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ADELINE's POV

I sit in a familiar courtroom. Never in a thousand years did I think I'd ever be back here. Three years ago, I had hoped and prayed that would be the end.

But alas, I was back here in the place I dreaded the most in my life. The stares didn't help. The hateful glares coming from behind me were enough to keep my nerves unsettled.

I know what they can do if given the opportunity. I didn't want to be here. My eyes darted frantically from one corner to the other, I was impatient for the proceeding to start so I could say my piece and be out of here.

"Addy?" I look up and see Garret, his warm eyes staring at me with concern.

"You okay? I could take you out of here and we'll return when it's time to start" I shake my head at once. Standing up would draw more attention to me. I wanted to be as invincible as possible.

"I promise to keep my end of the deal and keep you safe. All you have to do is testify and make sure he never gets out. I've spoken to my boss and your witness protection remains. We'll be changing the house though. You don't have to worry about anything" I nodded.

Just then, the door opened and my eyes instantly went there. Clad in the orange jumpsuit, tattoos peeking out from under the folded sleeves and opened necks. His dark blue eyes inspect the room as he always does.

Dimitrov Romanov. A man everyone feared. A terror to the weak and strong. The aura in the room had changed at his presence. His ability to command all the attention to him was still present. His hair had grown much longer. Three years in prison hadn't taken away anything from him. Instead, it had made him better. He was so fucking hot in that uniform.

His eyes landed on me and I shivered. The sheer intensity of his gaze made me want to make myself smaller. His lips curled into a sadistic grin and then he was pulled away by the court guards to where he would sit.

I forced myself to look away and back to Garret.

"He can do nothing to you? You have nothing to fear" I nodded. But Garret didn’t know him like I did. He was called ruthless for a reason.

The judge walked in and the proceeding started. It was a blur of activities and talks but I was uncomfortable. And distracted. How couldn't I be when he had kept his gaze focused on me since he entered? He was very open about it too. Not caring if anyone noticed.

One of the things that hadn't changed about him. Garret squeezed my hands and I nodded.

The defense was the first to stand, presenting the case of appeal. She was a young woman, beautiful and most likely in her early twenties. It wasn't uncommon to see people so young work for the Romanov's but I was curious about her. She wasn't the lawyer who represented him at the first trial. And I'd never seen her when I was around them.

Once she was done, she returned to her seat, shooting him a bright smile and he nodded, his eyes glistening with admiration. An uncomfortable feeling settled in my chest and I huffed.

"You okay?" Garret whispered and I nodded, looking up to see Dimitrov looking at us.

The prosecutor was next, reading out the list of offenses. There were grunts of disapproval from behind me and I didn't dare to look back.

There seemed to have been new ones added to the list but Dimitrov had no care in the world. He looked bored. Like he wanted to get out of the court quickly.

Garret told me he had been the one to request a retrial. He should be more... Unless..... my head snapped up and our gaze met. His smirk widened like he was satisfied I had just discovered something.

I shook my head. "It can't be" I mumbled under my breath.

"What's wrong Addy? You look pale" Garret asked.

"I'll now call our witness, Adeline Winters to the stand" the prosecutor called and I stood on autopilot. Unable to tell Garret my fears.

Eyes followed me as I walked to the witness box. I kept my eyes down as I sat.

"You're doing great Adeline" the prosecutor whispered and I tried to smile but it came out as a wince. I was fucking terrified at the moment. Something was wrong with this retrial.

"Can you tell us again what happened that night?" He asked and I nodded, clearing my throat I began.

"I had come out for a drink of water late in the night and then I heard some noises. I followed the sound and I saw him... beating that man. All I could hear was the pleas of the man to be pardoned. He didn't stop until the man was silent, unmoving and then he fired his gun"

"So you're saying, he shot this man?" I nodded.

"And it's possible the man wasn't dead from the beating until he was shot?"

"I don't know that. I didn't get close enough to find out"

"That will be all" I wrung my hands nervously knowing the defense would follow for questioning. Her bright smile had vanished and was replaced with a look of seriousness.

"What did you do after you heard the gunshot?"

"What else? I ran" I snapped, annoyed by her question or just annoyed by her presence. I couldn't tell which.

"And with how dangerous and evil you described Mr Romanov, are you saying he let you leave just like that?"

"I escaped. He didn't know I was leaving"

"Just something that has been bugging me. What were you doing in that house on the night of the murder?" My eyes went to Garret. This question wasn't supposed to come up. In the first trial, we had tried to keep our relationship silent. He nodded gently at me and I went ahead to answer.

"I lived there"

"So my client came to your house to commit a murder?"

"No. We lived together" I said in a small voice.

"You lived together?"

"Objection your honor" The prosecutor jumped to his feet.

"Sustained," the judge said without sparing him a glance.

"Yes we did"

"And may I ask what your relationship was for you to cohabit together?" I looked at him, the smirk on his face had disappeared all that remained was a cold look.

"We.... We were married" Still married because we never signed the divorce papers.

"And you kept that away from the court?"

"It wasn't necessary information for the case"

"You are not to decide what is necessary or not. This woman here has kept a lot of things from the court and therefore, her testimonies cannot be taken seriously"

"I'm not keeping anything" I shouted, annoyed.

"Really? Then did you plan to let us know that you and my client have children together?" My blood froze and two angry eyes landed on me.