WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

by Desktop Dragon

Ana Grey was always sure of who she was and where she came from, until a surprise email is sent to her informing her that she may be the long lost sibling of someone seeking answers. In New York Eva Cross is that person seeking answers as she has just had everything she took as fact turned upside down and she no longer knows who she is. I DO NOT OWN FSOG OR THE CROSSFIRE STORIES.

114. Chapter 114

AUTHORS NOTE: Two for one today as this was all one chapter but got a bit too long as I just kept writing so I split it into two.

Just to be clear, for this chapter I have no idea of the procedure of a court case where someone is pleading guilty with regard to a 'plea deal' in the States and how it is conducted. I am just going on what I have picked up from Google searches I've made and also from crime documentaries and the fact that in the UK even if someone pleads guilty to charges (even though we don't have plea deals) there still has to be the time in court for sentencing and so what I have written has also a fair amount of poetic licence (and also possibly a fair bit of melodrama) thrown in for good measure.

CHAPTER 114

(ELLIOT)

"Thanks for taking care of Ava for me" I say to Sadie and she just smiles at me.

"You know that if I can help you I will" she replies simply.

I glance at my daughter who is being distracted by my sister Lucy who looks up at me and smiles, mouthing the words good luck. I return the smile and mouth back thank you.

"I'd better be going then" I say and I take a deep breath.

"Alright, don't worry about Ava, I'll take good care of her" Sadie says and I smile as I have no doubt about that fact.

I turn to go, "Bye Ava, be a good girl" I call. Ava looks up and dropping her toys she stands and runs to me.

"I will" she says as she flings herself at me.

I leave the house and Sadie accompanies me out to the car where Meg is waiting for us.

"Hello Sadie" Meg says as she winds the window down.

"Hello, how are you Meg?" Sadie asks with obvious genuine concern.

Meg smiles and I'm happy to see it is a genuine one and not at all forced. "I'm ok, I'll be much better when I know that Kate is locked up and can't hurt us again" she says.

I automatically reach out for Meg as she says this and she grips my outstretched hand through the car window.

"Are you going to tell Ava about her?" Sadie asks and I think about that before shaking my head.

"I will when she is older, but I don't see the point now. She looks upon Meg as her mom, and Kate had so little to do with her, she never really bonded with her. She has more of a bond with our nanny Rachel".

"That is really quite sad" Sadie says, and I know she is probably thinking about the fact she was forced to give me up when she really didn't want to.

I shrug, "It is what it is, she never wanted Ava and made that fact obvious. I feel bad sometimes as I feel I forced her into it, but when I heard her reasons for eventually deciding to go ahead, I lost any guilt I may have had. She was completely twisted, and her thoughts that her having Ava would drive a wedge between Ana and Christian are laughable as she couldn't have got it more wrong. Ana and Christian don't want kids yet. Neither of them is ready for that responsibility, and while I believe they would both make excellent parents they are both too career orientated at the moment. Ana is planning big things with Grey Publishing and Christian… well, we all know about his career! Plus, Christian is only now getting his life in order, did you know he finally admitted mom failed him and called her out on it? That was massive for him, to finally admit that… I'm so proud of him how he is finally sorting out everything and losing all the baggage he has been carrying around for his entire life… although we all are, but he has more than the rest of us put together".

Sadie looks at me, "I think…" she stops and shakes her head.

"What?" I ask.

"I think… and this is just my opinion… that you were all a little unfair to Grace, she did what she thought was best for all of you and she made mistakes. Everyone is human and as humans we make mistakes. I really do hope that Christian and Grace can work things out, but from my perspective… I don't think I could've wished for a better person to have adopted you and raised you and I think you shouldn't be so harsh. Also, she wasn't the only one… What about Carrick? He was also there and a part of your childhoods, so he should also take equal responsibility for the mistakes that were made".

I look at her and smile, "I agree, dad did make mistakes, huge ones… not so much with Mia or with me, but he completely screwed up with Christian as he had no idea how to behave with him. That wasn't entirely his fault as he was in over his head with Christian and he has admitted that fact. But dad and Christian have completely turned things around because Ana got them together and made them open up to each other and hash things out. The difference is dad has owned all his mistakes… even the one's he wasn't aware that he had made until they were pointed out to him. Mom however, she says she knows she made mistakes… but I think until Christian also admitted that fact she felt somehow vindicated in the choices she had made, because he refused to blame her but now he has…" I shrug as I don't finish what I was going to say.

