Chapter 223: Collapsing Down Alone, Mute

[FROLO]

The courthouse was packed to the brim. It had never been this full. Ever. The case itself and the attention it had garnered had resulted in the prosecution getting the largest courthouse. Yet even that didn’t seem to be enough.

Not with the people who had arrived long before the courts could even decide who sat where and why.

There were journalists, news agencies, different officers of the law, both retired and still working, medical practitioners, students, and even ordinary Frolo citizens.

The silence inside the packed courtroom was suffocating with expectations that were unrealistic and realistic at the same time.

No one knew what would happen here, honestly.

Not even those who were directly involved in the case.

Yaroslav and Milan sat on the front row on the right side of the courtroom in silence, with Yaroslav staring at the witness stand like he was calculating the odds of him strangling all three medics in one go.

Milan looked bored, like she had better things to do than be here, yet the way she was holding Yaroslav’s hand, anyone would think that she was here for moral support.

Maybe that was all she was gunning for.

A good reputation for coming and standing with Yaroslav in the worst trial of their lives. Or maybe she had come to make sure Yaroslav didn’t leave with Katya at the end of the trial.

The truth they had come across over the last few days hadn’t exactly been comforting for her because she knew Yaro still had feelings for Katya Romanov.

She knew if Yaro saw Katya breaking down, the man would simply choose Katya over everything else. Over her, over their child. Over their new family. And she was not going to let that happen.

She had, after all, won her man, right?

On the left side of the courthouse were the Romanovs.

Katya Romanov, Andre, and Svetlana sat in the second row. They looked eerily calm, especially Katya, who had lost so much because of the medics. His hands were folded on his lap like he didn’t care.

It wasn’t fair to him, but he was not going to keep tapping into that pain.

If anything, he had only come to court to get his closure. He needed to move on, and maybe hearing what the court decided for these people he had once trusted was all that he needed to keep him going.

Maybe it was a lost cause, but closure was always a need, right? Especially now that he was done with Yaroslav completely.

Three rows from the last row sat his parents, Rahim and Volkov. Rahim kept her eyes on every entrance like she was scanning for security threats.

While Volkov watched the witnesses on the stand, his eyes filled with something that almost matched the way Yaroslav was looking at the three witnesses right now.

Masha’s eyes had remained on her son, her Mishka, who had suffered through everything and still was here.

She was proud of her son.

But that didn’t make her not want to demand answers from the three medics in the witness stand right now.

They had to wait.

The senator hadn’t come along this time, citing an emergency in the Senate committee. It was understandable, seeing how not much had moved since the explosions.

But he did promise that he’d be there if ever Katya needed him to show up. Katya hadn’t insisted on his attendance because this was an open-and-shut case. They would be done before noon anyway...

Right?

On the stand were the three medics in grey jumpsuits who had ruined the life of the city’s most protected omega. They looked beaten up and had busted lips, bruises that no one even needed to ask more to know.

The city had given them those.

Maybe where they were held in remand. Or maybe when they were being transported. But no one cared as much for their sanity as they cared for the masters who had hired them into the most insane of jobs.

Stealing someone’s entire marriage was peak insanity, yet they had done it like it was okay for them.

Outside the courthouse and across Frolo, the screens were all broadcasting only one thing. The live court proceedings of what they called the trial of the century.

Everyone was waiting.

So when the clock struck nine o’clock, and the court marshal walked into the courtroom and spoke, they all knew.

The time had come.

"All rise!" the court marshal said, and instantly the sounds of benches scraping were heard as the entire courtroom stood.

Then three judges walked in, their black robes and red collars a reminder of what this was and where everyone was at the moment.

Everything was getting more real.

Chief Justice Orlov took his seat first. He had been sitting on the bench for over thirty years and had never had any of his decisions overturned on appeal.

Justice Reginia was second; a former criminal judge known across the entire city for her spite of syndicates and her dedication to dismantling them for so many years.

Justice Hoffman, a known family court judge, sat last. Had seven years of experience as a judge, but was already the youngest justice ever to sit on the high bench alongside Chief Justice Orlov.

The three-judge bench comprised the best and the most no-nonsense judges the city trusted with their fates. Perhaps that was why it was easier for the prosecution to choose them for this particular case.

"Take your seats," Chief Justice Orlov said, and the courtroom followed even as Orlov adjusted the insanely thick file before him. Then he looked at the packed courtroom and then to the endless cameras in the courtroom.

The pressure on here was too high and too much, and they had known it coming in.

Especially with that one person missing.

Gods, this would be hell.

"The proceedings of today concern criminal case three-five-eight-six-zero. The City of Frolo versus Professor Danil Sorokin, Doctor Abdul Hamid, and Doctor Milena Belyaeva.

"The accused stand charged with medical fraud, multiple counts of conspiracy, professional misconduct, psychological abuse under medical authority,

"...and any additional charges that may arise from presented evidence in court," the Chief Justice read as he lifted his head occasionally to look at the trio on the witness stand.

He looked like he couldn’t believe what they had been reduced to, but at the same time, he had to be professional.

He knew the stakes.

They all did.

It was not just about Frolo anymore.

The realm was at risk, too.

Across the courtroom, people glanced at each other, breathing in phases as the silence settled on them heavily after every charge the Chief Justice read.

"The court wishes to remind everyone present today that these proceedings are being broadcast across the nation. Any disruption whatsoever will result in the immediate removal of the persons involved.

"Is that understood?" Chief Justice Orlov stated, and the courtroom all had the same response.

"Understood, Your Honour."

"Any attempt to intimidate witnesses and interfere with the proceedings will be treated as contempt of court. I have jailed people for less," Justice Reginia said as she leaned over.

No one doubted her.

They had seen her in action more than once.