"I'm doing this for you, Charlotte." Victoria whispered to her daughter whom she cradled on her bare chest keeping her warm by the skin contact. "You deserve an honest life."

Lovingly she kissed her head while the baby's eyes began to fall shut and Victoria put her back in the incubator.

Lost in thought about that moment with her daughter, Victoria added the finishing touches to her make-up in the limousine on their way to the courthouse. She barely recognized herself in the mirror she held up when applying her lip liner. Maybe it were the different pills she was taking to cure her insomnia and the panic attacks she suffered from which blurred her mind and made her feel like she was standing beside herself losing the connection to the woman whose face reflected in the mirror. Or maybe it was the reason behind her panic attacks why she felt so estranged from that woman with the long lashes, rosy cheeks and her body pressed into a royal blue cocktail dress.

The panic attacks had started after Christmas when Daniel and the rest of the Graysons had left for their week-long vacation to Aspen and Victoria had begun to notice the effects of her son's absence on her. She had called Daniel every day to talk to him when the nightmares about never seeing him again had started. She had woken up during the rare hours of sleep she got in the hospital with her heart racing and her body covered in sweat. That was also why she found it so difficult to leave Charlotte's side. Every time she said goodbye to one of her children the horror of leaving Patrick behind 20 years ago and his more recent departure from her life replayed in her head and the feeling of guilt overwhelmed her. The doctors had already advised her to resettle to her home and only come to visit her daughter in the hospital during daytime, but Victoria couldn't do that. She couldn't turn her back on her daughter like that and leave her in the hands of complete strangers even if it was only for a couple of hours every day. On top of that she also had mixed feelings about the next day of trial. She looked forward to doing the right thing, to telling the truth about David and having the possibility of giving him his life back. But she also feared the insecurity that came with the step she was about to take. She had no idea how David would react and how her life would go on after the Grayson family would be destroyed. She was taking Daniel's father and family away from him. She couldn't foresee how that big disruption in his life would affect the 6-year-old boy, she didn't even dare to think about how her decision would change her little boy forever. All she ever wanted for him was to grow up protected in a stable family environment but somehow her life had come to the point where she had no choice but to destroy that vision of the future for the greater good. With every day of further approaching the trial, Victoria felt closer to losing her mind, her panic attacks becoming more and more frequent. So that January 23 was the climax of it all.

"You look gorgeous, dear." Conrad complimented his wife with a half-hearted smile and pulled her out of her downwards spiraling thoughts. He knew she was not well. The doctors didn't need to tell him that because Conrad had noticed himself how thin she had gotten almost losing all of her baby pounds within one month. She barely slept and rarely ate anything. Only if she was with Daniel or that Clarke girl did he see her eat something other than the pills she had been prescribed. So Conrad had done his best to simply stay out of her way and not bother her about that divorce she had been threatening him with in the hopes that she might calm down after the trial and they could still return to their previous life. Sitting in the limousine with both of his parents and the tension between the four of them higher than ever before, Victoria only returned his compliment with a cold glare to the side.

A sad but hopeful smile possessed the brunette's lips when she put the earrings David had given her on her ears. She had elegantly tied her hair in her neck into a chignon so that David would recognize the jewelry she was wearing especially for him.

"You put quite the effort in today's look, Victoria." Eleanor Grayson sitting opposite to her daughter-in-law remarked suspiciously raising an eyebrow. "I wonder who you're trying to impress with that."

"Eleanor!" Edward hushed his wife angrily. Like the rest of the family even the Grayson patriarch was extremely nervous on that day. "Just keep your vile mouth shut for today. If everything goes according to plan, you can torture Victoria with your hatred for the rest of your life. I don't care. But for the matter of the next couple of hours we really don't need that."

Insulted by her husband's harsh tone of voice Eleanor crossed her arms in front of her chest and turned her head to look out of the window.

"Same goes for you Victoria." Edward addressed her in a serious tone. "You know what you have to say so just say that. Nothing else, no emotional outbursts. Is that understood?"

"Your wife may answer you like she is your devoted servant, but I don't do that, Edward." Victoria fired back not willing to put up with that man's arrogance anymore. Ever since their fall-out on Christmas Eve the atmosphere between them had turned into one full of despise. "I know what I have to say, you can be sure of that. So don't treat me like I need you to tell me what to do."

