Page 118 of Surprise! I'm Engaged To My Boss
“Silence!” The judge's shout made everyone fall silent and look at him. Then, he pointed at Camila and ordered the security guard. “Let the girl say what she came to say. And all of you go back to your seats.”
The guard nodded and left the room again. Taking Alice with me, I returned to my seat next to Janet. The Harrises protested a little more, but eventually they too complied and sat back down.
Camila remained standing and turned to face the judge.
She took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she had to say.
Chapter fifty-five
CAMILA
“I met Michael on the day of the company party,” I began, exposing our own lie. “Yes, I know that the story we maintain is that we were already engaged at that time, but the truth is that I had never met my boss in person until that night. I'm not a drinker, but that day I was really upset and stopped for a while at the bar at the party. Michael came over and kept me company, without at any time hitting on me or being disrespectful or anything like that. But someone slipped drugs into our drinks, and we ended up completely losing all sense of consciousness. The same person who drugged us reserved a room for the two of us and showed us the way there. Well, we did exchange a few kisses on the way there, but we fell asleep as soon as we got to the room.”
“You have no proof of that,” the Harrises lawyer said.
Well... what a thing... we were the ones who didn’t have proof?
I looked at Janet and she took action, taking a printed sheet of paper out of a folder and handing it to the judge, while explaining, “I got this proof of the reservation from the hotel. It was made and paid for by Julian Green, who was working there at the time but coincidentally resigned the next day.”
The judge looked at the paper and Caleb replied, “That doesn't prove anything. Someone else made the reservation for them, probably at the behest of Michael Turner himself. And it also doesn't prove that this same man put anything in their drinks.”
Ignoring him, I continued, “An important detail worth highlighting, Your Honor, is that Julian Green left his job at the hotel and returned to his hometown, Denver. By sheer coincidence, the city is in the state of Colorado, the same state as the city of Aspen, where Alice was kidnapped.”
“One more thing that proves nothing,” Caleb countered.
“If you want proof, I brought the proof.”
I walked to the door and opened it, signaling for someone to come in. Julian was already waiting in the hallway and, a little scared, entered the room. I couldn't help but smile when I saw the expression of despair on Caleb and Margaret's faces when they recognized him.
Julian was a little nervous when he walked in, possibly afraid that Caleb might try to retaliate againsthim. However, I spent hours of our endless drive assuring him that we would give him all the support and assistance he needed, including legal assistance, so that he would not go to jail for the crimes he had committed.
He recounted in detail everything he had done. Margaret and Caleb tried to interrupt him numerous times, claiming that it was all a lie, but the judge told them to keep quiet on each occasion.
At the end of his statement, everyone in the room was stunned and there was almost a full minute of silence as the judge leafed through the pages of the case file while appearing to reflect on everything he had just heard.
Finally, he raised his face again and ran his eyes slowly over each of the people there, stopping for a longer time on Michael and Alice who was on his lap.
Finally came his ruling, “The decision is postponed until the serious allegations that have just been received can be investigated. Until then, custody of the minor Alice will remain provisionally with her father, Mr. Michael Turner, with the right to weekly monitored visits from her grandparents Margareth and Caleb Harris. The hearing is closed.”
Again, just as it had when I arrived, the room erupted with voices, screams, and mixed reactions. Janet cheered with joy, the Harrises protested as their attorney tried to calm them down. Michael's mother and brothers burst into the room, followed by security.
Michael stood up and I went to him, hugging him and Alice at the same time.
“She’s going to stay with you!” I exclaimed. It was as if, the moment I hugged them, all the chaos around us simply didn’t exist and it was just the three of us.
It didn't matter that the decision was only provisional at first. We now had the evidence we needed to prove the Harrises' bad character.
He pulled away a little, looking me in the eyes.
“She's going to stay with us. With both of us.”
“Oh, really? And what happened to that talk about how both she and I would be better off without you? Honestly, I should steal Alice for myself and raise her alone, it's what you deserve.”
“I'm sorry, Cami. I was really so confused by all this, so dazed... All I want is for you to be happy.”
“I'm happy when I'm with you,” I declared.
And amidst the confusion around us and the judge's shouts for silence, Michael and I kissed. A quick kiss, but deep and completely passionate.
