Chapter 30
Lissa and I enter Dr Olendzki's office together. I just came from my appointment with Arthur. It went so well. I told him about my plan for helping abuse victims and he was all for it.
"So, he said that he will offer any legal help the victims need." I tell Lissa. We sit on the chairs and wait for our names to be called.
"That is nice, I talked to Natalie Dashkov and she just finished college. She studied to become a journalist. She wants to follow each on of them from start to end and write an uplifting article about them, if they are willing." It sounds like a great plan. If we can get more people to help out with services, we can help victims rise above faster than they can ever do alone.
"That is amazing. We can also…" The receptionist interrupts my sentence when she calls our names. I have seen Dr Olendzki a couple of times. She delivered Rosalie and she has been with Lissa since day one of her first pregnancy.
"How are you two ladies doing?" She asks as we sit down.
"Honestly a bit stressful. I'm excited to see my babies." I say to her. I lay down on the examination bed first. The gel she puts onto my stomach isn't as cold as I always thought it would be.
"Okay, let me see if we can find those babies." She moves the wand over my lower abdominal. I look at the screen to see if I can see anything. I feel stupid for not seeing the two dark spots shaped like cashews right away. Dr Olendzki had to point them out.
"Ready to hear the heartbeats Rose?" She asks. I nod my head, not sure if my voice will be able to speak. I hear the thump, thump, thump of my baby's hearts. There are so close together, it was hard to hear that it is coming from two different people. I look to Lissa to see that she has tears running down her face.
"Stop crying Liss, you're going to make me cry." I say. Lissa lets out a laugh.
"You are already crying." I notice the wetness on my cheeks for the first time. We both laugh at each other and I'm pretty sure the doctor thinks we are crazy. I soon get cleaned up and out of the way for Lissa to do her scan.
"Oh, my. Now I know what the baby looked bigger than it should be last time. You are also having twins Lissa." Lissa's eyes go wide and I'm pretty sure she stopped breathing for a second. We are both having twins. I'm nine weeks in and she is fourteen weeks in. All the way to the studio we talk about our babies. Soon there will be two sets of twins dominating our lives. And then there is little Rosalie. Lissa called Christian almost as soon as we got out of the doctor's office. I could hear the excitement in his voice when he heard the news. Now we need to start focusing on the wedding. Lissa may be sweet and caring and just a great person overall but I know planning this wedding is going to be hard. Lissa likes things a certain way but she does not always know what that certain way is. She is hard to please when it comes to herself. But she deserves the best and I will try to give it to her even if she turns into bridezilla halfway through planning.
Xxx
My hands start to sweat profusely as I stand outside the big double doors. We have been preparing for this day all week now. I'm ready, Arthur is ready, we all are ready. Arthur got Sydney to come back into town to give a character testimony for Adrian. I don't know how he got her to come. I have tried to call her all week, not only to ask her to testify but to hear how she is doing.
"Are you ready Rose?" Arthur asks me as he my father joins me at the doors. I nod my head even though it feels as if I might puke. I chose to wear a pencil skirt and red blouse with a big blazer over it to hide my small bump. I know we agreed to come clean about the pregnancy but I'm not happy about him making direct eye contact with my stomach. Having the heavy layer of clothing over my stomach makes me feel better. Everyone is already inside the courtroom except for me and my lawyer and Adrian. He should come in as soon as we are all seated.
"Take care of my girl Schoenberg." My father says as he pats Arthur on the shoulder and kisses my cheek. He disappears through the doors.
"Hold your head up high Rose, don't let him see any fear." I nod my head again. I'm not afraid of him anymore, I'm afraid of what he will try to do with my baby. Arthur and I walk into the courtroom a moment later. We sit up front with my whole family behind me. The side door opens up a minute later and Adrian walks in. He has a slight limp to his walk and it looks like he has been hit by a truck. Some of his bruises are still from Dimitri's beating but he has some fresh cuts on his face as well. I see his great aunt Tatiana sit down next to him at the table next to us. Arthur blocks my view from them but Adrian leans backwards and we make direct eye contact. My breathing starts to become frantic and I feel like passing out.
"Just look forward Roza." Dimitri whispers in my ear from behind me. The start of my panic attack goes away as fast as it came at the sound of Dimitri's voice. We all stand as the judge sits down. He is an elderly man with greying hair that was once brown. His eyes are a familiar shade of green. I have seen him before. It's Victor Dashkov. He was an old friend of the Dragomir's. Lissa knows his daughter Natalie; she is going to help us with the abuse victims. He has always been kind to me the couple of times I saw him. Most of the court case goes by like a blur. Arthur is doing a really good job at deflecting the accusations Tatiana is throwing at me. First, she tried to say that I made all this up and that I'm the one obsessed with Adrian but the rape kit from the hospital canceled that one out. She then proceeded to ask how can we be sure that Adrian kidnapped me the first time. Arthur then called me to the stand.