"To be fair to Grace though, our relationship has improved dramatically" Meg says squeezing my hand.

I nod, "I agree, and I'm glad as she was bang out of order the way she treated you" I say firmly.

Sadie smiles, "She is your mother Elliot and she loves you and she didn't want to see you get hurt again" she says.

I sigh, "I know, and I'm glad she has now seen that what she did, comparing Meg to Kate was wrong. I just have this feeling, a bad feeling that something else is going to happen… I can't put my finger on it, but something isn't right with mom at the moment. I have no idea what it is, but something is brewing. I'm sure we will all soon find out though" I say with a shrug.

"Well, put it out of your mind for today and concentrate on getting that woman out of your lives for good" Sadie says firmly as she reaches for me and gives me an affectionate hug.

I return it and thank her before climbing into the car.

Meg turns towards me, "I know what you mean" she says quietly.

I look at her as she reaches for my hand. "What?" I ask.

"What you said, that something is brewing with Grace" she says quietly.

I realise Meg knows something and is worrying about it, I remember the lunch date Meg went on with my mother the other day and I quickly realise that since then she has been a little quiet. I hope mom hasn't upset her again. "What's happened baby?" I ask gently.

"I think it has something to do with that woman dying… the one who abused Christian. From what Grace said to me when I met her for lunch the other day, I got the impression she is pissed at Ana".

I frown, "Ana? Why on earth would she be pissed at Ana?" I ask in confusion.

Meg sighs, "Because Ana called Grace and told her about that woman dying… and she also told her – in front of Christian, that she did it out of spite because she saw how badly Christian reacted to the news of that woman's death and she wanted Grace to feel as bad as he did, she also apologised to her but she said Christian took Ana's side and condoned what she had done".

I sit back in my seat, I knew a bit about this as Christian had told me, but wow. "I didn't realise that; Christian told me a bit about what had happened and I know Caroline is helping them all come to terms with Elena's death. They have been having joint therapy sessions and I know Ana is due to have one with mom and Caroline at some point. From what Christian told me though, I assumed that everything was sorted out. From what he said I just got the assumption that Elena dying had opened his eyes somehow and he had finally called mom out on her mistakes and she had apologised, he had forgiven her and it was all being put in the past".

Meg shrugs, "Maybe it has from Christian's perspective but from what Grace said to me… It made me think she hasn't let it go at all".

"What did she say to you baby?" I ask and I move towards her, coaxing her to tell me.

Meg sighs and bites her lip, "I don't want to cause trouble as I know what it's like to be on the receiving end of one of Grace's grudges, but she made a comment and from what she said I got the impression that she believes Christian is too influenced by Ana and that she is jealous of Ana's influence over Christian. She is scared that she can't say what she really feels about Ana because if she does she thinks that she will lose Christian completely, as he will defend Ana and pick Ana over her. That mixed with her own guilt over her mistakes is making her a very unhappy person".

I let out a loud sigh, "Shit, the question is do we tell Christian and Ana this? I mean I can't in good conscience allow my sister to go into a therapy session with mom if mom is feeling like this without a heads up, but does it look like we are meddling?" I rub my eyes roughly, "Fuck, now I know how Ana felt when she knew what Kate was like but didn't know what to do about what Kate had told her. Mom should never have said anything to you though, that was totally unfair of her".

Meg dips her head slightly at that acknowledging what I am saying, "Unless it is her way of getting how she feels across to Christian? I mean, she knows I would tell you what she had said and you being Ana's biological brother as well as Christian's brother. Is she trying to use us as an intermediary before she goes into the therapy session with Ana? She knows, you and Christian look out for each other and that it was Christian who made you aware about Kate, when Ana told him about Kate so is she thinking along those lines?"

I shrug, "I don't know but it's fucking unfair of her to put us in this position. Mom is obviously not thinking clearly, this is just like how she behaved towards you when she thought you were the enemy. She is behaving out of character, and so that says to me she now views Ana as the enemy… let me think about this, she was trying to protect me with the way she behaved towards you… so does that mean she is trying to protect Christian?"

