I don't own Twilight!
I wondered what was going through Tanya's mind every time I glanced at her. She had a weird smirk on her face. I looked back to Isabella and Miss Maggie and they both smiled at me. Inside my pocket was a plastic rosary Miss Maggie got for me.
"I couldn't get you a proper one in time, but it's blessed by the father." She smiled "don't let anyone else touch it, its bad luck."
I waited until it was my turn to take the stand. I was happy to have one of my father's lawyers on my side. Even though the odds were against Tanya, if I didn't have a great lawyer, I'd be in trouble.
"Just be truthful about everything. Hiding anything will just hurt you." My lawyer said. I nodded. I had no problem telling the truth. Her lawyer called me to the stand. I got up and walked over. The court officer held the Bible out for me to swear on.
I placed my hand on it. "Mr. Cullen, do you swear to tell whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?" The officer asked me.
"Yes." I answered. And I sat down.
"I just have a few simple questions for you Edward." The lawyer said. He was an older man. Short and fat. His voice reminded me of one of the detectives from the old movies.
"How long have you known Ms. Denali?" He asked.
"About ten years I think" I said.
"Ten years is a long time Edward."
"Yup"
"So that means that you should know her pretty well right? You two used to date is that so?" I nodded. " Could you tell us a little about that?"
"Well used to date, we were pretty serious the whole time. We lived together at one point."
"So if you two were so well acquainted, why are you saying that she tried to rape you? If you guys were involved for so long, its only fair to assume your relationship was sexual." He asked that and walked over to the jury
"Was is the operative word. It was sexual, not is. I'm already in a committed relationship with Isabella Swan." I smiled. I looked at Isabella and she smiled.
"You say you're in a committed relationship with Miss Swan but you invite Tanya over to your home when she's out of town? And you guys go out to eat?"
"The first time she came over, I didn't invite her she invited herself." I answered. What was this lawyer trying to do? He went over to the jury and faced me.
"So Tanya has been to you apartment a number of times while Ms. Swan wasn't home?"
"That's true but-"
"So admit to seeing Tanya behind Ms. Swan's back?" He smiled. My lawyer jumps up angrily.
"Objection your honor. He's leading." He said.
"Sustain" the judge answers. I sit straighter in my chair.
"I seen Tanya once without Isabella knowing, but it was strictly business. The second time I seen Tanya, Isabella knew all about it. And it wasn't sexual despite Tanya drugging me in attempt to rape me." I said as I tried to keep calm. Tanya thinks she's so smart, I know she wants to play my temper into this.
"What do you do for a living Edward?" her lawyer asked as he walked back towards me.
"I'm a firefighter at Ladder 8 in Lower Manhattan." I said proudly.
"A firefighter? So its safe to assume you're used to carrying loads that are more than 100 lbs. Is that right?" He asked so I nodded. "So could you explain to me why a big strong guy like yourself couldn't fight off my client? She has to me a little over 100 lbs."
Tanya stood up quickly "hey! don't you dare talk about my weight!" She shouted. The judge pointed the gavel at her.
"Ms. Denali control yourself." He said sternly. The lawyer turned to her and motioned for her to sit down. Then he turned back to me.
"Like I said Edward. It's hard to believe that you couldn't fight her off. It appears that this whole 'rape' was just made up to protect you the discovery of your unfaithfulness."
"I told you before I'm in a committed relationship. What the f- don't you understand? She put ecstasy in my drink. She's friggerin' wacko if she doesn't understand I just played her to get information out of her." I said angrily. I shot a glance at her and she flipped me the bird.
"And getting information from her includes destroying her reputation?" He asked me.
"She did that on her own. Doing all the things she did to me and the people I care about. It's her own fault." I said.
"So you don't believe that leading her own and toying with her emotions was wrong? Do you normally manipulate women?"
"No I don't manipulate women." I said. I looked at Isabella. I could tell she wanted me to stay calm.
"I would classify manipulation as playing on a woman's feelings for you Edward. You can't lead a woman on then suddenly disappoint her without carrying out certain actions. In my client's case you made her think sex was possible but changed your mind at the last moment." He walked over to the jury and continued.
" A handsome man like you, and the history you two have together, makes it hard to believe anything you accusing her of. But it's not my duty to; it's the jury's. That's all your honor." He walked back over to Tanya and my lawyer came to me.
"Edward, tell us about your relationship with Isabella." He said. I looked at Isabella, and she smiled.
"Isabella is everything to me. I love her," I answered.
"So cheating on her isn't and option?" He asked.
"No."
"Have you ever cheated on her?" He asked he walked over to the jury.
"Never"
"So why did you agree to go to Tanya's apartment?"
"Like I said before, to get information from her. I had no intentions of doing anything with her, but she can never take no for an answer. She's a spoiled brat who's used to getting her way." I answered.
"And did you get said information?" He asked.