"Ms. Mazur, can you with one-hundred percent accuracy say that the man who kidnapped you on July 17, 2019 is in this courtroom?" He asks me. I nod my head and then remember I need to actually say something to make my answer count.
"Yes, he is." Arthur nods his head. He motions with his hand over the crowd attending the case.
"Can you point him out Ms. Mazur?" I lift my hand and point directly to Adrian. I don't know what I expected. Maybe for the whole crowd to gasp like in movies when some shocking information becomes public, but nothing happened. The crowd just looks at us, waiting to see what happens next.
"How can you be sure that he is the same man who took you on September 3, 2018?" He asks.
"Because he told me so himself. He told me how he was following me since he saw me at school. He also has the same rose tattoo on his lower hip." I say. Tatiana stands up quickly.
"That is all speculation you Honor. She has no proof that Mr. Ivashkov has a tattoo on his hip. Officer Moore, who booked my client into jail did not see any tattoo on him when he was doing his body search." I feel like I want to jump up and pull Adrian's pants down to show everyone the tattoo but I know that will not be wise.
"Would Mr. Ivashkov be willing to prove he doesn't have a rose tattoo?" Arthur asks. Tatiana looks at Adrian and he nods his head with a cocky smile plastered on his face. What did he do?
"My client will be more than happy to do so." Tatiana says, sounding almost as cocky as Adrian looks. The officer who brought Adrian in, takes him through a door on the left. We wait for five minutes and then they rejoin us.
"There is no tattoo that I can see your Honor. His skin is badly cut on his lower hip." The officer says. I can feel my eyes widen. He cut the tattoo off. He knew that is one thing that could not be spoken away so, he cut it off.
"My client was brutally attacked his first night in jail." Tatiana informs everyone. I feel like I could spit nails right again now.
"May I ask Ms. Mazur a question?" Tatiana asks Judge Dashkov. He nods his head and she take the floor.
"Ms. Mazur, is it true that you accused Mr. Dimitri Belikov of being your kidnapper a few months ago?" I swallow hard. This is not good.
"Yes, I did." I answer. She nods her head and then looks to the crowd.
"And you were sure he was the guilty person, as sure as you are that Adrian Ivashkov is guilty." I see where she is going with this. She wants me to look weak and unsure of my facts, but I'm not. I know now that Adrian set Dimitri up.
"Adrian confessed with his own mouth that he planted evidence linking Dimitri to my first kidnapping. And I know for a fact that Adrian is my kidnapper because I saw his face as he raped me repeatedly. And the last rape kit and the first one matches." I say confidently. There is no way she can speak around this.
"Okay, from what I understand, you are pregnant with Mr. Ivashkov's baby, are you not?" It feels like the wind has been knocked out of me. We haven't said anything about the babies yet. How did she know? And if she knows that means Adrian knew all along.
"Yes, I am. He raped me with the intention to get me pregnant." I don't sound as confident anymore, but I'm not going to show him fear.
"And you didn't terminate the pregnancy? That just makes me wonder if he really raped you or if you wanted it." I jump up from my chair, ready to choke the life out of her.
"I didn't want him to touch me. He violated me." I almost yell. Judge Dashkov hits the gavel to get our attention. I feel like I'm vibrating with anger. I can barely keep still.
"Calm down Ms. Mazur." I want to reach out and slap Victor over the head. How can I stay calm if she is attacking me like this?
"But you are keeping the baby?" Tatiana asks.
"Yes, because I have twins. One fathered by my boyfriend Dimitri and the other fathered by Adrian through rape." That gets the whole room to gasp like in the movies. Tatiana looks at Adrian for a brief second before she turns back to the judge.
"No further questions from me your Honor." I hate the smug tone of her voice, like she won something I'm not aware of. Adrian keeps his eyes on me as I make my way back to my seat. Arthur calls Dimitri up next. He looks amazing in his charcoal suit. Dimitri looks amazing in anything.
"Mr. Belikov, is it true that Mr. Ivashkov called you on the 17th of July and asked you to come over to his house?" Arthur asks.
"Yes, Adrian called me and said we have a score to settle. I didn't understand what he meant, but he insisted I go to his house." Dimitri says. I can just imagine what went through his head. It was supposed to be my funeral and then Adrian called and demanded that he comes over. From what I understand, Dimitri was already pissed off at Adrian.
"Here are the phone records supporting Mr. Belikov's story your Honor." Arthur hands the judge some papers.
"What happened when you got to the house?" Arthur asks Dimitri.
