymore?!" I asked, my voice cracked.

"You know," he said, "My 'I love you' comes with different forms. Sometimes, it's when I wake up at 4 in the morning just to walk and go to your house just to make sure you won't be late again. Sometimes, it's when I was being strict whenever I was tutoring you because I want you to be the best. Sometimes, it's when I walked you home after class just to make sure you'll be safe. Sometimes, it's when I built my fence high just for the other guys not to befriend you and later cause you heart break."

He smiled at me weakly as his tears fell to the ground.

"Sometimes, it's when I'm watching you all night as you sleep after an earthquake just happened, making sure you'll sleep safe, and most of the time it's when I hold your hand when you're scared, kiss your forehead when you feel insecure, and hug you when you're about to cry. Ironically, it also comes when I said I'm letting you go..."

I felt myself getting numb. I can't feel anything. I feel so fucking lost.

"I love you so much," he said, his voice cracked and tears fell on his cheeks. "...to the point that if leaving you will later cause you happiness, my love, I will..."

"Don't..." I said, crying. "Please..."

He shook his head. "I'm letting you go not because I want to, but because I have to."

I bit my lower lip and cried. "No, Traise...please..."

He gulped. "Now you won't understand it but someday I know you will. By that time, I want you to be happy, even if I'm not there..."

I cried again and was trying my very best to stop my heart from breaking apart.

"Can I... make a request?" he asked, smiling painfully, while tears in his eyes. "When the world forgets me, please remember me..."

I sobbed again. The pain in his eyes was enough to murder me alive.

"Can I... make a request as well?" I asked, my voice was shaky.

"S-Sure" he said, trying to flash a smile while another wave of tears were building up in his eyes.

"Can you...sing for me?" I asked.

"But—

"The one you sing to me every time I can't sleep. That Evan Lofranco rendition...please, Traise, can you?"

He was hesitant at first until he finally smiled painfully at me.

"Put your head on my shoulder,"
  he started. 
"Hold me in your arms, baby."

I felt my heart melted and my eyes ready for tears.

"Squeeze me oh-so-tight, show me," 
 he continued singing and he smiled at me. 
"Show me that you love me too..."

I felt something was piercing my heart.

"Put your lips next to mine, dear. Won't you kiss me once, baby?"

And he held my hand and pressed my hand gently.

"Just a kiss goodnight, maybe."

And his tears fell.

"You and I.... will fall in love..."

He stopped and he looked at my eyes. He then wiped off the tears on my cheeks.

"If I die tomorrow and turns into ashes, I'll be reformed in the next lifetime and I will wait for you there."

He said and he smiled at me weakly and he mouthed,

"I love you..."

The next day, I found myself inside the court room. The scenery reminded me of the last trial 8 years ago. The audience was filled with media personnel, law makers,  politicians, and even the chief justice came. The media was all over the place, seeking for a good place for coverage. Outside the building were mixtures of activists, former vice president supporters, human rights groups, and people asking for Traise's death penalty verdict. It was undeniably the main talk. In fact, news outlets were even putting it as their headline.

"Defense, are you ready?" the court clerk asked.

"I am," I said.

And I looked at the prosecution. They were composed of the Newt and Avery. Traise was sitting beside me and Tyler was nowhere to be found.

The trial started. It was a tough and heated argument.

I called Traise's aunt in the witness stand again and there, she revealed the original plan of Traise's dad; to poison his wife and obtain her insurance.

"As you heard, Your Honor," I said. "The victim aimed to commit a crime and the accused just stopped him. I rest my case."

"Prosecution, would you like to cross-examine?"

"No, Your Honor," Newt replied. "But I would like to present our evidence."

He walked in front with face as if he did nothing wrong to me at all.

"At this point, Your Honor," Newt started. "I would like to play this recording."

Few minutes later, the recorder played and it can be heard in the whole court.

"I've been telling you I'm guilty, 

ayaw

 

n'yo

 kasi 

maniwala

," 
a voice said. 
"You fought for me with just the thought of I can't commit such horrendous crime, but Courtney, I just did!"

My eyes grew bigger after hearing it. Iyon 'yong pag-uusap namin ni Traise 8 years ago! 

"OBJECTION, YOUR HONOR!" I said. "The prosecution acquired an illegal evidence they do not own!"

"Your Honor," Newt said back confidently. "The evidence was personally recorded by the current defense for the former prosecution to hear and the former prosecutor registered it under the prosecution evidence possession. Therefore, it is not illegally obtained."

Then I remembered I let Tyler hear our conversation before. Shit!

"Objection overruled, continue. "

"Thank you, Your Honor," Newt said and looked at me as if he was mocking me. "Let's continue."

So this is the real Newt. He can do well in court but he chose to be petty before!

"You're right about my mom, attorney. She stabbed my dad. But at the same time, you're wrong,"
  the voice from the recorder said. 
"She didn't kill him because I did."

Everyone gasped, even me, I did.

Newt smirked. "As you have heard, Your Honor and dear juries, the accused admitted the act. But there's still more," he said, and he played the recording again.