"Yeah, I got all I needed. I recorded her." I smiled. Tanya's face turned red.
"You red headed bastard!" She stood up and shouted.
"Ms. Denali, one more outburst and I will continue this case without you." The judge said. She plopped down and crossed her arms.
My lawyer played the tape from that night. Everyone listened to her reveal all of her plans and all the things she did. The jury started to gasp and talk among themselves quietly.
"Let the record show that there is evidence and confession of Tanya's wrong doing toward my client and the City of New York." After that I left the stand and sat back down.
I sat there while they called Tanya up to take my place in the hot seat. She sashayed up there and got sworn in. The she sat down and fixed her hair. She smiled at my lawyer.
"Tanya, how do feel about my client?" He asked.
"I hate him." She said flatly.
"Hate is such a strong word. Why do you hate him?" he leaned on the stand casually.
"Well maybe I don't hate him. Loathe would be better. He's ruined my life, now nobody takes me serious anymore. I've worked really hard at what I do and now it's being taken away from me because of him." She whined.
"What exactly did he do?"
"He set me up. Made me feel like I had a chance to be with him. He made me believe that he broke up with Isabella and he didn't. It was all a game. He knew how much I cared about him and he used to me! That sexy bastard is still engaged to her."
"Engaged? They're married Tanya. Didn't you know that?" my lawyer said as he walked away. Tanya looked at me angrily then looked at Isabella.
"Married?" she asked in a low voice.
"Yes, they're newly weds. Edward said that they're married and are currently planning a more elaborate ceremony." He walked over to the jury. "In fact Tanya, Edward was already married to Isabella that night you drugged him. You never had a chance to break them up. He already made his choice."
Tanya's face turned a bright shade of red. She stared at Isabella and she clenched her hands into fists.
"Tanya. Did Edward really try to ruin your life or were you doing it to him? It seems like you took this mission upon yourself to scheme to destroy his life and his relationship with his wife. You even tried to kill him. Can you tell us about when you ran over him and his bike?"
She continued to stare Isabella down. She looked like at any given moment she would leap over the stand and attack her. "Answer the question Tanya," the judge ordered.
"I…I don't know what you're talking about." She said softly. My lawyer walked over to the table where I sat at and pulled up a folder. Inside where the pictures Alice took. He showed them to the jury first and then showed them to Tanya.
"Do you know how these marks were made? Or how Edward's bike got broken to pieces like this?" he asked. Her mouth opened.
"I don't remember that." She lied. My lawyer walked back to me and sat down. I couldn't tell how this was going. I kept looking at the jury, I hoped they would believe me and count the evidence for what it was. I hoped they would see through her like I could.
I watched as Tanya's lawyer came up to question her. I knew he would go easy on her. "Tanya, you did love Edward didn't you?"
"Of course I did. I still do…somewhat." She said as she sat back and crossed her arms and her legs.
"And you feel hurt and used?"
"Yes. I just want what's due to me. I want everything that I've earned. I work hard to get what I want, and that's it. I want it all back." She started to cry as if it were on cue.
"That's alright Tanya. I understand." he said "I have no further questions for my client your honor. The both of them walked back to their seats. Tanya continued to wipe the tears from her eyes. My lawyer whispered to me
"That special witness you told me about is here." He said. I smiled I started to feel a little relieved that Rosalie had agreed to do this. My lawyer stood up suddenly.
"Your honor, I have one witness that I would like to bring to the stand. Rosalie Hale." Tanya stopped crying and gasped out loud when she saw Rose walk toward the stand. I smirked as she started to turn red again as Rose got sworn in.
"Rosalie, I'm going to keep this very brief and easy for you ok? I understand that you are nervous." She nodded and looked quickly at Tanya and at me.
"Ok" Rose said nervously.
"What did Tanya ask you to do?"
"She asked me to set Isabella's dance studio on fire. She wanted they whole thing to go up in flames while Edward was on duty." She said as her voice shook.
"You back stabbing bitch!" Tanya yelled. The judge banged his gavel.
"Take her out of ere. I heard enough of her out bursts. We will continue this without her." The judge spoke. The court officers grabbed Tanya and took her out of the courtroom. Both lawyers made their closing statements and the jury went out of the courtroom to make their decision.
I grabbed the rosary from my suit jacket pocket and held it in my hands as I waited for the results.
Thanks everyone for all the feedback! I appreciated it all and got some good laughs from your reviews! One of my favorite ones was someone who said Tanya was "coo coo for coco puffs" LOL sometimes I say coo coo banana crackers…anyway. Tanya cant keep her mouth closed, but neither could Rose and that's a good thing! What did you guys think about the chapter? Do you think the case is going to work in Edward's favor? Do you think there will be a brawl outside of the court? Tell me in a review or a private message! Have a great week everyone!
ps. if anybody has seen "breaking dawn" yet message me! i've been dying to discuss it with someone lol :)
