The judge banged his gavel again, and the noise in the gallery slowly died down.

My phone buzzed once more.

Another stock alert. The drop had widened to five percent.

I glanced at the screen, my expression unchanged.

My calm seemed to break her.

“You!” She shot up from the witness stand. Her finger trembled as it aimed at me. “I’m reliving a nightmare up here, and you’re worried about your money?!”

Her tears started flowing harder.

“Do you have any idea what I’ve been through? I was going to be a model! Your son ruined me! He completely ruined me!”

Gavin rushed to her side to calm her down. “Tiffany, deep breaths. Just tell your story. The court will get you justice.”

She sat back down, wiping her tears with a shaky hand.

“Go on, dear. Tell everyone what happened that night.”

Tiffany took a deep breath, her voice breaking.

“I was just… I was just taking a walk in the backyard. It’s always so safe back there, so quiet.”

“And then?”

“Cooper just appeared out of nowhere. I think he was drunk. He knocked me onto the grass.” Her voice grew frantic. “He was so strong. Unnaturally strong for a teenager.”

The jury was hanging on her every word.

“He pinned me down and started tearing at my clothes. I struggled, but it was no use. His hands were at my throat. Tearing at my clothes…”

She touched her neck brace, wincing in pain.

“I could feel his breath on my neck. Hot and ragged. Like an animal.”

“And then?” Gavin prompted.

“I screamed for help, and he started hitting me. Over and over, punching my face, my chest, my arms…”

Her performance was peaking. She looked ready to faint.

“There was blood everywhere. I thought I was going to die right there.”

Sounds of sympathy came from the gallery.

“Monster!”

“He’s not even human!”

“Harper, how could you raise a kid like that?”

I remained perfectly still, my face calm.

But in my head, I was already picking apart the holes in her story.

Unnaturally strong?

Tried to bite her neck?

Breath like an animal?

Interesting.

“Wait.”

My voice was quiet, but it sliced through the noise. The room went silent.

“May I interrupt?”

The judge frowned. “The defendant has counsel.”

“I’d like to ask the questions myself,” I said, standing up and smoothing the sleeve of my blazer. “Miss Tiffany, I’d like to confirm a few details.”

Gavin shot to his feet. “Objection! The defendant is intimidating the victim!”

“Your Honor, I simply wish to clarify a few technical points.”

The judge eyed me. “Allowed. But be respectful.”

I walked toward Tiffany. My composure was clearly making her nervous.

“You said he ‘tore’ at your clothes. And those marks on your neck… you said he bit you?”

Tiffany stared at me, confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Think about it. A man in a rage uses his fists. He rips and tears with his hands. An animal bites. An animal acts on pure instinct. You're describing an animal attack, not a human one.”

Gavin leaped up again. “Objection! The defendant is humiliating the victim and implying she’s a liar!”

The judge banged his gavel. “Ms. Mitchell, watch your words.”

I turned to the judge. “Your Honor, I’m not questioning the victim’s honesty. I’m simply pointing out a biological fact.”

Then I turned back, looking directly into Tiffany’s eyes.

Her gaze started to shift.

I gave her my first smile of the day, but it was as cold as ice.

“It’s obvious you’ve never even seen my son. If you had, you would’ve come up with a much better lie.”

Tiffany’s face flushed red.

She clearly hadn’t expected me to challenge her so directly.

“How… how can you say that?” she stammered, her voice thick with anger. “I almost died!”

“But you didn’t,” I said calmly, watching her reaction. “And you’re able to stand here and testify in perfect detail.”

“Because I was lucky!” Tiffany was almost screaming now. “If my neighbor hadn’t heard…”

She paused. A flicker of cunning in her eyes.

“Actually… this wasn’t the first time.”

The entire room refocused on her.

“Ever since they moved in, he’s been following me. At the community gym, at the pool, even outside my house.” She took a deep breath, making herself look weaker again. “The way he looked at me… it was predatory. Like… like he wanted to tear me to pieces.”

Angry whispers erupted from the jury box.

“A total creep!”

“A kid like that is a danger to everyone!”

“He should be locked up!”

I remained expressionless.

“Cooper doesn’t go to the community gym.”

"You're lying!" Tiffany shrieked. "I have witnesses! People saw him!"

“Name one.”

Her mouth opened, but no names came out.

Just then, Brenda shot up from her seat in the gallery.

“That’s enough!” her voice was a piercing shriek. “Harper, you will not humiliate my daughter like this!”

“You want proof?” Brenda held up her phone. “This is a recording from that night. I heard a noise and hit record.”

Brenda connected her phone to the court’s audio system.

A muffled sound filled the speakers.

Heavy breathing.

The thud of an impact.

Some other unidentifiable noises.

And then, Tiffany’s faint whimper: “No… please, stop…”

The room fell silent.

The recording was more powerful than any testimony.

The jury’s faces grew darker with anger and pity.

Gavin nodded, satisfied. “That is a live recording of that night. Ladies and gentlemen, what do you hear? Violence, pain, and the cries of an innocent girl begging for her life.”

I listened closely to the recording, catching every detail.

The heavy breathing…

The thuds…

The background noise…

Wait.

“Can you play that again?” I asked suddenly.

“Why?” Gavin asked, on guard.

“I want to listen to the details.”

The recording played again.

This time, I focused on the background sounds.