"Nothing is ever sure with you, Victoria. I know you." Edward narrowed his eyes focusing the woman sitting opposite to him. "Think about Daniel today and be a good mother."

Swallowing her pride, Victoria didn't respond. He knew how to get to her and chose the right words to give her a bad conscience again. Judging by the satisfied smile on his lips it was obvious that Edward was well aware of the effects of his words.

Slowly the car came to a halt and outside the reporters were already going wild. It was like a déjà-vu for Victoria when she remembered the exact same scene from the first day of trial almost two months ago.

"Ready?" Edward asked with a grim look on his face and all of the three passengers nodded so that he knocked on the door to signal to the security that they could open it.

Edward and Eleanor stepped out first and Victoria wanted to follow them but her husband held her back and looked her straight into the eyes.

"Victoria, listen to me. After today, I promise you I will do everything you want to make it right." Obviously he caught her by surprise and kept on whispering. "If it is a divorce you want, fine, I'll let you have that because I don't want to become like my parents one day. But you have to understand that I love you and I love Daniel, you are my family. I don't want to lose you. We could move wherever you want, in the States, or Europe, I know how much you love Paris. We could begin a whole new life there, with Charlotte of course. You would never have to see my parents again, or hear the word Grayson Global. I would give it all up for you."

His arctic pools clearer than ever before Conrad locked eyes with Victoria delivering his apparently well-prepared words with such sincerity that they almost touched her. It was his last attempt to keep her by his side, all cards were on the table and for one brief second Victoria caught herself imagining what the life Conrad had suggested would look like. They would live in Paris maybe in a nice apartment in Montmartre the church bells of Sacre Coeur waking them on Sunday mornings and her children growing up bilingually free from the pressure of the Hampton's society. Quickly she brushed those thoughts aside and instead put her hand to her husband's cheek and said calmly: "Conrad, dear, but then all of this would have been for nothing. I want you to remember Grayson Global's impact on this world for the rest of your life." With a smile she softly kissed his lips praying that this would be the last time she ever had to touch that man. "Let's go." Like they had planned she took her husband's hand and together they then faced the even bigger mass of reporters than on the first day of trial.

Once she was outside, everything around her began to blur. Victoria simply looked down on her black stiletto heels concentrating on making one step after the other on the steps to the courthouse while she was being circled by the security detail. She shut the whole world out and listened to the speech she had prepared for today in her head. It was the only thing that counted on that day. She also felt Conrad's sweaty hand squeezing hers but tried not to look him in the face. She knew that he was just as scared as she was and somewhere in the back of her mind she couldn't stop feeling sorry for what she was about to do to him. She had once admired him for his life wanting nothing more than to be the woman by his side, he had been her savior, he had made her part of the family against everyone's expectations because he had been so utterly in love with her. She wouldn't be where she was and who she was today if it wasn't for him, she wouldn't even have met David. But what was coming to him was entirely his fault, Conrad had done the unspeakable and Victoria would be the reason for his downfall. Although she had no idea how her decision would change their lives forever, she had to be fearless today.

Finally, inside of the courtroom the atmosphere was tense. With her husband on her one side still holding her hand as if he was seeking comfort and stability in her presence and occasionally whispering encouraging words into her ear, and her mother-in-law on her other side whose biggest concern was the cold temperature inside of the room, Victoria stared straight forward to Judge Barnes' empty seat. She didn't want to see anyone, she hadn't even lost her composure when David had entered the room accompanied by loud murmuring. She wouldn't make the same emotional mistake like she had done last time. Today she needed to be focused and strong. The only person she would have liked to look at was Nolan. She wanted to be sure that he and Edith had everything lined up for their plan and that she didn't need to worry. But looking for him in the audience would also mean facing David and Roger Halsted who would also give his testimony later and Victoria couldn't risk an emotional chaos breaking out inside of her. So she simply trusted Nolan blindly and had confidence that their plan would work.

