Secret texting M.R

67

"Mr Smith, tell me about your move to America." My hands are shaking, and I feel like throwing up and seeing that man walk up to the stage thing. I shouldn't be here; I should be at home. With my friends, and have fun. Now we are all here, anxious over the outcome. Mattheos hands drop over mine, and I meet his eyes, seeing his smile. Sophie is right next to him with Draco, and I have Theo and our parents next to me. Everyone is nervous, and I feel like I have lost control of my life.

"I lost my wife, sir. Back then, she was my everything. I wasn't myself back then, and the last thing I wanted to do was to hurt my daughter. She was the only thing I had left."

"So you left her without a parent?" I almost want to smile as the judge asks him that. I know they will treat me the same way with questions, but it's the exact question I would ask that man.

"She deserved someone who would take care of her. Someone who could look over her until I came back." My father looks back at me, and I freeze in my seat, seeing his eyes. I hate him; nothing could make me like him after all these years.

"I know you have found and made a new family. One wife and three daughters. Is that correct?" My father only nods, and I shake my head.

"And are their names Samantha, Grace, Marjorie and Selena Smith?" Once again, my father nods.

"Your honour, if you dont mind. I have a question for the man in question." My mother, Theo's mother, stands up, and I look at her, confused.

"Mrs Nott, we will have a question section later."

"I know, your honour. But would you let me ask this one question?" The judge sighs before giving her the green light.

"You left Gracie when she was around seven. Back then, she had no one besides us. Marjorie had just died; she was heartbroken. You are saying that you left her until you could come back? Then sir, please tell me why you could go and start a new family with three new girls. Was it okay for them to suffer from the person you wanted to hide Gracie from? And was that why you named them after your daughter and dead wife?"

"Mrs Nott, thank you. I have to ask you to sit down." She looks over at me, smiling a little before sitting down. My heart is beating fast, and I feel so thankful for the woman who took me in when I had no one. I know she misses my mother, too; they were best friends. But she didn't have to take me in, yet she did. And they love me like im their own daughter.

"Mr Smith, are you aware that the Notts took your daughter in?" Theo grabs my hand, smiling at me.

"I am aware, sir, thank you." Jerk.

"And did you intend to go back to London to take Gracie back?"

"Yes, sir, I am here now for that very reason."

"Dickshit," Mattheo mumbles, and I smile a little.

"Miss Smith-Nott, could we please have you up here with us?" My knees begin to shake. They never told him to return to his seat, which meant I would have to sit with him. I stand up, feeling my body shake as I pass everyone on the court and walk up to the judge.

"Miss Smith-"

"Please just call me Nott. I have left that name behind me." He sighs a little before nodding.

"Miss Nott, how did you feel when your father left?" The flashbacks of that day make me want to throw up.

"I felt like a failure, to be honest. No note, no goodbye. I thought he was coming back...Until I didn't." I feel my maker's eyes on me, and I only focus on the judge.

"Did you wish he would come back?" There is silence in the room, and I suck in my lip.

"No..." People began to whisper.

"No?"

"No...He wasn't the same guy I used to know. And I needed comfort after losing my mother. The only people who could give me that were the Notts. They love me more than he ever could."

"And would you ever take him back?" I look over the room seeing his family sitting and staring at me. One girl looks awfully much like me; she has tears in her eyes. Thats her... Selena. She shakes her head, only for me to see, and I gulp. She told me the truth.

"Your honour, can I please ask you something?"

"Go on."

"You know his story about being scared he would hurt me. But yet he made a new family at that time? Did you know he had an affair with this woman? If he was scared to hurt me, wouldn't he hurt them too?" Gasps from the audience fill the room, and my father stares at me with angry eyes.

"I would never do that to them-"

"Miss Nott, why would you ask something like that?" My eyes fall back to the family, who stare at me with fear. Selena nods a little, forcing a smile, and I feel my heart drop. She didn't lie. She wanted me to help them. The mother looks scared, playing with her fingers.

"His daughter texted me. She begged me to help them. They are hurt and in danger, sir." People begin to whisper, and I sigh. The judge turns to his colleagues.

"Do you have proof?" I nod, grabbing my phone before handing it to them. They looked through it, and I began to panic. If this goes wrong, I can lose everything and risk putting a whole family in danger.

"Thank you... Well, we have stuff to go through here. Mr Smith is the biological father to Miss Nott and therefore has the right to be her guardian until she's not a minor anymore. Because of the new information Miss Nott brought up, we will have to look closer at this." I feel the nerves take over my body. I did the right thing; I know I did. There is nothing else I can do. I look back at my friends; they're smiling. They are proud of me, even if they wanted me to let go of that case.

For minutes I sit in the chair, feeling the man's eyes on me, and for the tenth time, I decide to look up. He inspects me, looking sad and mad at the same time. He can lose everything today. But he is also here to take everything away from me. I stare at him momentarily, not seeing a father or anything. I dont see a single thing about myself in him. He is a stranger. He looks away, and a part of me feels proud; I won.

**
"Silence in the room, please." Everything stops for a second as the judge takes his place.

"We have been looking through the case and the legal book. And we have decided that until we have more proof of what Miss Nott brought up. That case will have to be frozen until we can look through it. But we have found a solution for the case we are here for today. With the law in my hands, I have made the decision with the lords and the laws words to.."

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HI BIS-My loves
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