The courtroom doors did not slam this time. They opened slowly, almost carefully, yet the weight they carried was heavier than before. No one spoke or shifted, as though the entire room already understood that what was about to enter was not just another witness, but the truth itself finally taking form.
Vivian did not move. Her breathing remained steady, but her fingers trembled slightly at her sides. It was no longer shock that held her still. That part had already passed. She knew this story, or at least enough of it. She had lived with fragments, with silence, with things her mother never fully explained but never truly hid either.
Beside her, Sebastian stood close enough for her to feel his presence without him touching her. It grounded her in a way nothing else could.
The figure stepped in.
