Falling For The Girl I Bullied
Chapter 180

Kyle’s P.O.V.

I could feel the anxiety and uneasiness that she was feeling right now. It was my first time inside a courtroom too, but she was on pins and needles. She was about to go to give her statement, and it was taking her to the brink. “You will be okay…. Just trust me,” I whispered to her while gently stroking the back of her hand with the pad of my thumb. She tried to smile, but her smile faltered. I saw Sia and her father too. Sia had a calm face, as if she had already accepted her mother’s truth, but Mr. Bishop was still anxious.

Soon Violet was called, and she took a few deep breaths before going there. She had nothing more to say as she was unconscious all the time. Yet she had to give her statement due to the indirect involvement of Sia and her friends. Mrs. Bishop looked calm, but she looked thinner and older than I had seen her in the past. At first, Mr. Westfield questioned Violet, and she answered him truthfully. It was the same statement that she gave back when she woke up in the hospital. He then questioned her about Sia and her relationship. She once again answered him truthfully.

I looked at Sia to see her reaction, but her face was still devoid of any emotion. She was just looking at a blank point in front of her. After Mr. Westfield, Mrs. Bishop’s lawyer started questioning Violet.

The lawyer: Do you know the lady sitting right in front of you?

Violet: (nodding in agreement) Yes… I know her. She is Mrs. Claire Bishop, my schoolmate, Sia Bishop’s mother.

The lawyer: Do you know her personally by any means?

Violet: (Shaking her negatively) No…. I never met her personally before. This is the first time that we have been in front of each other.

(There were some murmurs around the room but everyone went quiet when the judge asked them to. I knew what the attorney was trying to do. Although all the evidences were against Mrs. Bishop, he was trying to get something from Violet so that Mrs. Bishop got the minimum punishment in this case.)

The lawyer: (In a calm tone) Will you tell me why did Mrs. Claire Bishop hire people to kidnap you?

Violet cleared her throat and looked back at Sia. At the same time, Sia also looked at her. There were a few seconds of silent conversation between them. Violet then looked back at the attorney. She had her back towards us, and that was why I couldn’t see her expression. Her voice was calm but she was still nervous.

Violet: Both I and Sia love the same boy who also studies with us. I guess Mrs Bishop only wanted to eliminate her daughter’s love rival?

(I smiled because she didn’t make a statement but raised a question here. It didn’t give the lawyer an opportunity to use her words against her in this case.)

The lawyer: (Raising his brows) Are you not sure about her motive?

Violet: How can I? I am not the one who hired those people or had any ulterior motive, Mr. Gilbert. I guess only the person who conspired the whole ordeal can tell us the motive better.

I smirked and leaned backwards while looking at the lawyer mockingly. He cleared his throat and looked at Mrs. Bishop, who was still looking at the same spot in front of her with blank eyes. Mr. Gilbert cleared his throat one more time before throwing his next question at Violet.

Mr. Gilbert: You said that both Ms. Sia Bishop and you are in love with the same boy. Will you explain the relationship between you and Ms. Bishop and that boy…. what’s his name…. yeah… Mr. Kyle Knight?

(I clenched my jaw because it was not related to this case. Mr. Westfield objected to the question and explained that it was irrelevant to the case as it didn’t matter whom the girl loved or not. The case was about why did Mrs. Bishop take a severe step like planning to kill Violet. The judge asked Mr. Gilbert to ask questions only related to the case. I was thankful to Mr. Westfield for stopping Violet to answer this question. it was putting Violet in a tight spot whether to tell about the bullying that she suffered from me and Sia in the court or not. Mr. Gilbert apologized and looked at Violet again with a fake smile on his lips)

Suddenly, Sia stood up and called the judge in a respectful manner. She was calm, but I could say that she was also not happy with Mr. Gilbert’s questioning to Violet. “I want to say something, Sir,” she said in a calm tone. “Young lady… whatever you want to say, you can say after Ms. Parker,” the judge answered her in a calm tone.

“I was there when they attacked her. She was unconscious when they dragged her away from us, and she regained consciousness for a long time inside a big dark water tank. She never saw her kidnappers or the people who threw her there. As you heard her statement, everything that she learned about this case came from what the police told her or what I told them. My mother and my friends are involved in this case, and if anyone here should clarify things, then it should be me,” Sia continued in a calm tone while looking at the judge. Her tone was still calm, but I felt that she wanted to save Violet from an unnecessary interrogation.

The judge listened to her without interrupting her and then looked towards Mr. Westfield, and then to Mr. Gilbert. “Is the lady saying the truth?” he asked while looking at them. Mr. Westfield cleared his throat and nodded in agreement. “Yes, Your honour… she is telling the truth. Violet didn’t see anyone around her, and the police caught the culprits according to the evidences they got, and also the description of the kidnappers that Ms. Bishop provided us,” Mr. Westfield cleared the situation to the judge.

The judge looked at Mr. Gilbert to confirm, and he nodded reluctantly. He then asked Violet to go back, and he gave Sia permission to come forward. Mr. Westfield was the one who approached Sia first. Violet sat down near me, and I immediately wrapped my hand around her shoulder. “Are you okay?” I asked her in concern. She smiled and nodded before looking back to the front. Sia gave her statement in a calm tone, but her voice cracked in the end.

She admitted that she used to bully Violet in school because of me and was infuriated with Violet when she came to know that I am interested in Violet. She said that it might be possible that her resentment towards Violet had triggered her mother’s emotions for her, and she planned this kidnapping and murder against Violet. It seemed that Sia wanted to take all the blame on herself. Mr. Westfield asked her a few questions relevant to the case but didn’t let her open her personal life in front of everyone, and then asked Mr. Gilbert to question Sia if he wanted. Mr. Gilbert also asked Sia a few questions, and she answered him in a calm tone. He didn’t question her much because she was more blunt than Violet in telling the truth.