Meg thinks about that, "I'm not sure, I can't see how as Ana has always had Christian's best interests at heart, Grace has said that herself and admitted as much that Ana is the best thing to have ever happened to Christian, so that just leaves…" she fades off as I end the sentence.

"Jealousy" I state firmly. "She is jealous of Ana because she has Christian's best interests at heart, and because Christian trusts her implicitly and that is compounded by the fact that Ana has finally made Christian see that mom made mistakes, mistakes which he refused to acknowledge" I add as it all comes together in my mind.

Meg's eyes widen, "She feels as though that while he refused to acknowledge her mistakes, she still had a hold on him. She feels that hold has gone now as he also sees her mistakes and so in her mind, she is going to lose her son, and she blames Ana for that".

I shake my head sadly as it all seems to come together. "But Christian forgave her, as far as he is concerned it's over, she made mistakes as we all do and he forgave her. Fucking hell - and we thought that he was the fucked up one! We need to tell him… and Ana. Let's get through today and then we will tell them. Mom and dad are going to be there, so let's see how mom behaves towards them – in particular how she behaves towards Ana. She won't make a scene, not today. Plus Gideon and Eva will be there, so she won't do or say anything that will raise red flags for them".

Meg nods, "Yeah, you're right. Come on let's go or we are going to be late, let's get your crazy ex out of our lives and then we tell Christian and Ana about Grace… I think we should also tell them our theory, so that gives them a more rounded picture and doesn't provoke a complete showdown when Ana goes for her therapy session with Grace".

"I agree" I say and with that we leave Sadie's house and head toward the court.

oooOOOooo

When we arrive we see everyone waiting for us.

"Here you are!" Eva exclaims and walks towards me with her arms open.

She greets me with a fierce hug, "Lets watch that bitch burn!" she hisses in my ear making me smile.

"I couldn't have put it better myself" I reply with a grin.

As Eva greets Meg, everyone closes in to greet us. I am watching mom closely she is quiet and distant and keeping right away from Christian and Ana.

"So, what's happening?" I ask as I look around.

"Elliot"

I turn at the voice, and see David walking swiftly towards us, "Hi" I say as I stick out my hand for him to shake which he does.

"We are up next, the case before us is just finishing and the judge is closing and passing sentence as we speak so we don't have long".

I nod, "I apologise, we got stuck in traffic on the way here" I say by way of excuse but I know that sitting talking outside Sadie's house for a while didn't help matters either. David waves his hand dismissively.

"It can't be helped, these things are sent to try us" he says. "So, the plea bargain has been agreed. I will speak for you and Kate's attorney will speak for her. She will be asked if she has anything to add, and we are all hoping that she doesn't do something stupid at that point and she has been briefed by her attorney to keep it brief and benign. You will be asked for your victim statement and you can read it or I will do it for you".

I nod, "I want mine read by you as I don't want to even acknowledge her existence anymore, but I think Meg wants to speak on her own behalf" I look towards Meg as I say this and she nods.

"I do" she says.

We take our seats as we wait for our turn in the courtroom. I idly wonder where Kate is at this moment, but my attention is drawn to Christian who sits down next to me.

"Good luck bro and just know we are all here to support you" he whispers to me.

"Thanks Christian" I reply gratefully. I lean closer and he dips his head to hear what I am going to say. "When this is all over, I need to talk to you and Ana about something" I whisper.

Christian looks at me with immediate concern but just nods his head.

"Alright" he replies simply.

"Elliot" my dad says as he sees David disappearing with another attorney through a door.

I take a deep breath, as I know that this means we will be called in soon. As I am thinking this the doors of the courtroom open and we are called in.

We make our way in and everyone takes their seats, behind us. Meg and I sit beside David and I feel Gideon lean forward and press his hand on my shoulder in silent support. I turn and smile at him acknowledging the gesture.

Then I see her, Kate is brought in and sits down beside her attorney. She is wearing her own clothes and I frown at this, as I know she has come from the jail and she is pleading guilty so she will be returning there. I wonder what shit she is trying to pull now. She looks across at me and opens her mouth to speak but her attorney pulls on her arm and whispers in her ear. Thankfully she sits down and doesn't say anything. I look behind me at Christian who has his eyebrows raised at what has just happened and I know he is wondering what she is going to do. Then I see movement and I see Eamon and Ethan quietly slip into the room. I nudge Meg and nod my head behind me she looks and grips my hand tightly. I see Kate has also noticed their presence and tries to get their attention by smiling brightly at them. That smile fades as they completely ignore her, but they acknowledge my smile with a nod.