"Dumb detectives, dumb police, dumb law. They think he really died because of that?"

"What... do you mean?"
 I heard my voice.

"My dad didn't die because of the knife,"
 he said. 
"It was poison, attorney. I poisoned him."

Newt stopped the recording and he faced the crowd.

"The accused admitted the crime and said it was poisoning. Now let's take a look at this exhibit."

And he flashed something in the screen.

"This is the autopsy report of the victim. The cause of death was not by multiple stabs, but by poisoning. In the recording, the accused said he poisoned the victim. Therefore, his confession and the autopsy findings matched. With that as a take off point, we stand firm in saying the accused is GUILTY of all means," Newt said and smiled. "The prosecution rests."

There was a loud noise coming from satisfied spectators who were impressed by what they witnessed. I looked at Traise and I can't read his face.

This ain't right.

 I... I have to do something!

"Your Honor," I said. "I would like to summon a witness. I call the coroner in the witness stand."

My dad took the oath of affirmation.

"What are you?" I asked, feeling my heart breaking apart one more time.

"I'm the city coroner, attorney," he said.

"What does the coroner do?"

"The coroner may conduct and inquest to know someone's cause of death under his jurisdiction, attorney."

"Does the death of the victim under your jurisdiction?"

"Yes, attorney."

I gulped. I can't do this.

"It was said that there was no autopsy report at first," I hardly said. "How come it turns out that there was one? And  why it is different from a medical facility's result?"

My dad looked at my eyes deeply, as if he was seeking strength through it.

"I tampered it, attorney..."

Everyone gasped. My jaw dropped after my dad said something he should've not said. People immediately talked about him.

"You...You can take it back, sir," my voice cracked. "I... I won't acknowledge it—"

"No, attorney," he said. "I did it. I tampered the autopsy to manipulate the case."

I felt a bang in my chest

"It was revealed that the the mother of the accused's cause of death was insulin poisoning," I said while trying to get a hold of myself. "Do you admit that you hid the autopsy report from the public, a contradiction of your responsibility as a city coroner?"

"I did..."

I bit my lower lip.

Dad...

"And not just that," he said. "I tampered as well the autopsy report of the 13th president, under the threat from the former vice president."

My eyes grew bigger. I got dumbfounded.

Everyone stood up. They were all shocked to the point that even the prosecution can't open their mouth to contradict him.

"My wife was the surgeon-in-charge for the president's operation years ago," my dad started. "My wife was excited because it was a rare opportunity but at the same time, she was scared. Nevertheless, she took the job despite of her conflict with the government because of the hospital she newly opened. Hours after the operation started, the vice president went to my office and for the first time, asked me to tamper an autopsy with no one's name on it." 

My dad heaved a sigh to release the pain in his chest. 

"At first... at first I declined but he intimidated me, he used his power to made me do it, he even used my daughter to scare me. Stupidly, I tampered the autopsy. I put what he wanted me to put there. Turned out, it was an already created autopsy report of the president's death. They already created it even before the operation failed as if they were sure that the president will die..." my dad narrated but you can sense a deeply rooted anger on it.

"In my horror, the thing I did put my wife behind bars. My wife said the president died mysteriously during the operation but it wasn't a medical malpractice because she knew what she was doing. But it was too late, the autopsy they forced me to tamper says it was a medical malpractice..."

My dad bit his lower lip. Tears were forming in his eyes.

"My wife... she was sentenced to lifetime imprisonment. When the star witness of the prosecution turned her back and joined me because she regretted what she did, I filed for a new trial in which they manipulated through their power. My wife got a death penalty as a verdict, and she died with no justice, she died for something she didn't do..."

It was the first time seeing my dad in this state. It's... killing me.

"That's... a serious allegation, mister," the judge said. "Can you...prove it?"

"I can," I meddled.

Everyone looked at me. I went to the defense seat and carried a box in front.

"First," I said. "Let's play this video."

I flashed a video on the screen.

"In the video, you can see the vice president coming back and forth to the room of the accused's mom. In the last trial, it was proven that the vice president ordered her death. It was revealed by the nurse they then killed. Now, through this recording, the defense will solidify our claim that the vice president has something to do with the past and the current cases. Let's play it."

I played the recording.

"Anong ginagawa mo rito?!"
 a woman can be heard, it was Traise's mom. 
"Hindi pa ba sapat sa inyo 'yong pinagawa ninyo sa akin noon?! Ha? Pati ba naman anak ko...idadawit ninyo rito?! Mga walanghiya kayo! Ikaw, walanghiya ka!"

"Shout all you want,"
 a man's voice can be heard and it was the vice president.
"That'll be your last shout in this life. Alam mo kung bakit? Because high dosage of insulin are now in your body. Kumustahin mo nalang ako sa mga kaibigan mong doktor sa kung saan lupalop man siya napunta."

And the woman cried and the man just laughed hard.