After Sia, it was Millie’s turn. The police brought her to the courtroom. Both I and Violet were shocked to see her in prison clothes. She was looking pale, completely broken. She looked scared when she entered and her eyes widened in shock when she saw us. “Prison is that bad?” Violet asked me in a bit of a fearful tone. I immediately tightened my grip on her shoulder but didn’t say anything. I also had heard about prison life or had seen it in a few dramas and movies but this was the first time that I was seeing someone known to me in prison clothes. I glanced at Sia but she was still looking at the same place where she had her eyes earlier.

“Sia,” Millie cried, getting the attention of everyone, but Sia didn’t look in her direction. “Sia…. I am sorry… please forgive me,” Millie cried once again but didn’t make any attempt to reach Sia. The judge asked her to stay quiet until she was asked to say something. She was still crying when the lady police officer made her sit on the chair in front of the judge. The judge gave her the time to compose herself. “Why is she in prison clothes?” Violet asked me in a hushed tone when Mr. Westfield started questioning Millie.

I leaned towards her so that my voice couldn’t interrupt the court proceeding. “She is in the police custody for further investigation. The police have footages showing her putting your necklace in Sia’s bag,” I told her in hushed tone too. We never told her about the progress of the case because none of us wanted her to be worried about anything. Millie confessed that someone approached her to keep eyes on Violet, and also asked her to meet one of the kidnappers to get that necklace. She confessed that she also liked me and wanted to get rid off both Sia and Violet so that she could come close to me.

I felt that I was the one to blame for everything. At first, Sia was behind Violet because she had my attention and Sia wanted my attention for herself. Now, Millie was also saying the same thing. She held grudges against both Sia and Violet because she liked me too. She didn’t even hesitate before scheming against her best friends, Sia and Grace. Because of me, Violet was about to lose her life. Was I so toxic for her?

“Hey…. What are you thinking?” she nudged into my chest while asking me in a hushed tone. I just shook my head while pursing my lips but didn’t say anything to her. The session ended after almost an hour, and I walked out with Violet. Mr. and Mrs. Parker were also with us. We met Mr. Westfield in the corridor. “The judge will give the verdict on the next hearing. They will tell us the date later,” he informed us and we nodded. “It’s really tiring,” Mrs. Parker complained in a tired tone.

“How are you feeling, honey? Are you hungry? Let’s go to eat something first,” she asked Violet then in a worried tone. Violet smiled and took her hand in her hand. “I am fine, Mom, but yeah… I am hungry,” Violet answered Mrs. Parker truthfully in a gentle tone. “Let’s go to eat then,” Mr. Parker said this time. I had lost my appetite but couldn’t refuse. I didn’t want Violet to get worried on me. “Violet,” we stopped in our tracks when someone called Violet from behind.

We looked behind and saw Sia and Mr. Bishop coming towards us. “I need to talk to her,” Violet whispered to us, then smiled while looking at Sia. “Sia,” she called her in a gentle tone. Sia and Mr. Bishop stopped in front of us. “How are you now?” Sia asked Violet in a gentle tone. “I am fine, Sia. What about you? Do you like the new place?” Violet asked her in a gentle tone. Sia glanced at me but quickly averted her gaze and looked back at Violet.

“Thanks for helping me, Sia,” Violet thanked her sincerely. A small smile crept on Sia’s face. “I did nothing, Violet. Anyone could see that he was being unreasonable while asking questions to you,” she answered Violet in a bitter tone this time. “You should ask him earlier not to try anything like this,” Mr. Westfield said this time in a calm tone. Sia’s smile went bitter this time. “It’s not us who hired him,” she answered him in a low tone. I could see the pain and hurt in her eyes and she was trying hard to cover them.

“It’s my in-laws,” Mr. Bishop answered this time in a cold tone. Suddenly everything made sense. Now I understood why he was trying to put some words in Violet’s mouth to get a way. “She refused to accept that she did anything wrong…. Not now… not back then…. Sh…. She is sick, Violet. She… she is losing her sanity. I … I am not sure where she will end up… in the prison or in a mental asylum,” Sia said in a bitter tone. Violet’s body stiffened immediately. There was silence among us. Everyone looked at each other not knowing what to say now.

Sia cleared her throat after some time. “It’s time to go now,” Mr. Bishop said to Sia and she nodded while glancing at him over her shoulder. She then looked back at Violet. “Take care of yourself, Sia. Although we are not friends, but you know that someone is here for you whenever you want someone to hear you, right?” Violet said to Sia in a gentle tone. I really admired her for saying those words to Violet. The girl almost killed her thrice still she was giving her shoulder to Sia to cry on. “I know,” Sia said in a choked tone.

We bid farewell after that. Sia hugged Violet before going back with her. The uneasiness in my heart had increased by now. Both Violet and Sia suffered because of me. Sia’s only fault was that she was obsessed with me, and Violet suffered because I gave her too much attention when I hated her the most. Mr. Westfield continued talking with Mr. and Mrs. Parker while walking towards the parking lot. “What are you thinking so hard?” Violet asked me, making me look at her questioningly.

“Nothing…. Why did you ask?” I asked her, concealing all the gloominess that I was feeling right now. She smiled and wrapped her hand around my waist from behind. “I know you, Kyle. If I am thinking right, then you are blaming yourself for what happened to both me and Sia, right?” she asked me, guessing the reason for my misery right now. My grip on her shoulder tightened again. I couldn’t refute it and just blinked at her. “You don’t need to think about this, Kyle. You never asked anyone to like you or be obsessed with you. They did everything on their will. You can’t control others’ emotions. So don’t blame yourself for their wrongdoings,” she comforted me, making me smile bitterly this time.