The sun had set when Lilly hung her head over the backrest of her chair. The dark sky dimmed the light in her office. She heaved a sigh, closing her eyes. A dull ache throbbed around her head like a rope. It threatened to squeeze her skull until it broke.
When was the last time she slept?
It had only been two days since Skye was detained. She dropped all her paperwork for this case. Before, she wasn’t sure up to what extent the Conrad Family would use. Now, she was astonished to know they would push so much effort for this stepchild. Serah must have Nicolas wrapped around her finger…
The only thing that could have made this worse was the press.
There were none of them, thankfully. Both families preferred to keep this trial under wraps. As for her family, the matter reached up to her parents’ ears. She groaned at the weakness on their side. There was no way Nicolas Conary would let them be uninvolved.
As a result, the Greenwoods also faced internal conflict.
A colorful curse muttered out of her lips.
“I never knew you thought of me that way” James greeted her from the doorway. He carried two mugs of coffee and waltzed inside. Sitting on a chair, he set them down on her desk while she fixed her posture.
“Coffee?” He offered her.
Lilly took it gladly, “Thank you.”
She blew on the surface lightly then, sipped. She took a deep breath, letting the warm beverage melt her tense muscles. She would love nothing more than to get this trial over with.
“I take it there’s some bad news?” Atty. Peyton asked, his violet eyes drooped with worry. A grim frown on his lips.
Lilly laughed without humor. She placed the mug down but kept her hands around it. Her pitch rose higher and her manner of speaking cracked, “Apparently, Nicolas Conary is upset with the charges we want to press against his stepdaughter. He kept claiming that Skye is only a minor. She probably thought Alex had ill intentions against the school by posing as another identity and did only what she thought was right.”
It never failed to amaze her what money could do. She wasn’t the top lawyer of the country but she could tell how ridiculous that argument was. They wanted to paint her as a hero who broke her restraining order for the sake of what she thought was right.
She called b*******.
Except, she couldn’t say that outright in court.
“Given their history, it doesn’t seem unlikely. He wants to brush it over as a misunderstanding” Lilly continued, acting a little more calm. She lifted the mug back to her lips and snorted, “He also wants to press charges for the camera recording as a breach of privacy.”
The scowl between James’s brows deepened, “You do know that’s probably Serah speaking?”
“Of course, I do!” Lilly exclaimed, rolling her eyes towards a random spot in the room, “Unfortunately, father doesn’t seem to think so. He is very upset that the relationship between the two families is strained.”
The grip she had on the mug tightened. It was one thing to have her parents included in the matter. It was another thing to use their relationship against them. It sickened her to see the Conary’s do such underhanded methods.
This should have been about Alex and Skye only. There was no need to add that to the mix.
“So what are we going to do now?” James leaned back on his chair. If he stared at her too much, he might hit someone and give them a disadvantage.
“I mean, it’s not like I don’t know that father is close to Nicolas and his late father. He practically thought of Nicolas as his own son” Lilly rambled as if she didn’t hear him, “There is a possible compromise but…”
Atty. Peyton waited for her to finish. It didn’t happen. He steeled his instincts and glanced her way. A new emotion met his gaze. The hard expression had vanished. It had been replaced by anguish.
“But what?” He couldn’t help but ask. With a face like that? How could he not?
“But I’m not in favor of it,” Lilly finally admitted. She raised her arms and laced her fingers together. Her elbows propped on the desk for support.
James waited for more again. It also didn’t happen. He figured it was something personal. Something he couldn’t be a part of yet, “And so? Drop it.”
“Except father is” she groaned, burying her face in her hands. She should have known that was their goal when they informed him about the trial. They wanted to gain his favor at something they wanted, “It’s not even about Skye’s punishment. I can’t believe they brought something irrelevant on the table. I have no backing evidence but something is so fishy about it.”
They just had to pull on her father’s strings. Then again, Skye’s case was somewhat a lost cause for them. Why not ask for something that would compensate the family that had no involvement about her schemes? They practically used her circumstances for their own gain.
It left a foul taste in her mouth.
“Why don’t you ask the others on what to do?” James suggested. If she wouldn’t tell him what it was, he couldn’t help. Only her family could hear her out and discuss it over.
