The Mysterious Girl
Chapter 14

Raven

“Raven are ready for the meeting?” Mike asked and I nod. The news had become public because of Chris’s father being involved in it because he was a famous lawyer. We were in Mike’s law firm but I was sitting in his huge office as she went through some paper work.

For criminal cases, Deposition wasn’t allowed especially for my case of rape but they wanted to meet with us before the court to discuss something and getting facts straight so Mike decided to give them a chance hesitantly.

“Here’s some coffee for you,” Penny, Mike’s assistant said entering the room with a disposable cup of vanilla iced coffee and I took it from her gratefully.

“Thank you. I’m Raven Rex,” I say looking at her and she smiled sitting next to me. She was a pretty woman with blonde hair and green eyes. She looked very confident too.

“Penny, Mike’s assistant,” she said smiling.

“You are the one who is his son’s friend right? The one who’s case he took immediately and putting everything else on hold?” she asked and I shrug my shoulder.

“I am sure you will win your case Raven because Mike always wins his cases,” Penny said and I smile.

“Good luck for your meeting,” she said walking out as Mike came up to me and held some files in his hand.

“Come on Raven, it’s time,” he said and we walked out of his office. We got down one floor and Penny leads us to a big conference room.

“Raven, do not lose your cool whatever happens alright and stay confident,” Mike says and I nod. I enter the room and I faced those disgusting men. There they sat my abusers. Jesse Martin and Jack Richardson in their suits with their lawyers.

“Samuel Higgins, Jesse’s and Jack’s lawyer,” their lawyer said shaking hands with Mike and Mike didn’t smile.

“George Hugh, Jared’s lawyer,” he said and I look at Jared who gave me a small smile. It had been so long that I saw him and I smiled. His big blue eyes looked the same and his messy blonde hair looked longer than before. He was neatly shaven too. He looked good.

“Mike Davis,” Mike said and he took the chair out for me and I sit down. I stared at the three people who ruined my life and they never once looked at me because they were guilty and they knew it.

“So Raven, when did you and the accusers come in contact?” Samuel asked.

“We all went to the same high school,” I reply.

“Did you have any interaction with either of them?” he asked.

“I once slapped Jesse because he was misbehaving with a girl. The next day he brought a band and tried asking me out but I rejected him. For prom, Jack asked me to be his date and I agreed. On the day of the prom, Jack slipped something in my drink and the next thing I knew, I saw chained in a room,” I say looking at them.

“Did you try and raise an alarm?” Samuel asked and I give him a look because obviously if you are being held a hostage, you will try to raise an alarm.

“Yes I tried to but it was of no use. I gave up after a while,” I said.

“At the time of penetration, did you cry with your eyes?” he asked and I looked at him shocked.

“Yes,” I reply.

“Every time they had sex with you?” he asked again and it angered me.

“Yes every time they had sex with me and every time they physically abused me for 2 years,” I say.

“How are you so sure that you were raped? What if you gave them consent but now since you have no money, you are trying to sue them?” he asked.

“Because I have my morals. I never gave them consent and I begged them to let me go but they never did. They destroyed my life and one of them impregnated me and now I have one of their daughters,” I say and they look up at me for the first time.

“Tell us about the daughter,” he asked.

“Her name is Hailey; she is about 2 years old now. I gave her up for adoption because I couldn’t bring her up because I was struggling myself and her adoptive parents know about my story too,” I say.

“Do you know who the father is?” Samuel asked and I look at Mike.

“It’s Jared Harris,” Mike said and it was the first time I heard about it too. Jared looked up and met my eyes. Jared was always the nice one among the three because he actually kind of at least cared about me.

“Tell us about Jared and yourself. What was the both of yours arrangement?” George asked and I looked at him.

“Jared and I were in a relationship. He never laid his hands on me but only once with my consent. We spent the night together because we confessed our feelings for one another. He never again touched me without my consent,” I say and Mike nods.

“So, you are saying that Jared never abused you?” George asked and I nod.

“Yes. He never did,” I reply looking at Jared.

“Then why is my client here?” George asked furiously.

