Lessons Learned (The Gifted Realm Book 2)

by Jillian Neal

  “He’d spent one night outside on the stoop of your apartment because you’d locked him out. Upon walking home from middle school one day, as you’d failed to pick him up, he found you stealing money from his room. This was part of his monthly allowance left him by his father until his coming of age. You were using it to pay for the prostitutes who were leaving your apartment!” Stariff shot furiously.

  “And, Mr. Lawson, you pled guilty to all of these charges, in hopes that custody would be taken away, did you not?” Stariff held Stan’s eyes. He refused to allow him to drop his gaze.

  Rainer’s uncle didn’t answer, so Stariff continued.

  “Governor and Mrs. Haydenshire demanded an emergency trial, and were awarded full custody by the Senteon and Governors. Many of them are the same people seated in this room today.”

  He turned to face the Senteon again and urged, “For those of you who weren’t at that trial, or who might’ve forgotten that was Governor Lawson’s son, just six weeks after his father’s death, at barely fourteen years of age who was abused, neglected, and exposed to things none of us are old enough to have to deal with.”

  “Things the man bringing the charges today pled guilty to, not so many years ago. That’s how we allowed Governor Lawson’s child to be treated.”

  A slight murmur broke out in the Senteon, from people either recalling the custody trial or horrified by the information they’d just been given.

  “Objection, Governor!” Mulligrew called.

  Governor Carrington looked shocked. “On what grounds exactly?”

  “Relevance,” Mulligrew called.

  After shaking his head, Governor Carrington huffed, “You’re here to put a price on this young man’s character, so, as I understood it, this entire trial is to determine who is fit to handle the Lawson estate. Anything regarding Stan Lawson’s character that can be proven is allowable.”

  “Thank you, Governor,” Stariff nodded his appreciation. “May I?” he quizzed. All of the Governors nodded for him to continue.

  “Mr. Lawson, could you tell us what you do for a living?” he asked contentiously.

  “I work off and on. I haven’t had a lot of work lately. I’ve been worrying about Rainer,” Stan vowed.

  Rainer tried hard not to laugh at the, “Pfft!” that echoed from Mrs. Haydenshire. Governor Haydenshire shot her a pleading look as he shook his head minutely.

  Stariff continued, “Well, when you’re not consumed with worry over the nephew you abused and neglected…”

  “Objection!” Mulligrew screeched again.

  “Withdrawn,” Stariff immediately offered. “When you work, what is it that you do?”

  “I work the party circuit,” Stan puffed himself up importantly.

  “The party circuit?”

  “Yeah, I do magic tricks and stuff for Non-Gifted kids’ parties. It’s not easy. Sometimes you have two parties in one weekend.”

  A titter broke out around the room, but it was quelled quickly. Lack of work ethic was still seen as a huge disappointment in the Realm, and any Gifted person using their energy for cheap thrills for the Non-Gifted was heavily frowned upon. If a Gifted person was flaunting their abilities in a way that would make the Non-Gifted assume that there even was a Gifted Realm, they could be arrested.

  Stariff pretended to be concerned. “So, you, Stan Lawson, brother of the greatest Crown Governor of our time, performs magic tricks for Non-Gifted children’s parties?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “And what do you plan to do with the money if you should receive half of the estate today?”

  “Retire.”

  “From your weekend job?”

  “Yeah,” Stan huffed as if that would be the natural course of action.

  Stariff pulled another document from one of his folders. “This is the withdrawal document from Venton Academy where you dropped out of the Academy during your freshman year.”

  The Governors nodded their allowance of the documentation.

  “Why did you decide to quit your education, Mr. Lawson?”

  “Never have needed it,” Stan stated firmly. “My brother wanted the education. I didn’t need one.”

  “Well, I’ve certainly found mine to be useful. I imagine most everyone in the room would agree, especially Rainer.”

  “Wouldn’t you agree, Stan, that a person with a completed education might be better able to manage an estate than one who decided at nineteen years of age that they just didn’t want to study?” Stariff shrugged as he awaited an answer.

  “No, not necessarily.”