The judge appears and we all stand up as he takes his seat.

He quickly outlines the case and asks the attorneys to approach. I watch as David and Kate's attorney outline the details of the plea bargain and our conditions to it, the defence attorney acknowledges and accepts our conditions without reservation. The judge questions them both and they answer the questions concisely and clearly and then he turns his attention towards us.

"Are there any victims statements to be read?" he asks looking at me and then at Meg. Meg nods and stands up.

"Yes sir" she says nervously.

David also acknowledges I also have something to say but that he is reading my statement on my behalf. I hear Kate gasp at this as she realises why I have chosen to do it this way.

The judge looks towards Meg kindly, "Mrs Grey if you would like to step forward" he says.

Meg swallows hard and nods before stepping forward. I see her hands are trembling slightly as she unfolds the paper in her hand.

She clears her throat and before she starts, she takes a shot look at me, then she turns and looks squarely at Kate making eye contact with her. I'm happy to note that this seems to make Kate uncomfortable.

"My name is Megumi Grey and my husband is Elliot Grey. I have done nothing to harm Katherine Kavanagh and yet she has pursued me with a hateful vendetta purely for falling in love with a man who she selfishly believes should be with her, not because she loves him but because she thinks it is simply her right to be with him to use him for who he is and what he has built". She pauses as Kate exclaims loudly at that, until her attorney puts his hand on her arm to quieten her. The judge glares at Kate and then Meg continues.

"She married him to exploit the benefits his personal wealth and his family name affords her, and I simply got in her way. Elliot was divorced when I met him and we quickly fell in love and married, yes it was quick and yes even we were surprised by how fast things moved. Elliot loves me and I love him with all my heart. He is the kindest man I have ever met and he has a beautiful pure gentle soul, something which his ex-wife never bothered to discover". She pauses as she looks at me with complete adoration in her eyes and I smile at her. She looks away and fixes her gaze on Kate once more.

"My surname is now Grey, but I do not capitalise on the benefits that surname affords me nor do I exploit the family connections I now have as a result of marrying into that particular family. As far as I am concerned, I married the most wonderful loving man I have ever met and I became at first, a step-mom and now through the adoption process legal mother to the most wonderful bright intelligent little girl - Elliot's and now my daughter. We were delighted when we discovered I was pregnant, as it completed our little family. Our joy increased when we discovered that I was expecting twins. That joy turned to sadness and despair when through the actions of Kate Kavanagh for reasons which were purely selfish, she killed one of my unborn children when she deliberately ran me over. A fact which is not in question, as it was in a public place and witnessed by many people. I lost a child due to her actions that day and the only reason I am strong enough to stand here today and face that woman, who I have done nothing to is because of the unquestioning love and devotion showed to me by my husband and the unwavering support given to me by the entire Grey family and also by Eamon Kavanagh and his family, I sincerely thank you all". Megumi pauses and looks towards everyone as she acknowledges them.

She takes a deep breath and her gaze hardens considerably as she looks back at Kate. "Kate, I know that you believe that you should be with Elliot but I know what you did to him. I know how you treated him and I know that you didn't love him. You only married him for how his name and wealth and the influence of his family could benefit you. When he became aware of how you really felt towards him and his daughter, from the words that came out of your own mouth he rightfully divorced you and cut you from his and her life. He met me and rebuilt that shattered life and together we looked positively towards the future. You focussed your hatred and jealousy on me, because he refused to acknowledge you and so you tried to take away his happiness once more, but you failed. You mowed me down in your brother's car and in doing so you killed one of our unborn children. But you failed to destroy Elliot and I by doing that heinous act because of our love and mutual respect for each other and we are fortunate enough with the fact our other baby survived your attack. This is helping us to come to terms with our tremendous loss and the sorrow that surrounds it. However, that does not in any way condone what you did. While I pity you for your previous actions towards me personally as they were just petty, annoying and downright ridiculous. What you did that particular day crossed a line, as your actions not only physically harmed me – someone who had done nothing to you personally, but also killed the baby I was carrying and as a mother I will never ever forgive or forget the fact that you took the life away of someone who had done nothing to you before it even fully began. I hope that when your time eventually comes there is a special place in hell for what your actions did to our innocent little baby".