“Because George, your client was in a relationship with my client and now they have a child together. So your client is as much involved in this case as a witness so that is why he is here,” Mike said and George shuts up.

“Alright, let’s get real,” Samuel said placing his hands on the table and moved forward. I look at him confused.

“Why do we have to spoil their reputation? Their parents are of high society and they have to be clean so why don’t we settle here? $25,000?” he asked and I was angry.

“Are you out of your mind?” Mike asked and Samuel stayed calm.

“Alright, $50,000 and it’s the final amount,” he said and Mike stood up.

“This is unacceptable. Would you do the same if your daughter was raped and held as a hostage for about 2 years? Would you shut her up with money? Raven is innocent and she deserves to be set free. These bastards will be serving their time in jail. See you in court Samuel and you, all there of you, you will regret ever meeting Raven,” he said and asked them to leave.

He called the court and they set dates for our hearing a week from now. All the evidence was already gathered. I had given Mike everything and he is someone I can trust so I felt protected.

“So Raven, get ready for the court hearing alright?” Mike said and I nod. He helped me by accompanying me till the ground floor where I saw Chris waiting in the lobby. He stood up as soon as he saw us.

“Bye,” Mike said waving at us and went back to the elevator.

“What are you doing here?” I ask and Chris smiles as he lets me move in front of him through the automatic glass doors.

“Well, I knew you had the meeting with them and I know that it is stressful so I thought we can go and ice cream,” he said and I smile because that sounded good.

“So what happened in there? Only if you are comfortable sharing it,” he said as we walk along the footpath.

“Their lawyer, Samuel was an absolute ass. He asked me so many questions about my rape. He even asked me if I cried with my eyes. He even accused me of giving them my consent and now that I want money, I am suing them. He offered to pay me $ 50,000 to shut up,” I say and Chris was mad too.

“That bastard,” Chris said and I laugh.

“I’m glad you refused,” he said and I nod.

“The date for my hearing is set for a week from now and I hope you can be there,” I say looking at him a little.

“Of course Raven,” he said and I smile looking at my feet. I was red. Chris did something to me that I have never felt before. I felt comfortable around him and this was the first time I felt comfortable around a man before because of what happened but I trust him. He was a good man.

“Alright, you like mint and chocolate right?” Chris asked and I nod. He knew the flavor I liked so I sat down near the tables as he went to get it for me.

“You are Raven Rex aren’t you?” a girl asked coming closer to me with her mom and I nod, confused that someone knew about me.

“Raven, I just want to say that you are incredibly strong. We hope that you will get the justice you deserve,” the girl said and I smile.

“You inspire me. Like the way you stood up for yourself and the way you fought against everyone and you stand on your own feet like an independent woman. As a mother let me tell you this Raven, I am proud of the woman you are today,” she said and that brought tears to my eyes.

“Thank you, the both of you. It really means a lot,” I say and they smile leaving me. Chris sat down and gave me my ice cream and I took it. He kind of knew about what the women told me so he smiles at me and sits down in front of me.

“When Mike mentioned that Jared was the father of my daughter, his eyes lit up. He just was so happy but confused,” I say and Chris looks at me. I didn’t mean to say this but I was just wondering about it.

“Jared was always the nice one. He was so sweet,” I said.

“Did you love him?” Chris asked and I take a lick from my ice cream.

“I have never loved anyone in my life but my feelings were strong for him and by what he said, his feelings were too strong for me. We only slept together once and the other two raped me multiple times a day but Hailey is Jared’s daughter,” I say and Chris nods.

“Do you still have feelings for him Raven?” Chris asked and I think. Do I have feelings for Jared?

“I don’t know. It’s been so long, almost two years since I’ve seen him. So no, I don’t think so,” I say and Chris had a look of relief on his face. He was smiling with relief. We walked to his car and he dropped me off near my apartment.

“Thank you Chris,” I say and he smiles as he looks at me. I think the nerves got to me and I gave him a peck on his cheek. I have touched a man in so many years because of my fears but I wanted to show Chris my appreciation.

“Good night,” I say walking into my building and I swear my heart was racing.