"This evidence is not illegally acquired," I said since the prosecution can't object anymore to the things they found out. Avery and Newt were shocked too. "The accused's mom has been filming herself everyday, recording everything to help his son and when she died, all her things related to her son's case were all addressed to me."

I gulped.

"The recordings showed the vice president killed the nurse and the accused's mom who was the witness of the 13th president's operation years ago. To prove the autopsy tampering, let's... let's take a look at the screen."

No one was moving even a single nerve. An absolute silence occupied the courtroom.

Then I flashed something on the screen.

"The president's case was an open heart surgery," I introduced. "The president had been experiencing a heart disease and it caused his arteries to get blocked and narrowed, making hard for the coronary arteries to supply heart with blood that may cause the president's heart attack."

I looked at them, making sure all ears were on me.

"To access the heart, my mom, the surgeon made an 8-inch incision along the middle of the chest, passing the breastbone. Based on the report, the medical team used heart-lung bypass machine during the surgery that made the heart temporarily stopped beating and the bypass machine took over the heart's pumping action and it removed blood from the heart via tubes. The machine then removed carbon dioxide from the blood, added oxygen, and returned the blood to the body through the process "on-pump" surgery." 

I looked at the prosecution and Avery was looking at me intently, waiting for an opportunity to object. 

"However while on the process of it, the president had a cardiac arrest, which tragically caused his death," I said and faced the judge. "They said it was a  clinical malpractice. But I bet disagree. Why? Because my dad, the coroner, did a real and not a tampered autopsy."

There was a loud murmuring.

I flashed the autopsy on screen even before either New or Avery can object.

"The president didn't die because of the surgeon opening him up, but because he was injected with potassium chloride which caused a muscle damage which taken into effect during the operation."

Lumakas lalo ang mga bulungan ngunit hindi ako nagpatinag.

"At sino ang may gawa?" I asked and flashed a video on the screen. I looked at Traise who was looking at me emotionally. "It was the accused's mom..."

Then the video played. It was a video of Traise's mom admitting the crime while crying hard.

"As shown in the video, the accused's mom, who was the head nurse of the operation, did the crime under the threat from the vice president. She first testified against the surgeon because she was threatened by the vice president again that he will expose her if she won't."

I felt anger in me.

"But why would the vice president do that?" I asked. "Let's hear my final recording."

And it played.

"You know what,"
  the vice president said while we were in the query room. 
"The president is probably alive 'til now if he wasn't a son of a bitch. Imagine, he'll proclaim a revolutionary government right after he recovered from the operation to arrest me and my allies?  All because he found out we planned to throw him out of the government with a destabilizing blueprint! Kaya inunahan ko na. Malas n'ya."

And I faced the crowd. "It was because of power. Many lives were wasted just because of his greed in power. With this, I therefore suspend the bail of the vice president and all inclined in the 13th president's case. That means they are not allowed to go outside the prison for the meantime." 

I looked at the former vice president who was sitting with the crowd. Everyone was looking at him and flashes of cameras were blinding us. I smirked as he met my eyes.

"You destroyed my parents, now I will destroy you," I murmured.

"Objection, Your Honor!"

I suddenly looked at the owner of the voice. It was Avery.

"The defense is overlapping a case not related to the case we have now."

"Objection sustained," the judge approved.

My eyes grew bigger

WHAT????

"I request to take over, Your Honor," Avery requested

"I bet to—" I objected.

"Request granted."

WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?????

She met me halfway and looked at me with disgust.

"Stop overlapping cases, you'll lose."

I looked at her again, confused with her sudden concern.

"Your Honor," Avery started. "I would like to summon the accused in the witness stand."

Ano bang pina-plano niya?!

Traise took the oath of affirmation.

"I won't ask questions," Avery said. "I just wanna hear you narrating what happened that night. Can you?"

"I can," Traise said.

"Go on."

And he narrated it.

"So it means you do not know whether your dad ate the pinakbet where you put the aconite poison?"

"Yes. I put it there but I wished my dad didn't take it. My dad asked me to get some water in the fridge and that was the time I don't know whether he tasted it or not."

"But he died and the aconite was found in the autopsy. Do you admit the crime, then?"

There was silence. His eyes wandered. When he met my eyes, he smiled at me weakly.

"I do..."

Loud noise.

I closed my eyes hardly, remembering what he said.

 "If pleading guilty means protecting you, I will."

Now he did. Since he did, the case's over.

"With the testimony from the accused," Avery said. "The case is now closed."

"I BET TO DISAGREE, YOUR HONOR."

We looked at the door that opened and it rendered more murmuring. In a flash, Tyler Scott came in with his formal suite, looking so professional.

WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING???

"The accused is just pressured and confused," he said.

"He admits the crime, Your Honor," Avery argued.

"And I'm here to prove the case is wrong," he said. "Your honor, I request to take over."

"Your honor, I disagree—"

"Why?" Tyler halted Avery. "Are you afraid of facts?"

"I am not," Avery said fiercely.

"Then let me," Tyler smiled at her mischievously.

"Request granted," the judge proclaimed.