  Stariff nodded again and then delivered a blow. “Seems to me, if you’d completed your education, you would’ve known that you could’ve signed over custody of Rainer immediately to the Haydenshires. You would never have had to be bothered with him when you were named his guardian.”

  “Yeah, but I thought I was gonna be getting money for him!” Stan spat as the eyes of everyone in the courtroom goggled.

  “No further questions,” Stariff nodded to the Governors, who tried hard not to look amused.

  Several witnesses took the stand. People Rainer had never seen before all claimed his uncle to be a good person who had been treated unfairly by his parents, in light of his brother.

  Stariff discounted their testimonies, by reminding them that they were under oath and asking how long they’d known Stan Lawson. He would then point out to the Senteon that three weeks seemed a relatively short time to plead someone’s good character.

  Samantha Peterson was called to the stand. She droned on and on about how Rainer and Emily hung all over each other at the Academy, with Stariff objecting on relevance numerous times.

  “And could you tell the courts about your relationship with Rainer, Ms. Peterson? I think, since we are all concerned over Rainer’s ability to make responsible decisions regarding Miss Haydenshire, that any of Rainer’s indiscretions should come to light.” Mulligrew patted her hand consolingly as Samantha wiped away fake tears.

  Emily scowled furiously, and Rainer’s molars ached from clenching his jaw. He’d had quite enough.

  He leapt from his seat and sent it sailing backwards. He narrowed his eyes at Samantha while Stariff attempted to pull him back into his seat.

  “You gonna just keep lying, Samantha? Perjure yourself? Are you really gonna sit there under oath and tell everyone, including your father, that we had some kind of relationship? We were never even friends!”

  “Rainer, sit down!” Stariff demanded heatedly.

  “Rainer, sit down now, son,” Governor Haydenshire shook his head as Rainer reseated himself fitfully. He glared at Samantha.

  “If I may,” Mulligrew drawled contemptuously, “Miss Peterson, please tell the courts when Rainer Lawson first approached you,” he urged.

  Rainer felt his blood boil as Emily huffed audibly.

  “Well, I wouldn’t necessarily say he approached me,” Samantha hemmed.

  Mulligrew looked disheartened.

  “I could just tell, you know, in school, the way he would look at me like he wished he were with me instead of Emily, but you know he had to stay with her because the Haydenshires adopted him or whatever.”

  Rainer rolled his eyes dramatically as Logan laughed out loud. Governor Haydenshire shot Logan another look that said for him to pipe down.

  “And when you and Rainer were at school together, what kinds of things did you discuss?” Mulligrew asked with a pitying tone.

  “Well, Rainer was obsessed with being head of Ioses, and what he would do with all of the money he was going to get. He bragged about it all the time.” Samantha gave Rainer a haughty glare.

  Rainer turned to Stariff, and growled, “That is a lie,” under his breath.

  “I know that, Rainer. Just sit back and let her hang herself. She’s giving me plenty of rope,” Stariff assured him.

  “Oh, and his car he told me about it constantly,” Samantha drawled and rolled her eyes. “I just don’t thin
k Emily ever listened to him, and she was always with other guys, so it was natural that he’d look at other options.”

  Emily’s mouth dropped. Her mother and Will had to physically keep her in her seat.

  “Objection, relevance! Miss Haydenshire is not on trial here!” Stariff boomed.

  The Crown Governor agreed, and had the last statement redacted. After a few more out-right lies about where Rainer and Samantha had hung out, and how Samantha would’ve most certainly signed a pre-nup had Rainer asked her to marry him, instead of Emily, Mulligrew sat down. He looked very pleased.

  Stariff smiled as he rose. “First of all, Miss Peterson, I would like to remind you that you are, in fact, under oath, and that the penalty for perjury in the Realm is a minimum of fifteen years in Felsink Prison.” This seemed to shake Samantha.

  “Now, you’re claiming that Rainer Lawson cheated on his lifelong girlfriend, now fiancée, Emily Haydenshire, with you?”

  “Well, not exactly cheated,” she gave a fake smile to Stariff and then the Senteon.

