A Court Of Fame And Desire

Chapter Eight

Surprise!

Feyre

It's been two weeks since I've been in the public eye.
"This all came to light at the awards show two weeks ago where she came with Rhysand as her date and publicly accused you of hurting her in front of the press," the interviewer asks Tamlin during his press conference.
"She is psychotic, she wanted to leave me but didn't want to look like a cheater so she made all of this up to get with him and look like the victim," Tamlin says to the interviewer.
"Fucking hell", I spit.
"Feyre, you are the one with evidence, I haven't pushed you but what do you have on him?" Rhys asks gently.
I pass him my phone.
"Look at the messages"
I watch him open them as he stiffens and locks his jaw.
He turns the phone off after a quick scroll.
"Feyre, Darling, I have photos of you from that night, I am a witness and I will testify if you let me,"he offers.
"I'm pressing charges," I decide "I can't let him get away with this, fuck my reputation, I have nothing left to lose"
"Are you ready to go to the police", Amren says. "Yes" I say "But I'll need a lawyer and witnesses"
"I'll take care of it, I used to be a lawyer, I was cassians lawyer when he wrecked a building and was sued by who was it again, Tarquin?"
"It was only one building", Cassian replies then realised quickly that doesn't help his case.
"That's why he needs me", Amren points out.
"Amren is our manager and our lawyer, she takes care of all our contracts and legal issues that Cassian creates", Azriel says "We've been looking to deal Tamlin justice for years and now it's possible"
"But what did he do"
"I'll talk to you about it later on when it's the two of us," Rhys says "Until then give Amren your phone and a statement and tomorrow we will give it to the police"
I nod stiffly feeling the anxiety all through me.
"It will be okay", Rhys says touching my cheek gently, so differently from how Tamlin did. It doesn't hurt.

"So Feyre, for this to work you need to be completely honest, I will video this conversation for legal reasons and transcript it into a statement for you are you ready", Amren says when we are sitting in the office.
"Yes"
"When did you meet Tamlin"
"I had left home and moved to Los Angeles for a career, I would have just turned nineteen so maybe six months ago"
"How did you meet"
"I was working on a makeup artist on his movie Beast and we fell in love quickly and I had moved in with him within the month"
"When did the signs of abuse start"
"They were always there but I never noticed them, he was controlling, always wanting to know where I was, wouldn't let me be around other guys and isolated me from the people I was close to"
"What was the point where you realised the abuse"
"A few weeks ago, I met Morrigan and started to befriend her and her cousin Rhysand, it was then Tamlin became insanely jealous and when he found out he accused me of cheating which wasn't true and he physically abused me and choked me, Ianthe saw me the next day but only said how upset Tamlin was"
"Did he show remorse"
"Yes but nothing would change he'd scream at me and an hour later say how sorry he was and would do it every day"
"And now for the night you left him"
I take a breath, close my eyes and begin.

Rhys
Amren approaches me with a serious expression.
"How bad was it?" I ask.
"Very, go check on her"
I nod and go upstairs to Feyres room.
I find the door open, and hear choking from the bathroom.
I run in and see her bent over the toilet. I hold her hair back and try to calm her.
She finished and sits back against the wall. I wipe her face and flush the toilet.
Tears stain her freckled face.
"I'm so stupid, I should have known", she begins.
"Shh, shh", I say pulling her into my arms.
"He's a monster"
"He is, Feyre if your pressing charges you should know why I haven't"
"What happened Rhys"
"Come on".
I pick her up and carry her to her bed and lay her down and pull the blanket over her. I lie down next to her and prop myself up on one arm.
I've prepared myself for this.
"My family had a lot of money and so did Tamlins, our families hated each other, it was some stupid old money feud but mine and Tamlins father killed each other"
"What," she says looking shocked "Why doesn't anyone know this"
"Other family members paid the police to keep quiet, they didn't want an investigation and they saw it as the debt finally being settled, they were old and ill anyways and thought they could get the inheritance but it went to me and my mother and sister"
"What happened to them Rhys", she asks.
"Tamlin was furious and went to one of my estates and we believe he set fire to it thinking I was in it and my mother and sister were there and they died"
"Rhys", she begins with tears in her eyes.
"We didn't have proof, even a dozen private investigators couldn't find it, only motive but we know it was him but we never had proof to go to the police"
"He will go to jail Rhys", she promises.
"We can do this Feyre, we can get him put away for a long time if we do this right"
When I look at her I see the faded bruises and scars, the tears. I also see her now, her face like stone, hard and unforgiving, ready to unleash hell.
"Tomorrow", she says.
"Tomorrow"