Avery and Tyler exchanged few seconds of deadly glare before Avery finally sat back. Tyler then faced the crowd.

"A case can only be classified as parricide if someone killed a relative. But did the accused really kill his dad?"

He smiled.

"Or it was his mom?"

WHAT???????!

Everyone was gossiping.

He flashed something on the screen.

"The autopsy shows the victim died because of aconite poisoning. However, let's take a look at this exhibit."

He flashed a photo of gloves on the screen.

"The accused's mom used gloves because of her skin condition and the thing is, the gloves contained samples of aconite on each surface. Which means, the accused's mom may, or may not, be the one who poisoned the victim."

He flashed another photo on the screen.

"The accused said what he put in the pinakbet was the trunk part of the aconite. But I'm afraid," Tyler said. "We found a petal, not a trunk, in the wine the victim drunk. The autopsy showed that the poison wasn't in the food he congested, but in a fluid he drunk. It confirms that the accused's mom did the crime and the accused is innocent. The case should be attempted murder but since the prosecution filed that against him already, they cannot lower the verdict back to that because that'll be a double jeopardy, which is against the law."

He smirked.

"In case of parricide, it cannot be parricide because it was proven that the accused and the victim are not blood related."

"But parricide applies with step dad," Avery finally argued.

"You're right," Tyler said. "But do you know what I found out?"

He flashed another thing on the screen.

"It's the newly acquired birth certificate of the accused. His father, the victim, deleted his name as his father 2 days before the crime happened, which means the accused and the victim are no longer blood related or paper related which makes the parricide and murder now invalid."

He smirked.

"Checkmate."

People were all shocked. Some of them even stood up with the sudden revelation.

"And to prove that the accused and the victim are not blood related, let's take a look at the screen."

And he flashed something.

"It's the DNA test conducted years ago when the accused was 4 years of age," he said. "I got it from the 13th president's documents."

WAIT.

DID HE JUST SAY PRESIDENT???

"Yes," he said, "He's the son of the 13th president. And I am too."

And he faced the crowd.

"My brother is innocent," he smiled, "I rest my case."

Minutes later, the judge took a break and after it will be the verdict. Traise refused to talk with anyone and let himself to be accompanied by the police. On the other hand, I was sitting  in front of Tyler after s'ya dumugin ng media dahil sa mga sinabi niya. Gaya na lamang na anak siya ng dating presidente na hindi lingid sa kaalaman ng publiko.  

"How did that...happen?" I asked.

"Well," he said. "Traise's mom was a personal nurse of my dad and he asked her to join the operation team for his security but turned out she poisoned him. Tragic, isn't it?"

He faked a smile.

"She changed her mind after sacrifising her job to help your dad to win the 2nd case. In return, your dad gave her a job and sponsored her son's education," he added.

"Since when did you know that?" I asked.

"Remember when I dropped the case from murder to attempted murder sa first case? That was part of my plan to checkmate them and now I just did. I found out we were brothers when I visited his mom and acquired the recording I sent to you before."

"You're too clever, aren't you?" I said.

"He's more clever than me," he said. "But when it comes to being a good looking, I'm the winner."

We laughed. Few seconds later, an awkward atmosphere kicked in. We turned serious and looked at my eyes.

"You know," he said. "I faked everything. Literally everything. But all the things I did and said to you were the only real ones. I felt numb for years, but Courtney, you made me feel things..."

I opened my mouth but nothing came out.

"HI? CAN I MEDDLE IN THIS MOMENT WITH ALL DUE RESPECT?"

We both looked at the owner of the voice. It was Avery.

"I'm gonna make it quick," she said. "The good news is my petition to repel the death penalty got approved and it'll be on reading next week."

"You mean OUR petition?" Tyler corrected.

"Wait, magkakampi kayo?!" tanong ko.

"Only with death penalty because we both hate it," Avery said. "So it means whether Traise or your dad found guilty, they have the chance not to receive a death penalty. But the bad news is, you'll lose your mom's case."

My eyes grew bigger.

"Why?!" I exclaimed.

She turned dead serious.

"The statue of limitations..."

An hour later, I found people were cheering. Some were disappointed but there were more cheering noise after the verdict were proclaimed. As what we have predicted, my mom's case was dismissed because of statue of limitations which is the span of years you can file a charge and if you exceed and filed too late, the case will be invalid. It means the people involved were freed, despite of them conspiring for such crime, because that's the law and that's what the law says...

On the other note, half of me felt happy but the other half just died. My dad and Traise received their verdicts. One found guilty, while the other one did not.

My tears fell.

I caught Tyler looking at me and he had tears in his eyes too.

He smiled so weak and just like in my dream, he uttered the final words.

