AFFECTION

TWENTY

Erica was only there on Hope's request.

David's eyes met with Eric's for a brief moment before he looked away.

Soon, Jefferson entered with his team and sat beside David as he was representing him. His eyes briefly met Eric's who only gave him a glare daring him to let anything go wrong.

Mr. Carter with his legal team was representing Eric. The realisation alone made David stiff. He knew the man was ruthless in his approach, and it bothered David to a real extent.

Since Jefferson was the opposing party, he was the first one to represent his side and elaborate the case before the judge.

"...Your honour! My client Mr. Wellington and his wife Mrs. Wellington are very much eligible to gain the complete custody over their child. He has been in a very bad place after the death of his first wife, and that is completely understandable. Mr. Ashton, though a good Godfather assumed it as the opportunity to make Oliver Wellington his son legally. And this is wrong on all fronts. Thus, I demand you to intervene and nullify Mr. Ashton's will and also grant Mr. Wellington the complete custody of his son."

David chewed the inside of his lips in nervousness and his legs vibrated at their place. Hope, on noticing this placed a hand on his leg, silently asking him to calm down. When he saw her hand near his knee, he couldn't help but grab hold of it. The hand has been calming him alot recently. He held it tight intervening her fingers with his, and then kept it close to his fastened heart.

Carter stood up to keep his side, but like his unpredictable moves, he asked one thing at the end of his introductory monologue, "....the subject here in this case is a child, who has already lived one year and two months of life with Mr. Ashton. But it is sad that he cannot still speak well enough to say how different he was treated by his biological father and by his god father. But, I would like my client Mr. Eric Ashton to narrate how we exactly came here."

Eric gritted his teeth. He had paid a million euros extra to make this bitch of a lawyer loose this case and he has also told him that he doesn't like to speak so his statements should he as short as possible. Now, this guy wants him to narrate a full fucking story of one year.

Nonetheless sighing, he adjusted the small mic for himself and began, "This is Eric Ashton your honours. The opposing party Mr. Wellington is my former best friend. We've been like brothers since time immemorial. And have been a crucial part of each other's life. I am married to his sister, Erica here who's been an all the more important link between the two of us. Four years ago, David married his first wife, Late Mrs. Venus Wellington. Almost an year ago, she gave birth to a child, Oliver, the subject of our concern. But unfortunately, she died because her pregnancy was complicated and nobody knew about it....", he passed a concerned glance to David who was already looking at him, "...her loss took a toll on David, which is understandable. But she left behind a child that he had to care of. Apparently, David failed to realise that and he left his child behind. Me and my wife were not registered as his god parents because Venus died just after his birth and David was too lost to look into details. The children welfare association somehow got to know about David's absence through media. And they were hell bent on putting him into foster care. I may have resented his action of leaving everything behind, but I couldn't see David's family shatter and slip into extinction. So I did everything to fight for Oliver's custody and secured a fifty percent for me, and another fifty percent for David. It was a hard court battle but I managed. Meanwhile, I also tried hard to keep an eye on David and bring him back so he could assume the responsibility of his son. I did not want Oliver to think his both biological parents are absent when one of them was clearly available to take care of him. So many failed attempts to convince David to come back, and at last I hear him blame Oliver for his mother's death. That was the last straw for me your honour. Over the year, Oliver became my very first child and I tried to be the best father to him. I did not want to take the place of his biological father, but I am definitely protective enough to not let his own father do sh..mistreat him."