It was the perfect family picture. Edward Grayson and his wife entering the courtroom both looking serious with those mask-like expressions on their faces. The dark blue color of Edward's suit seemed to match Eleanor's ensemble of a skirt and blazer which she perfected with the white and yellow silk scarf elegantly draped around her neck. Nolan almost had to shiver when that woman - with her greying hair turned into an accurate permanent wave and her chin held up high being so confident of victory- walked past him. He definitely understood Victoria dislike of her. They were directly followed by the next generation of Graysons. Victoria's royal blue dress with a low cut neckline also matched her husband's tie and his grey suit. Nolan had to chuckle when he took in the whole picture of them imagining it to be taken directly out of some catalogue. In order to relieve her of some of the tension Nolan wanted to send Victoria a smile saying that he had managed to smuggle in the photos and the DNA test and that she didn't need to worry but she only looked straight ahead not searching for him in the crowd.

This time David didn't make the effort of trying to ignore her because he knew all too well that there was a chance that this was the last chance he would ever have of seeing her. The pain in his chest was still as strong as ever when he observed Conrad holding her hand on their way into the courtroom. But what worried him more was the empty expression that sat on Victoria's face. No sign of passion or hurt, or even anger. Instead she seemed numbed staring straight ahead her eyes devoid of any kind of emotion. Surprised he noticed the jewelry on her ears. She wore the earrings he had given to her as a present making her promise to him that she was always thinking of him when she wore them.

"David." Ryan Huntley said calmly and put a hand on David's shoulder trying to distract him from the Graysons' entrance. He didn't want to witness the incident from the last day of trial repeat itself.

"It's okay." David replied slowly breathing in and out while he turned his head away from the woman on whom his fate depended.

With the entrance of Judge Barnes the trial could finally start and with it a wave of anxiety rushed through Victoria's body. She kept her head lowered fighting the urge to take another Xanax to calm herself down. However she couldn't do that, not in there and also she didn't know how many pills it needed to call it an overdose. At one point she had stopped counting how many she had swallowed already. None of the Grayson family members had seemed to care about that anyway.

"Come on, you can do it. You're strong, we both know that." Conrad's loud voice near her ear made Victoria flinch. "Just think about Daniel, you're doing this for him."

Irritated she looked at her husband when she suddenly realized that she was being called to the stand and hadn't reacted. That was why Conrad then helped her to get up and Victoria felt everyone staring at her. Normally she never had a problem with that. Quite the contrary, it had often been something she had anticipated. But in that moment she simply felt vulnerable and exposed to all of those people expecting something from her. Still, the worst of it all was that she felt David's gaze resting on her. Although she didn't look at him, she knew where he was sitting and his stare seemed to burn her skin. All she wanted to do was to turn around and scream out her pain and the hurt inside of her, but instead she clumsily made her way to the middle of the courtroom almost stumbling over her own feet. Her mind was clouded and she couldn't manage to form a clear thought. Maybe this hadn't been a good idea after all. She had wanted that day to be so different. She had wanted to be strong and self-assured and confident about her testimony. But the reality was that she simply was a woman who had spent the last month in a hospital, putting all of her energy in the care of her daughter and being caught up by her psychological problems that had been troubling her for the last 20 years.

"Mrs Grayson, are you alright?" Judge Barnes asked knowing how much Conrad's freedom depended on his wife's words.

Victoria tried to answer him, but the words stuck in her dry throat.

"Would you like to have a glass of water first?" The iudge offered feeling honestly concerned about her.

She nodded and gladly accepted the glass that was being given to her before she laid her hand on the Bible to take the oath.

"Do you solemnly swear that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

"I do." She said having regained the ability to speak up and then sat down closing her eyes trying to prevent just another nervous breakdown. She needed to get through this now. She couldn't run away this time.

"Mrs Grayson." The prosecutor Tom Kingsley began slowly and gave her a reassuring look for he also knew how important Victoria's lies on the stand were for the Grayson family. "Could you please tell us when and where you first met David Clarke?"

This had always been a story she had liked to imagine telling on her wedding day or to her kids someday, certainly not in a courtroom while being under oath. Miraculously, she found the strength to reply calmly. "It was on December 31st, 1991. On a New Year's party at my house."

"Your Hampton's Estate?" Tom Kingsley specified.

"Yes, it was at Grayson Manor." Vividly the images of locking eyes with David for the first time, him smiling at her warmly, replayed in her head.