"Game over..."

~~~~ 

"Scalpel," a man who seemed like the lead surgeon commanded. He later then opened up the patient.

"Retractor," he commanded.

The nurse gave her one.

"Bovie."

And then a blood spitted in the air.

"Shit!" the doctor said. "Irrigation," he commanded.

He tried to handle the sudden commotion.

"Suction," he said. "Cut."

His eyes started to feel comfortable after he was able to manage it.

"Suture," he finally instructed.

They assisted him.

"Saturation," he followed and looked at his co-doctors. "Is the patient stable?"

"The vitals went back to stable," the anesthesiologist said.

I sighed as I turned off the television. 

Bakit ba ang daming medical shows sa TV lately?

I looked at the ceiling one more time when finally, I heard someone hitting the door bell impatiently.

"HONEYYYYY, I'M HOMEEEEEEEE!" it shouted.

Look at this guys being so much of a nuisance again. I opened the door.

"Ba't ngayon ka lang?!" I asked.

He smiled. "Do you miss me that much?" 

With a wide grin, he went in.

"I told you your curfew is 11 pm, it's almost 1 am now!" I said.

He laughed. "Why does my wife sound so cute?" 

He took his coat and placed it on the table.\

"Tyler, hindi ako nakikipag biruan!" naiinis kong sabi.

He looked at me. "Can you not be angry at me? Your husband is a lawyer, what can I do about it?"

"Well we are all lawyers here!" I said. "AND CAN YOU STOP CALLING ME HONEY OR YOUR WIFE, FOR PETE'S SAKE TYLER, YOU'RE DISGUSTING!"

He laughed. "Sorry na. Your dad told me when will I marry you daw kasi parang wala pa raw balak si Traise. Gusto na raw niya ng apo." 

Napangiwi ako.

"Your dad seems enjoying his new friends in prison," he added.

"Okay lang ba siya?" I asked. My dad received 20 years of imprisonment

"He is," Tyler said at binuksan ang ilang butones ng polo niya.

I sighed.

"You guys are disgusting," said by the woman who was walking downstairs while eating chips.

 It was Avery. We decided to team up and establish our own office but turned out we live here due to overloaded cases we handle.

"In case you get married you create a disgusting duo. The daughter of an evidence tamperer and the son of a fuck boy. I don't know anymore!"

"What?!" I exclaimed. "Coming from the daughter of a thief?"

"Did you just call my dad a fuck boy, huh, almighty Avery Heimsworth?"

"Yes, I did, Tyler Scott!"

"It is pronounce as Tyler Skat, not Tyler Skot, you uncultured swine. Did you even attend your english class?"

"Well I did but did your dad attend his values class? Imagine impregnating your personal nurse and another woman when you have a wife!"

"Well that's none of your business!"

"Well, it is no wonder why you are like that!"

"What do you mean 'like that'?!"

They argued. People may think that it was alarming, but honestly, it's our daily routine.

In my surprise, I received a text.

"Nasa kanto ako."

My eyes grew bigger.

"Okay guys I'm out," I said and  immediately get my jacket on top of my study table. With ease trying my best not to make any noise, I sneaked out.

Soon as I closed the gate, I replied,

 'On my way.'

In a blink, the cold wind touched my skin. I shivered as I put my hands inside the pockets of my jacket, seeking for a familiar warmth.

Within few steps, I saw a familiar figure standing in the corner of the street. From there, I noticed that the orange light coming from the nearby light post was the only light guiding him away from the night's total darkness.

I suddenly smiled.

It seems so familiar...

"Long time no see, Doctor Traise Stevens!"

He laughed when he saw me. "What's with the sudden full name calling, Attorney Courtney Spencer? And mind you, I'm not a doctor yet. I'm just in my internship."

"Ganun na rin 'yun" I said while scanning his face.

He was wearing his white doctor coat with white polo inside and he was also wearing his fitted black slacks. Suot rin niya ang bilog niyang salamin at naka-brush up ang itim na itim niyang buhok. Namumungay na ang mga mata niya dahil sa pagod pero napaka-guwapo pa rin niya sa paningin ko.

"You are still wearing your coat," I said. "I guess babalik ka pa r'un?"

He nodded. "Break time ko. I went here just to see you."

He stared at me.

"Why are you staring?" I asked, smiling.

"Why, can't I? Am I not allowed to stare at the woman I own?"

I looked at him. Just then, I noticed there was something wrong with his smile. He seemed uneasy, like years ago when he went to me at this hour when his father died...

"Is there... something you wanna say to me?" I asked.

"None," he said. "I just wanna see you."

Why does everything feels weird...

Bago pa man ako makapag-isip, my phone beeped and I received a text from Tyler.

"A patient died in the hospital my brother works as an intern. Call him, I can't reach him!"

My eyes grew bigger. Traise looked at me and he smiled weakly.

"Defend Me, Attorney..."

I felt my heart pounding so hard.

"What...did you do?" I asked.

Before he can even answer, I heard police mobile cars coming towards us and there were plenty of them.

"Traise..." I said. "Tell me what did you do!"

He smiled weakly. "Will you surrender me or will you run away with me?"

