CH.39

The courtroom fell into a tense, heavy quiet as Serena's distinct voice, loaded with bitterness, rage, and the unmistakable slur of drunkenness erupted.

"I hate you, Alex! You arrogant, lying prick! You used me like a fool..." Her recorded self broke off in a bitter chuckle then, the sound grating and devoid of any joy. "Well, joke's on you in the end. Turns out I was betrothed from birth to someone else, so you'll never truly be my husband, you lying sack of shit..."

Serena flinched and her eyes squeezed shut as she willed herself not to recoil from her own venomous words still ringing in her ears.

The vitriol and pain in that voice cut like shards of broken glass, dredging up half-forgotten memories that she had clearly suppressed for her own sanity.

"Everyone had ulterior motives, even my own father is keeping secrets from me," her disembodied voice raged on with a cold bitterness. "You're no different from the rest, Alex. I'm done being your fool and your plaything."

The recording clicked off, plunging the courtroom into a heavy, oppressive silence thick enough to choke on.

Serena could feel the weight of countless judging stares bearing down on her from all sides. Her cheeks burned with shame and utter bewilderment over this hidden, uglier side of her past being dragged so violently into the harsh light.

"This call log and audio transcript from approximately three years ago suggests you were already aware, at least on some level, of Mr. Montgomery's malicious intentions and deceptions toward you at that point, Ms. Bolting. Even if those memories have...faded or been suppressed since then.” Jenkins finally broke the quiet with a calm, collected statement.

He let that statement hang for a beat, letting it sink in among the captive audience before continuing, "It seems quite clear that Mr. Montgomery exploited your inebriated, emotionally vulnerable state that day to effectively entrap you in an invalid, illegitimate marriage through coercion and deception."

Jenkins leveled his intense gaze at the shaken woman before him. "Miss Bolting, can you explain to the court the circumstances surrounding you waking up after that day?"

Serena trembled visibly, feeling stripped bare and exposed as every eye in the room bored into her. “I...I woke up with no memory whatsoever of the previous night or how I ended up there. Everything after a certain point was just...gone like it had been erased from my mind completely."

Serena's voice faltered for a moment.

Jenkins gave her a somber nod of understanding and encouragement.

"Indeed, which brings us to the next piece of damning evidence against Mr. Montgomery's misconduct," he stated solemnly. "Ms. Bolting, I know this has been an incredibly difficult and traumatic ordeal for you. But I need you to answer a few more questions as clearly and honestly as you're able, no matter how painful the truth may be."

Serena steeled herself with another steadying breath, nodding her head shakily in affirmation.

"Do you recall the circumstances surrounding you allegedly signing the official marriage certificate with Mr. Montgomery?" Jenkins asked, his tone gentle yet probing. "Any memory at all of that day?"

Serena shook her head slowly, her eyes downcast as she responded in a voice barely above a hoarse whisper. "No, I...I don't have any recollection of signing that document or being present for any kind of marriage ceremony."

She swallowed hard against the lump of shame burning in her throat. "He...he told me that I'd had too much to drink on our supposed wedding day and fell, suffering a concussion. That was why I couldn't remember anything."

Her fists clenched tightly in her lap until her knuckles showed bone white. "He said we had gone ahead with a small, private ceremony anyway, just the two of us and a justice of the peace since my father would clearly 'blow a fuse' if he found out about it beforehand. I...I had no reason to doubt him or his version of events at the time, so I accepted it as truth."

"Go on," Jenkins encouraged gently.

"When I was finally able to speak to my father a few days later, after being out of contact and missing for that time, he was...off. Not at all his usual affable self." Serena continued, "He mentioned that we had some kind of argument a few days prior and he assumed I needed space to cool off, which was why I had dropped out of contact. When I tried to ask what the argument had even been about, he acted so strangely evasive. He said it was because of issues with my stepmother, which I believed because she and I never really saw eye-to-eye."

Serena lifted her gaze then, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "But it was like...like he was keeping a terrible secret from me about something," she whispered hollowly. "Like there was this dark family truth he was protecting me from, no matter how much it hurt us both. I've never seen him like that before."

Jenkins gave Serena a moment to collect herself, his expression one of careful neutrality and patience. When she had regained her composure somewhat, he asked one final, pointed question.

"Ms. Bolting, did you ever actually consent to or willingly agree to sign any official documents for a legal marriage to Mr. Montgomery? At any point?"

Serena's eyes hardened in an instant to shards of green ice, all vulnerability giving way to a cold, steely resolve. "Absolutely not," she stated in a voice that brooked no argument. "I was clearly drugged, taken advantage of in an incapacitated state, and essentially married against my will and without my knowledge or consent through coercion, fraud, and outright criminal deception."

Jenkins gave a grim nod of acknowledgment before turning once more to address the court, his shoulders squaring as if bracing for impact.

"Your Honor, I now have irrefutable, incontrovertible proof that Mr. Montgomery illegally and unethically orchestrated a completely invalid sham marriage with my client through deception, blackmail, and contemptible breaches of ethics."

He held aloft a sealed evidence bag containing a digital audio recorder for all to see.

"This audio file contains a damning recorded conversation between Mr. Montgomery and the county clerk in charge of the official state marriage registry. A conversation that, I believe, will remove any lingering doubts as to the criminal lengths he went to in order to entrap Ms. Bolting."

Jenkins made a gesture, and the court clerk obediently hit play on the audio system, allowing the recorded voices to fill the hushed, tension-drenched courtroom.