“Even if I tell father about it, he wouldn’t think of it as a bad thing. That’s why he is in favor of it. They knew how to reel him in” Lilly dropped her hands and stared at her desk. Her mug of coffee got cooler by the second, “Technically, it does no harm for us. I just don’t like it.”
He’d only see her as overreacting. It was only natural for him to think so because the compromise backed up his own desires. Humans loved to see what they only wanted to see. Her father wasn’t a perfect man. He had his own faults such as this.
Atty. Peyton exhaled sharpy. He folded his arms over the table and leaned forward. He hoped to make eye contact and plead with his gaze, “Will you tell me what it is?”
Lilly turned her head, shifting her attention in his direction. She smiled apologetically, patting the back of his hand, “You’ll find out in court.”
He nodded in response, “Can I, at least, know what happens to Skye in this compromise?”
“Banishment” she snorted. It seemed almost the same as a restraining order except they implemented stricter protocols. They couldn’t really do more than that since Skye was a minor, “She’d live in the Conary’s summer house with a few escorts chosen by my family. Her every move would be followed.”
“Until when?”
“That’s something I also don’t know yet until the sentence is given” Lilly shrugged. Exhaustion weighed on her shoulders. She had done her best to grill whatever they could. Unfortunately, the Conary family didn’t have anything her family desired. Skye was their only target, “I just know she’d have a minimum of one year worth of therapy.”
She added the last part just in case. That girl’s crimes were questionable. It couldn’t have been done with a completely sane mind. Hopefully, Skye would have a chance to gain inner peace.
James nodded, his eyes dropping to one side of the desk. The files for the case had been organized by categories. His hand reached out and touched the top sheet of paper. His mind immediately absorbed the first paragraph.
“May I?” He asked politely. If he was going to read them, he should have permission first.
“Sure, there’s nothing in there that you don’t know” Lilly shrugged.
Her desk phone suddenly rang. Not thinking much of it, she pressed the speaker button. It was normally her secretary anyway. Static filled in the air as James focused on the files. Then, two syllables blared out of the small speaker.
“Lillian.”
Lilly almost fell off her chair. She grabbed their armrests and caught herself in time. She stared at the phone, her gray eyes slowly widening. Her voice dripped with horror. That was a name she hadn’t heard in a while.
“Mom?!”
“Hello, dear. How is the trial going?”
“Fine…” Lilly paused, a nagging suspicion in the back of her mind, “Why are you calling?”
Jaime Greenwood dropped her stern tone and used a lighthearted one, “Oh, I just heard from Angie that Woodlands Academy will have a mini festival next Friday. Since I’d be staying at your house, I would like to say that I am coming to visit to give you time to prepare.”
“Prepare for what? If you already heard it from Ange then, she’s already preparing the place for you” Lilly could almost imagine her sister-in-law cleaning the house—and deciding what to have for dinner when Jaime arrived.
“It’s still your house and I still needed to inform you.”
Lilly merely rolled her eyes. Trust her mother to still uphold tradition like a noblewoman. Even if Jaime hadn’t called, she would have heard about it later when she got home. Angie must be brimming with excitement about the visit.
The world stopped spinning when she heard the next statement.
“Anyway, do you have a boyfriend to introduce me to yet?”
It was at this moment did Lilly realize that she should have switched the call to the handset. A lump formed in her throat while James glanced from the paper he read. His eyebrows slowly rose up at the telephone. This sounded like a conversation he shouldn’t hear.
“Mother, I—”
Then, he snapped his head towards his companion, “Lilly, when is the next date—”
“Lillian?!” Jaime exclaimed, cutting him off, “Who is that? Are you already—”
Lilly sprang into action. She would have hung up right then except the other line was her mother. She needed to give her pleasantries, at least. She spoke out in a rush. “I have to go, mother. See you soon! Bye! Love you!”
She lifted the handset and slammed it down immediately. She glared at James with wide accusing eyes. He had done it on purpose! He had wanted to mess with her! She was sure about it! Even if he denied it!
“Oh, you are a dead man” she taunted, squinting her line of sight.
James crossed his arms over his chest and titled his head to one side. He blinked in confusion, unable to see what he did wrong, “I was merely going to ask you when is the next court date.”
Lilly clicked her tongue. Oh, this was unbelievable, she mused to herself. No matter. He could play as innocent as he wanted but she wouldn’t change her mind. She knew those violet eyes held mischief underneath…
… and she wasn’t about to let him win.