  “Okay,” Stariff nodded. “Why don’t you tell the court, if there was ever any kind of romantic involvement between you and Rainer Lawson?” Stariff demanded. “Fifteen years, Miss Peterson,” he reminded.

  “Not romantic, per se,” Samantha hemmed.

  “Interesting.”

  “And how many classes did you and Rainer have together at the Academy? I mean, he was Ioses, you were Adminis. How many times a day would you say you saw Rainer?”

  Samantha paused. She was getting flustered. She turned to her father.“Is he allowed to ask me stuff like that?”

  “Yes, Samantha,” her father huffed. He looked thoroughly nonplussed.

  “We didn’t really have many classes together. I don’t guess I saw him all that much, since he didn’t live on campus.”

  “So, in all of the time that you were not seeing one another, Rainer discussed his car?” Stariff repeated her earlier statement.

  “Well, whenever we talked, he talked about his car.”

  Never breaking his rhythm, Stariff continued. “Well, seeing how much Rainer clearly meant to you, would you mind telling me what kind of car Rainer drives? It seems it’s in the paper on a regular basis, so this shouldn’t be a difficult question.”

  “Uh,” Samantha furrowed her brow as Rainer grinned. “It’s old, and red with white stripe things.”

  “Old?” Stariff nodded. “Is that what Rainer said when he discussed it with you?”

  “Well, I don’t know, I mean I just heard him talking about it a lot. You know, with Logan and stuff.”

  “Have you and Rainer ever actually had a conversation, just the two of you?” Stariff narrowed his eyes.

  “We talked at a wedding a couple of weeks ago,” Samantha grinned delightedly.

  Stariff smiled, “And could you give us any details of the conversation? Remember, Miss Peterson, I will be putting Rainer on the stand to corroborate your recollections, as I will Miss Haydenshire.”

  “Well, we talked about him moving in with Emily.”

  “What was Rainer doing when you were talking to him at that wedding, which I, and most of the Governing board, attended, I might add?”

  “Getting Emily food,” Samantha quipped disgustedly.

  “And you approached him?”

  Samantha glanced around uncomfortably.

  “Miss Haydenshire was also at the wedding then, as you stated that Rainer was getting her food.”

  “Yes, of course. When is she not with him?”

  Unable to hide his grin, Stariff feigned confusion. “Seems to me that trying to start a romantic relationship with someone you barely know might work better if you weren’t on a date with your fiancée.”

  “Please correct me if any of these statements are false, Samantha, but you and Rainer never had a single class together all six years you were at the Academy. You never attended a sporting event or formal or any other thing that might be considered a date together. The closest you came to having a conversation with Mr. Lawson was when you overheard him discussing his car with his best friend.”

  “Yet, you phoned tabloids to fake a relationship with Rainer, though one never existed. You approached him at a friend’s wedding with his fiancée. He turned you down. You got your feelings hurt and decided to testify against him. That all seems a little petty, don’t you think?”

  Samantha looked mutinous. “My feelings were not hurt. It’s his loss!”

  Emily beamed as Rainer tried not to laugh. That was the only part of the statements she’d denied.

  “That’s all, Governors,” Stariff chuckled as he returned to his seat.

  Samantha stormed back to her seat in an embarrassed huff. But Mulligrew wasn’t finished. He stood and carried a handful of photographs with him towards the Senteon.

  “As they say, pictures are worth a thousand words. I’d just like to share a few of Rainer Lawson from last weekend alone.”

  He then proceeded to go over, in great detail, shots of Rainer sliding his hands up Emily’s skirt and licking her stomach. Rainer willed it to be over soon. The photos were passed to each of the Governors, and around the Senteon. Rainer felt flushed as he stared steadfastly at the table in front of him.

  “Now, I ask you, do these photographs make us feel like Rainer is an accomplished young man, capable of making wise decisions with the Lawson estate? I don’t believe that they do.”

  After several long minutes with Rainer willing his coffee to stay in his stomach, Mulligrew sat down, and Stariff was up.

  “May I address the photographs, Governor, before I call my first witness?” Stariff requested.