"And how would you describe your first encounter with Mr Clarke?" Kingsley required to know.

Being tempted to say that she had been immediately intrigued by his sympathetic and natural appearance, Victoria quickly swallowed. "We talked - briefly. He was a new employee at my husband's company and I had never seen him before at one of our events."

"So you simply introduced yourself to him?"

"Yes."

"Mrs Grayson, we have information from an eyewitness from that evening that Mr Clarke later intruded your private space when you were on your own in your husband's office. Can you confirm that?"

"Yes, it's true."

At her words, Nolan almost gasped in the audience. What was she doing? It appeared as if Victoria was supporting the prosecutor's strategy. He had to admit that she seemed pretty disturbed when taking the stand. Did that mean that the Graysons had finally managed to brainwash her?

"We have several other written accounts from Grayson Global employees stating that Mr Clarke regularly waited for you when you visited your husband in the office. He tried talking to you against your will and sent you several notes trying to get you in contact with him. It does seem that he became obsessed with you and when you didn't respond to him he began stalking you. Is that…"

"Objection, your honor!" Ryan Huntley got up to protest while David awaited Victoria agreeing with Kingsley's accusations with horror. "Counselor is leading the witness."

"Objection overruled." Judge Barnes decided but sent Tom Kingsley a warning not to take it too far. After all, they both were on Conrad Grayson's payroll but he still intended to stay a judge after the trial was over.

Boiling with anger Ryan Huntley sat down again. He knew that they were all working together and he couldn't do anything against that. Maybe even Roger Halsted's testimony wouldn't be enough to convince the jury of the truth.

"Please continue." Judge Barnes said to Tom Kingsley.

"Like I was saying, it appears that Mr Clarke began stalking you. Can you tell us about how you would describe your relationship with him?" It was what they had been planning and preparing for the last few weeks. Presenting David Clarke as a creepy stalker who had gone mad and kidnapped Victoria and her son after he had been discovered a terrorist. They had practiced Victoria's words so many times, Tom almost said them himself when Victoria didn't immediately respond.

"Mrs Grayson, it's understandable that you are still traumatized by the past events but only if you speak we can have justice prevail." Tom Kingsley did his best to make her feel at ease and when she finally opened his mouth he was more than relieved – at least before he had fully processed the words she was saying.

"David Clarke is the father of my daughter Charlotte Elizabeth born on December 13th last year." It was like she had dropped a bomb but it hadn't reached the ground yet. There were seconds of total silence in the courtroom before Tom Kingsley pulled himself together to save the situation.

"So you are suggesting that Mr Clarke forced himself on you?" He had no idea what had gotten into her, but she sure as hell was making this difficult for him. Sweat was beginning to drip from his forehead when she didn't answer again. Cautiously glancing to the side he could observe the whole Grayson family frozen in shock.

"No." Victoria confidently shook her head. Now her time had come to finally do the right thing. She was absolutely sure about that. Maybe for the first time in her life. "David Clarke looked for me in my husband's study on New Year's Eve in 1991 because he was being polite and complimented me on the great party before saying goodbye to be with his daughter. It was no intrusion at all. I rather felt comforted by his kind words because he was the only person on that day who asked me if I was okay. I wasn't because I was forced to spend the holiday separated from my 4-year-old son by my own husband. David Clarke did not do anything against my will. I was glad I could talk to him at Grayson Global and I was the one to start sending those notes." For the first time on that day, Victoria turned around to look at David sitting there in his prison uniform. He looked dumbfounded by her sudden confession but that honest look in his blue eyes was enough for her to continue. His presence did not unnerve her any longer but rather made her feel confident about what she was about to say next. "I fell in love with David Clarke and we began having an affair of which my husband caught wind. That's why he pinned his own crimes on David and I decided that it was best to run away together with our children to save us some time. Partly because I had also discovered that I was pregnant with David's child and I was afraid of what Conrad would do to me. All I can say is that David Clarke is innocent."

It was then that the bomb had definitely hit the ground. People began to talk frantically, confused about what they had just heard, not sure if they could believe what Victoria was saying.

Sheeesh, Victoria. You couldn't have added more suspense than that. Nolan thought to himself and finally stopped biting his nails out of fear what Victoria would say.