"TELL ME FIRST WHAT HAPPENED!" I exclaimedm "I promise, I will defend you..."

"Courtney, it's too late," and before I could move, police mobile cars surrounded us.

"No," I said. "I'm not giving you in! Run! Run!" 

"I'm not going anywhere," he said, "If loving you is a crime, then convict me, attorney..."

Confusion aroused in my eyes. "What?!"

And in my horror, the police car opened and everyone was composed of our friends and relatives.

I saw Tyler and Avery from the gate and they were watching.

"That looks so disgusting!" Avery shouted.

WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?!

"Courtney..."

I looked back at Traise

"I know you are confused right now but hear me out. I love you and I don't wanna lose you ever again. I know I'm not as professional and successful as you yet but I know I can take care of you for the rest of my life," he said while looking at my eyes deeply while his eyes started to become teary.

"I won't be asking you to defend or convict me anymore because right of this moment, in front of everyone close to us, and even with the billions of stars above and the moon along with the celestials as our guardians, I am officially asking for your heart to be mine and be as one, with mine, always."

He looked in my intently and he turned serious.

"They say forever doesn't exist, but my love, we will create own..."

And he opened a small box and everyone giggled.

"Marry me, Attorney..."

THE END.

# SPECIAL CHAPTER 

AVERY.

"Courtney! Courtney!"

Slowly, she looked back at me.

"WHAT?!" she asked but in a whispering voice.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked with my heart pounding hard inside. "What if someone recognizes us?"

"What if they don't?" she asked back while whispering still. "Just step back if you don't want to follow me!"

I watched her walking slowly and she carefully blended with the crowd of busy people in the emergency room of the hospital where Traise works. 

We were in an emergency room. Courtney and Traise barely saw each other since Traise was on his final year of general surgery residency and Courtney's acting all tough about it but she was missing him so bad and now a petty idea came to her mind. 

She's faking her tummy aching just to be admitted in the emergency room  to see Traise often. She's really a pain in the ass.

I shook my head. 

Slowly, I followed her.

"Where to?" I asked her.

"I don't know," she said. "I guess we just have to wait."

"WHAT?!" I exclaimed. "I have jobs to do—"

"HE'S HERE!"

With that, we suddenly hid ourselves beside a hospital bed, with an old man sleeping on it. We were squatting just to hide ourselves from anybody's eyes while carefully peeking to see a trace of Traise.

"What are we gonna do now?" I asked.

"We'll watch him," she said. "Until—oh shit!"

In no time, we saw a woman approached Traise.

"Who is she to touch him?!" Courtney asked in fury. 

"Nothing's wrong with that," I said, "Besides she's not even touching him more than once—oh, now she did..."

When I looked at Courtney, she was furious.

"That bitch deserves a beating!"

"No, Courtney, no!" I halted her.

"Just one big punch will do!" she said, determination in her eyes.

"Courtney, stop it!" I said. "We are in a hospital!"

"I KNOW!"

"DON'T SHOUT!"

"I CAN'T HELP IT!"

"I SAID JUST DON'T SHOUT!"

"YOU ARE SHOUTING TOO!"

"BECAUSE YOU ARE SHOUTING!"

Suddenly, our voice echoed. Silence filled the whole place and everyone looked at us.

As we looked at Traise, he was looking at us too.

"Oh no," I said. "We're dead!"

"Hide!" Courtney said, panicking. We were squatting like an idiot still. "I SAID HIDE!"

"Where to hide?!" I panickingly asked. "There's nothing to hide to!"

"Just fucking hide!" Courtney whispered, panicking too.

As I looked at Traise, I panicked more.

"He's coming! He's coming!" I whispered to her.

"Shit!" Courtney whispered back. "I want to disappear!"

3....

He was coming nearer.

2....

We hear his footsteps.

1....

Bahala na!

In a flash, we found ourselves lying, facing the floor.

"Bakit ka dumapa?!" I asked.

"Kasi dumapa ka!" she insisted.

"Wait," I said. "The footsteps are gone."

"Look," Courtney commanded.

"No," I argued. "You look!"

"Why would I?" she asked.

"You planned this!"

"Let's do this together!"

"No!" I insisted. "Just you!"

"Wait!" Courtney said, looking at me.

"Why?" I asked, and she pointed at something.

When we looked at it, it's the other side of the bed, and there was a pair of feet standing there

As we traced the owner of it and as we looked up, I got shocked and partially scared when we saw who it was. 

He was looking at us with his usual cold eyes.

"Oh, Hi Traise!" I said, shocked, trying to act normal. "You look cool," I added while forcing a smile awkwardly.

"What...are you doing there?" Traise asked emotionless.

"N-Nothing," I said as I tapped Courtney since she was still facing the floor, covering her face. "J-Just testing the ground...maybe... haha?" I said and faked a laugh.

But Traise seemed unconvinced.

"W-Well y-you see, uh, Courtney's tummy aches so... uh, we went here..."

Courtney then stopped covering her face and looked at me. 

"Am I supposed to act that I'm in pain?" she whispered at me.