  “Certainly,” Governor Carrington looked morose, as the photos didn’t leave much to be defended. “Ladies and gentlemen of the Senteon and Governors, this trial is to determine whether or not Rainer Lawson has proven himself irresponsible, and therefore, unable to manage the money he’s been bequeathed by his late father.”

  “We’re not here to judge what Rainer and Emily did last Saturday evening, but I would like to point out that it wouldn’t appear from the pictures that Rainer is cheating on Miss Haydenshire, nor she on him.”

  “I would also like to say that I know I’m extremely thankful, and I’m certain most of our esteemed Governors feel the same, that there was no one around photographing or video-taping me and all of my many indiscretions when I was twenty-one years old.”

  “Ah, but there’s the rub, the reason we all feel inclined to either defend or attack this man’s character. Can Rainer, at twenty-one years of age, manage his father’s estate?” Stariff hemmed.

  “His father believed he could. So, shall we doubt Joseph Lawson? Rainer spent no money on the night those pictures were taken. He’d been invited to a private party that turned out to be not so private, and now I’d like to prove to this court that Rainer Lawson is a fine upstanding man, who is more than capable of managing his estate, despite thoughts otherwise based on those photographs. So, I’d like to call Governor Stephen Haydenshire to the stand.”

  Governor Haydenshire told the courts that Rainer had always worked very hard on the farm, had always gotten good grades, had been respectful of him and Mrs. Haydenshire, and thankful for what they’d done for him.

  When Mulligrew asked about the belly shot photographs, the Governor nodded. “I suppose that I’d have to agree with Jack. I’m glad no one was photographing Lillian and me when we were twenty-one, and, though Rainer knows my feelings on what happened, I really can’t think of a finer man for Emily.”

  Emily beamed broadly at her father, as did Mrs. Haydenshire. The Governor elaborated on Rainer’s bi-weekly trips to check on his uncle, despite the filth he would find when he arrived.

  Logan confirmed this when he was called. After the Governor, Mrs. Haydenshire was called.

  “Lillian,” Stariff greeted her after she’d taken the oath, “could you tell the court how long Emily and Rainer have been dating?”

  “Wel
l,” Mrs. Haydenshire smiled, “Emily informed me that she was going to marry Rainer when she was four. She dared him to kiss her on the cheek when she was seven, and I suppose the rest is history. I’d say at least sixteen years, or more.” She dared anyone to object.

  “That’s longer than most marriages last,” Stariff commented. “And, in your vast experience, Mrs. Haydenshire, and we are all aware of your knowledge of children, would you tell me how likely it would be for a four- year-old, or even a seven-year-old, to decide that they would spend their entire life pretending to love someone, and convince them to marry them, so that when they turn twenty-one they could walk away with their fortune?”

  “Not very likely,” Mrs. Haydenshire chuckled.

  “Objection; she’s not an expert witness!” Mulligrew spat.

  “The woman has raised, or is in the process of raising, eleven children, all of whom are more productive to the Realm than your client,” Governor Carrington huffed, “Her statement stands.”

  “Can you tell me when Emily learned of Rainer’s inheritance and her reaction to it?” Stariff never missed a beat.

  “Neither Rainer nor any of my children were aware of the inheritance, obviously, until after Joseph was killed, but it was several years after that that Stephen and I sat down with Rainer to explain what it would all mean for him.”

  “Emily didn’t seem to react at all, and I firmly believe that Emily would still love Rainer and want to be with him if he hadn’t a penny to his name.”

  Emily nodded adamantly, though she wasn’t supposed to.

  Logan was called next, followed by all of the other Haydenshires.

  Vindico gave a long diatribe about what an outstanding man and officer Rainer was, much to Rainer’s shock.

  All of Elite Iodex pled Rainer’s good character, and all said that they believed Rainer would do anything necessary to serve the Realm, and that they were all proud to serve with him.

  They were followed next by Mentor Sullivan and Chancellor Wilshire. Shocked embarrassment rocked through Rainer, to have so many people herald his good deeds.

  A moment later, Stariff gave him a sympathetic smile, “Next I’d like to hear testimony from Miss Emily Haydenshire.”