The three Graysons surely could not believe what Victoria had done either. They had all been sure that they had threatened her enough, lured her in enough and above all that she simply had a bad character just like them. Nevertheless it turned out they had been wrong about that after all.

"Quiet!" Judge Barnes shouted to keep the courtroom in order. He was aware that Victoria's confession changed everything.

"Mrs Grayson, you are on medication, we have a record proving that you have been diagnosed with post-natal depression. This is just your brain playing you a trick; none of your words reflect reality. " Tom Kingsley felt cornered and panicked while speaking. He was sure he didn't know a way out of that situation.

"May I?" Ryan Huntley stepped forward finally seeing his chance to turn the case around. "I think it's time for some cross-examination."

Judge Barnes allowed the motion not wanting to incriminate himself more than he already had.

"Mrs Grayson, if what you are saying is true, then why didn't you confess right in the beginning when Mr Clarke was convicted? Why did you hold back the information and instead stood by your husband's side?"

"My husband threatened me." Victoria admitted with watery eyes. It was now or never, her only chance to finally take down Conrad.

"Could you specify on that, please?" Ryan was relieved that Victoria decided to carry out their strategy after worrying she might have changed her mind.

"He threatened to kill my child. He said if I left him, he would kill my baby. I was so afraid because I knew what he was capable of. I knew that he had laundered money for terrorists who brought down flight 197. He also said that Daniel, my son, wouldn't be safe from the terrorists if I exposed him. So I stayed with him out of fear and to protect my children but I have regretted my decision ever since." In the corner of her eye, she could see Conrad being on the verge of going mad. He jumped up from his seat but his parents held him back. "I have a DNA test to prove that Charlotte is David's child and I have pictures and notes from the time of our affair."

When she finished her sentence, chaos in the courtroom broke out. People were loudly discussing Victoria's accusations getting into fights about whether she was to be believed or not. Victoria could hear Conrad angrily screaming her name calling her a liar and an ungrateful bitch. He had lost his temper completely not being able to believe that after all that time she committed the ultimate betrayal. Edward did his best to calm his son pointing out that people were already suspiciously eyeing the outraged Grayson but he was unsuccessful in doing so. Meanwhile Eleanor simply closed her eyes and folded her hands to pray that her family would be spared from the worst.

"Quiet everybody!" Judge Barnes shouted again trying to take control of the courtroom. "Order in this court! Calm down!" He slammed his hammer forcefully and people turned their heads to listen to him. "The evidence you refer to, Mrs Grayson, has not been confirmed beforehand. We will take a break and discuss on how to proceed. We will be back in one hour." With those words he got up to leave and chaos erupted once more.

"Victoria! You will not get away with this!" Conrad threatened for everybody to hear. "You will pay for that!"

"Can you make sure she gets out of here safely and is protected from the Grayson family?" Ryan Huntley asked one of the police officers in the courtroom.

"We will." The man nodded taking his place next to Victoria.

"Thank you, I'm so scared of what they might do to me." Victoria explained to the officer teary-eyed.

"Don't worry, Mrs Grayson, that's what we're here for." The man assured and accompanied her outside of the room.

"Thank you." She whispered to Ryan Huntley on her way out and smiled at him while she tried ignoring Conrad's endless screams after her. When they passed David she couldn't help herself but had to smile once more. The puzzled expression on his face told her that he hadn't expected her to actually reveal the truth. He was a nervous wreck due to the ups and downs of the trial and also looked extremely exhausted. She knew that it was far from over, that her confession did not mean that David would be released. The court still had to allow the evidence Nolan was probably handing over right in that moment and equally important: they still had to believe her testimony. But the look of love mixed with irritation on David's face when she walked by him and the brief flicker of a smile on his lips made her realize that this was all that she needed to stay calm and not those pills she had been prescribed.

You have no idea how much I struggled to write this chapter! I'n actually quite happy with how it turned out. I've never written a courtroom scene before and I figured watching How to get away with Murder does not really count as experience. :-D

I hope you're satisfied with the outcome of my research and doing my best to make the chapter seem at least a bit realistic. The next chapter will be the second part of the courtroom scene.

Please don't forget to review or send me a PM with your thoughts on the story since it's soon coming to an end. :)