Brandon's POV
I was beside Seth when Chloe began to speak.
The courtroom had been quiet before that.
Not silent—courtrooms were never truly silent. But when Chloe took the stand, everything seemed to fade.
I looked at her.
Then I looked away.
I couldn't bear it.
She sat beneath the harsh courtroom lights, her hands folded tightly in her lap. She looked smaller than she had the day I'd first seen her backstage at the competition.
She seemed fragile.
From the moment the judge asked her to begin. To the moment she began talking about what had happened to her. The tremble in her tone. The pain she had carried.
She didn't describe anything graphically. She didn't have to.
Every word was enough.
My stomach twisted.
I stared at the floor, my fingers digging into my palms beneath the table.
I wanted to disappear.
I wanted to stand up and scream that I was sorry.
That none of this should have happened.
That my family should never have been connected to hers.