The breathing… the impacts… Tiffany’s whimpers…

And… a bird call.

A nocturnal bird.

“Interesting,” I said under my breath.

“What’s interesting?” the judge asked.

I stood and addressed the jury. “Everyone, please pay attention to the bird call in the background of that recording. That is the call of a night thrush, a bird that is only active late at night.”

I turned to Tiffany. “But your testimony placed the attack around six p.m. In broad daylight. That bird is nocturnal. It doesn't sing until well after midnight.”

Tiffany’s face paled. “I… I might have gotten the time wrong…”

“Did you get the time wrong, or was this recording not made at that time at all?”

Gavin jumped to his feet. “Objection! The defendant is making baseless speculations!”

But that small point of doubt did little to calm the mob.

The live-stream comments were still flying.

“She could have been wrong about the time, but the recording is real!”

“Harper’s just making excuses!”

“This kind of legal trick is disgusting!”

I glanced at the stock alert on my phone.

Down another two percent.

Gavin clearly realized he needed something stronger to shut me down.

He walked to his table and picked up a clear evidence bag.

Inside was a lock of golden fur.

“Your Honor, I would like to submit the final nail in the coffin.”

He held the bag high for everyone to see.

“We found this on Miss Tiffany’s clothes.” He held the bag higher. “Golden hair. And semen. We ran the DNA. It’s a perfect match to your son, Cooper!”

The room erupted.

Gavin’s voice boomed, turning to the jury. “Ladies and gentlemen, that is the nail in the coffin!”

“DNA evidence!”

Excited murmurs rippled through the jury box.

“She has nothing left to say now!”

“Science doesn’t lie!”

“Harper, what’s your excuse for this?”

Gavin strutted in the center of the courtroom. A victory lap.

“Your Honor, in the face of such conclusive evidence, I demand an immediate judgment of five million dollars in civil damages!”

He pointed at me, his voice ringing with power. “And we are filing for an emergency restraining order. Keep that monster one thousand feet away from my client at all times!”

The gallery burst into applause.

“Yes! Keep that little monster away from her!”

“Five million isn’t enough!”

“He should be in jail!”

I looked at the bag of golden fur, and the corner of my mouth tilted up in a slight smile.

That tiny change in expression didn’t escape anyone’s notice.

“Look at her!” Brenda shrieked from her seat. “The proof is staring us in the face, and she’s smiling! That woman has no soul!”

Her voice grew shriller. “Harper Mitchell, if you think five million dollars will make this go away, you are dead wrong!”

Brenda stormed toward the front, her eyes spitting fire. “I will ruin you, Harper! I’ll bankrupt your company! I’ll run you out of this town!”

She whipped out her phone and went live. “Everyone, look at her! Look at this cold-blooded monster! We have DNA proof that her son destroyed my daughter, and she’s just sitting there, smiling!”

The comments on her live-stream exploded.

“Scum!”

“How is she even a mother?”

“Harper Mitchell. Remember that name.”

“Boycott her company!”

Just then, Tiffany let out a pained moan.

“Mom… I… I can’t…”

Her body swayed, and then she slowly collapsed to the side.

“Tiffany!” Brenda shrieked, rushing toward her.

Gavin immediately called for the paramedics. “Quick! She’s been triggered again! It’s all because of the defendant’s cold-hearted attitude!”

The courtroom descended into chaos.

Cameras flashed wildly. The online audience was completely captivated by the drama.

“That poor girl!”

“This is all Harper’s fault!”

“That woman is a demon!”

I remained in my seat, calmly observing it all.

The paramedics checked Tiffany’s blood pressure and pulse, then confirmed she had simply fainted from emotional distress.

“She needs rest,” the medic told the judge.

The judge looked at me. “Ms. Mitchell, in the face of this evidence, do you have anything else to say?”

I slowly rose to my feet and adjusted my blazer.

“I have one question, Your Honor.”

“What is it?”

“So let me confirm,” I said, my gaze locking onto Gavin. “This hair and this semen… they came from the attacker.”

“Of course!” Gavin said smugly. “It was found on the victim’s clothes.”

“And you, Miss Tiffany?” I asked. “You agree?”

Tiffany, who had conveniently “awakened,” nodded weakly. “Yes… that’s it… I’ll never forget when he grabbed me…”

“Excellent.” I turned to the judge, my voice ringing with clarity. “Then we are all in agreement. This evidence came from the person who attacked Tiffany. This evidence is the key to this entire case.”

“That is correct,” the judge affirmed.

Brenda stood up again in the gallery. “She’s just trying to stall! Your Honor, rule now! Don’t listen to any more of her nonsense!”

“Yes! Rule now!”

“Make her pay!”

“Justice for Tiffany!”

The entire courtroom had become a sea of anger.

I checked my watch, then looked at the judge.

“Your Honor, since this is the deciding piece of evidence, I believe this case will be settled very soon.”

“What do you mean?”

I smiled. “I’d like to call a witness.”

Gavin frowned. “What witness? This case is closed.”

“I call the defendant to the stand,” I announced, my voice cutting through the tension.

The judge stared. “You’re calling your son?”

“Yes.” I turned toward the heavy courtroom doors. “Bring in Cooper.”

The room fell silent.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the violent, dangerous, rich-kid monster to walk through the door.

The doors opened. And everyone stared. Utterly stunned.