You could hear a pin drop and I have never been so proud of Meg, she has nailed it. She has effortlessly put Kate in her place laying out the facts that she is a vindictive selfish mare who focussed her hatred on to the wrong person. She has shown her utter contempt for Kate for her actions towards her by simply dismissing her by pitying her but also not forgiving her for what she did to our child. I look at Kate and see Meg's words have hit her hard. Whatever she expected Meg to say she didn't expect that. I realise I don't want to take anything away from that and I stand as David moves to read my statement.

"I do not wish for my original statement to be read as I cannot add anything more to what my wife has already said, her words today have said everything that needs to be said and I do not wish to detract from them in any way at all. I have nothing I want to say to Miss Kavanagh. My statement was originally to be read by my attorney as I had no desire to give Miss Kavanagh any attention that she clearly craves from me. As far as I am concerned Miss Kavanagh is completely irelevent to me and has been since I discovered the truth about her and we divorced, but for her actions towards my wife and our unborn child she is now dead to me".

I hear Kate gasp at that and out of the corner of my eye I see her trying to attract my attention but I ignore her and turn towards Meg who is now beside me again and I retake my seat and wrap my arm around her and kiss her.

I hear a commotion as Kate leaps to her feet.

"You can't do this to me!" she screeches.

"Miss Kavanagh you will be held in contempt of court if you do not control yourself" The judge orders.

Kate ignores him and I glance at Eamon who has his head in his hands and Ethan is shaking his head sadly. I glance at my family all of whom are staring at Kate in shock and utter disgust at her outburst. Meg is gripping my hand tightly and I turn and wrap my arms around her almost as though I am trying to shield her from Kate's outburst.

"Why are you doing this to me?! Did you marry her just to spite me? I was your wife first!" she screams and I close my eyes and grip Meg even tighter.

Meg looks up and Kate must see her as she screams again, "You should've just fucking died that day! Why didn't you just die?!"

The judge glares at Kate and her attorney is whispering furiously into her ear, obviously telling her that what she is saying will have a bearing on the sentence that the judge decides on. She calms down as I can still perceive her out of the corner of my eye but she sits defiantly still staring at us and I stoically continue to ignore her.

The judge has clearly heard enough and clears his throat.

"Mr Grey, Mrs Grey first of all I would like to extend my sincere condolences for your loss". He pauses and looks at the files in front of him.

"I have read all the evidence surrounding this case, and I have never seen such an extensive amount of premeditation in all my years of service. Miss Kavanagh it is clear that when your ex-husband divorced you. You realised just how your actions would affect you and your life, so you embarked on a tireless tirade of intimidation and harassment towards the entire Grey family. When it became clear Mr Grey had comprehensively moved on, your vengeance took on a darker more calculated tone, resulting in the incident with Mrs Grey, which has brought you into this courtroom today. I have watched the footage and I have read all the corroborating written evidence and it is evident to me that your intention that day was to kill Mrs Grey".

"I didn't!" Kate shouts.

"Silence!" the judge orders, and Kate quietens immediately. "Your actions that day along with the corroborating evidence, including your own admission a few moments ago during your undignified outburst points to the fact you were intending to kill Mrs Grey. So, it is only by the clever interpretation of the law that your attorney has managed to secure the deal he did, for which you should consider yourself extremely fortunate. However, it is obvious to me that you knew that your attempt to kill Mrs Grey would also result in the death of the children she was carrying. A fact which sadly played out with the death of one child. This leaves me with a dilemma as I believe that you should be charged with first degree murder in this case as you intentionally and with malice of forethought wanted to kill Mrs Grey which had you succeeded would've resulted in the death of the babies she carried. The sentence for this crime is life imprisonment, with no possibility for parole for your actions. However, the deal has been agreed so I have no alternative but to sentence you to the full extent of the law giving you the harshest sentence available to me for second degree murder. I sentence you to life imprisonment". The gavel comes down and there are gasps of shock reverberating around the courtroom. Nobody expected that, I glance at Kate and see her looking completely mortified by this outcome. She looks at Eamon.

"Daddy?!" she calls.

I look towards Eamon and watch as he stands and deliberately ignoring her, walks out of the courtroom.