"Of course, dumb bitch!" I whispered back.

When she looked up and met Traise's eyes, she smiled awkwardly and touched her tummy.

"A-Aray...?"

The next thing I knew, I was inside my car, going home.

Courtney was left alone in the emergency room as Traise said they'll talk.

"What a pitiful couple," I murmured.

When suddenly, I received a text from my brother that made me stop my car in a corner, with shocked face and pounding heart. 

"DAD HAS A PLUNDER CASE! HE'LL BE ARRESTED TONIGHT!" 

Minutes later, I saw myself outside a condominium unit. I have been just looking at the door, contemplating whether to do it or not. But with enough bravery gathered, I hit the door bell multiple times until it finally opened. 

What I saw was a tall white man with eyes who seemed aroused yet sleepy, his dark hair was somehow messy, his lips were kinda wet, his cheeks and neck were kinda reddish pink, same with his manly chest, with sweat on his body, down to the gap of his abs. 

He was wearing nothing in his body aside from his black boxers who seems so tight, making a visible bulge anyone would definitely notice. 

"What do you think you're looking at?" his deep masculine yet sort of husky voice asked.

I rerouted my gaze at his face, meeting his eyes.

"At a piece of shit," I answered. 

It was like a slap to him. Shocked with my sudden sassy behavior, he was about to say something only to get halted when I trespassed his unit. 

I cringed when I saw how messy his bed was. 

"You call it a unit?!" I asked. 

Just then, I noticed a woman's undergarment on the floor. He immediately hid it. 

"What do you want?" he asked.

I went to the comfort room, and doir was locked.

I smirked. 

I knocked on it. 

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" the man exclaimed.

"Don't worry, girl," I said to the woman inside the CR, "I won't take long. Hide there for few minutes." 

"Are you out of your mind?" the man said, and I looked at him.

"Tyler, Tyler, Tyler," I said. "The son of the fuckboy just became a fuckboy himself," I said, sounding as if I pitied him. 

I opened my bag and threw a condom on his face.

"In case you need," I said. "See, I'm a good friend!"

"I'm not a fan of condom," he said. "What do you want, Avery?" 

I sat on his bed, and I smirked.

"You, Tyler, what do you want?"

He gulped.

"I...I don't—"

"Don't stutter," I said "I'm not just a legend in court, but in literally anything."

I smiled at him, giving him a seducing look.

I stood up and put my finger on his chest, tracing and going down to his tummy, he steppes back, and later he got pinned on the wall.

He gulped again. 

"Wanna try me?" I asked.

"I... I don't know what you're up to I—"

"Tyler," I said, looking at his lips, and went back to his eyes. "Wanna mess with me?" 

"Avery," he said. "Just go straight to the point what—"

"You're the prosecutor of my dad's case, aren't you?" 

His face turned serious when he noticed my expression changed.

"I saw a probable cause, and it's my job to—"

"To what?" I asked. "To ruin his life?" 

And I walked again, sitting back on the edge of his bed.

"Tyler, I have some good news for you," I said. "I took the defense job. You'll be facing me in court." 

"Oh," he said, as if he wasn't expecting it. "Then see you in court, Defense Avery Heimsworth."

"See you, Prosecutor Tyler Scott," I said and I stood up, I looked at his eyes.

"The war between the game creator and game manipulator starts now, I must say," he said, smirking.

"Yes," I said, and my expression turned dead serious. "But I must warn you. When I'm in court, I take things seriously. I chew people alive."

He smiled, whether he was intimidated or impressed, I can't think which.

I twisted a smile as well, a smile that all of my other opponents in court were afraid of. I then looked deeply in his eyes, I inched our gap, my lips on his ears, and while my finger was playing on his chest, with a flirty yet full of warning voice, I whispered,

"I'll ruin you..."

# FUN FACTS (7/23/2020)

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT! 

Since a lot of you guys are asking, here we go! 

1. 

Defend Me, Attorney (DMA)

 was 
originally
 a one shot story. It stayed that way for few hours not until my readers kept on flooding my messages asking for a part two. Instead of giving them a part two, I gave them a novel instead. 

2. 
Defend Me, Attorney (DMA
) initially has 
NO TITLE.

Can you imagine a novel that has literally no title? Well, imagine no more because 
DMA 
started that way! Before publishing my works on Wattpad, I was a writer on Facebook first. Since 2019, I was known as the writer who writes stories with no title at all. It was not until I reached the Part Four and the phrase from Part Two trended on Facebook and became its title. 

Yes. It's Traise's line.

The, 

"Defend Me, Attorney."

3. Can you imagine a novel characters that have no name at all? Again, imagine no more because DMA, again, started that way! 