"I heard Rose call my name and I ran into the house. She was tied up on a chair. Adrian told me that we need to fight for her to the death. I didn't want to go down that road with him, but protecting Rose was my first thought. We fought for a bit and then I got the upper hand. I thought Adrian was knocked out and then I proceeded to untie Rose." Dimitri says. I shudder when I think about what could have happened if Dimitri didn't get the upper hand. Adrian would have killed him and we would be halfway out of the state by now.
"Adrian got his gun in hand and threatened to shoot us if Rose didn't go with him. She took a couple of self-defense classes and got the gun out of his hand. I called the police in the meantime and then they showed up a few minutes later." Dimitri finishes the story. I don't see how Tatiana can snake her way around his story. It matches mine perfectly because it is what happened.
"Mr. Belikov, is it true that you have a history of violence? You beat up your father at the age of thirteen and then another man at eighteen." Tatiana says. Dimitri raises one eyebrow at her, his face void of any emotion.
"That is true but I don't see why that matters in this case." I could kiss Dimitri right now. Tatiana looks frustrated for a few seconds thanks to his answer but she recovers quickly and her self-satisfied smile is back on her face.
"I'm just wondering how much truth is to your words. How do we know that Ms. Mazur didn't decide she wanted to be with Mr. Ivashkov instead of you and you lasted out?" I look to Arthur with wide eyes.
"That is speculations your Honor. Actually no, it's just not true. Ms. Mazur said with her own mouth that she didn't want to be with Mr. Ivashkov. She left him to start a relationship with Mr. Belikov." I want to fist bump the air. Tatian is left speechless for a few minutes after that. She can't spin Dimitri's story and it is frustrating her. Dimitri goes back to his seat and they call Sydney up to the stand next. She looks so tired and broken.
"Ms. Sage, could you please tell us if you found anything strange about Mr. Ivashkov's behavior." Arthur asks her.
"Adrian never treated me poorly. He was a bit possessive and got mad about things fast, but he never hurt me." I don't know what I was expecting from her but I wanted a little more than that.
"Is there anything else you can think of?" Arthur presses her. She looks to Adrian and then to me. Her guarded eyes soften as she looks at me. I try to beg her with my eyes to tell us anything that will be helpful.
"Adrian has a closet full of pictures of Rose. I saw it once when I was there. I asked him about it and he brushed it off, telling me that it was from when they were dating and he never took it down. But it all makes sense now. Adrian would sometimes call me little Flower while we are having sex. I didn't think much about it until I remembered the closet with the pictures. He refers to Rose as his Flower." I motion for Arthur to come closer to me and I whisper his next question in his ear. Arthur looks at me with a bright smile.
"Ms. Sage, did Adrian ever have a tattoo of a rose on his hip?" I feel like doing a victory lap around the court as Sydney nods her head.
"Yes, he did. The last time I saw it was on the 15th of July." There is no covering up the truth. There is always someone who comes forward with it, no matter how hard you try to bury it.
"Thank you, Ms. Sage. That is all." Tatiana doesn't ask any questions. Lissa and Christian also do a testimony about Adrian's character.
"I'm happy with how this is going Rose. I'm sure it will be good news tomorrow at the sentencing." Arthur says to me as we head out of the courtroom. I hope they put him away for a long time.
"Thank you, Arthur." I give him a hug. He has been such a massive help. Spending time with him and working on my case makes me miss law school. I was good at it. Arthur told me that I would have been the best in the business. It would have been amazing to just fall back into it and pick up where I left off but that is not me anymore. I love my job as a photographer and I'm good at it too. And I love being my own boss. I climb into Dimitri's car. He looks at me with a big smile on his face.
"It's almost over Roza. After tomorrow, Adrian will be away from us for good." I lean towards him and give a quick kiss. This is what I have been waiting for. Knowing that Adrian will never get close to me again. My story of rape and abuse is almost over. I can move on with my life knowing that Adrian will not destroy it again. All the fear and hurt I got from him, will be something from the past. I can give my babies a good life. I'll teach them how to defend themselves and with the help of Dimitri, our family will always be safe and together. I can taste the victory.
xxx
The next day in court felt like the best day of my life. Arthur came forward with a new piece of evidence. He had Mason's body examined and they found the bullet and matched it to the gun found in Adrian's house.
"Mr. Ivashkov, please stand for the verdict." The officer in court says. Adrian stands up, he still looks so cocky even after all the evidence we have against him. Adrian and I look at each other as we wait for the judge to deem him guilty or not.
"After reviewing all the evidence and statements, on the charges of rape, abuse, kidnapping, first degree murder and abstraction of justice, I find you…"
Don't hate me but I thought this was a good place to stop. Being kept on your toes for a while is a good thing. Thank you for 100 reviews. You guys make me want to write.