One of the reasons why Defend Me, Attorney invaded the Twitter's trending list upon the release of its finale was because the names of the characters were only revealed at the finale. That's why in the last part where the 'daughter of an evidence tamperer', 'son of a fuckboy', and the 'daughter of a thief' argued, they used the full name of the characters in the dialogue. 

So wattpad readers, you guys are lucky because I used their names since the first part.

4. So if in the first version the characters have no names, how did we first call them? 

Traise
- detainee/friend 

Courtney
- attorney 

Tyler
- prosecutor 

Avery
- new prosecutor/classmate 

Newt
- public defender

5. AVERY WAS ORIGINALLY AN EXTRA! 

Yes. The most loved character for being sassy had no crucial role at first. In fact, her only role in the story was supposed to show that the case completely tarnished Traise's reputation in school, thus her scene with Courtney in Part Two.

6. 

"

I longed for you, attorney.

I missed you, attorney.

I love you, attorney."

Who would forget these lines from the 

THE GAME CHANGER

 chapter?

But, did you know that these lines are the original ending of DMA? Yes. DMA was supposed to end after the trial that eventually convicted Traise. It was meant to be an open ending. 

7. As DMA ends with an open ending, my readers asked for some more but my idea of DMA novel literally reached its limit. Despite of my readers flooding every threads asking a petition for a Season 2, I didn't grant them.

Not until I was looking at the ceiling of my room, and ideas flooded my mind.

And of course, that gave our Avery an opportunity to be part of the story! 

8. 

HANAHAKI DISEASE

 (my 4-part story, check it out,) is in the same world as DMA. In fact, Avery was a professor there and Traise was the doctor of the story's female lead. 

9. Avery and Tyler will have a law-political-mystery-thriller- romance story entitled, "The Game's Blueprint."

UPDATE: The sequel is out now with the title, "Convict Me, Attorney"! Yes, I changed the title hahaha go check it out guys snd give it lots of love ❤

And last but not the least, 

10. Ipon na!

So, ayun. I hope these fun facts entertained you guys. 

Thanks for being part of the overly chaotic world of Traise, Courtney, Tyler, and Avery (sama pa ba natin si Newt?)

No goodbyes, 'til next time.

# THE SEQUEL

Nabitin?

SAY NO MORE!

Defend Me, Attorney's sequel entitled, "Convict Me, Attorney," is officially available on Wattpad now! 

Go check it out and give it lots of love. ❤

# ANNOUNCEMENT

![](https://img.wattpad.com/662ee9fa3f9b52c6c649f64aa7fe1de53750cee1/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f6d4e58525f7842415730726d37413d3d2d3239342e313661333564633432303263353331323239323034383035393837332e6a7067)

Defend Me, Attorney Official Poster

credits to fernart

In collaboration with Fernart, I am delighted to announce that 

Defend Me, Attorney

, the first installment of Law Series, will be adapted into a WEBTOON! 

Yes! Our first love in Law Series stepped up the game. Kung dati, nababasa n'yo lang sila by text, ngayon ay illustrated na!

Ang tagal namin itong pinaghandaan kaya sana gaya ng suporta ninyo kila Traise, Courtney, Tyler, Avery and Newt dito sa Wattpad ay ganoon din ang suportang ibibigay ninyo sa kanila sa Webtoon adaptation. Salamat sa pagmamahal, you made this possible. 

For now, pwede ninyong panuorin ang video trailer ng Defend Me, Attorney Webtoon sa facebook page ni fernart.

Link: https://www.facebook.com/fernart17

Pwede n'yo na ring basahin ang introduction ng characters sa Webtoon. Don't forget to rate and like the introduction. Pwede rin kayong mag-comment roon. Subscribe to Fernart17 on Webtoon as well!

DMA Webtoon Link: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/defend-me-attorney/list?title_no=638406

Join our twitter party too starting 6PM of September 10th by using our hashtag, 

#

DefendMeAttorneyWEBTOON

, 

and let us hear your thoughts. 

![](https://img.wattpad.com/ede51a5db4cda2bd2b1b50610029a5060ccb057d/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f6c4d52676d69463979616d6978513d3d2d3239342e313661333566313939373936666465663733363135313338303430342e6a7067)

The Game Destroyer.
The Game Changer.
The Jack of All Trades.
The Game Creator.
... and The Third Wheel.

Defend Me, Attorney Webtoon.

January, 2022.

C O M I N G  S O O N.

# DMA REPRINT! 

![](https://img.wattpad.com/280098e583b6cba3648ef4c6f44436786e6ebbff/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f514a5969675a757263524e7656413d3d2d3330372e313661616264633662376433323463643233393436303830313434312e6a7067)

"If pleading guilty means protecting you, I will..." 

Traise and Courtney are back! My first published book is back! Yup. May reprint na po ang DEFEND ME, ATTORNEY (Law Series #1)! 

ORIGINAL PRICE:
 ₱ 249.00 

20 PER CENT DISCOUNT FROM OCT 4-11:
 ₱199.00

ADVANCED SELLING:
 OCT 4 - NOV. 3

Available din siya for CASH ON DELIVERY and SHOPEE CHECKOUT! (https://shopee.ph/product/44262184/12421502102?smtt=0.478350285-1633325358.9)

Limited lang po ba?
-Limited in a sense na kung ilan lang ang orders, ayun lang din ang number of copies na i-p-print ni PHR/LIB. Kapag na-out of stock, not sure kung mag-r-restock ulit like Try Not To Cry Challenge.

Same Size lang po ba sila ng premium copy?
-Yes!

Shop safely, unveilers!