"Ms Silver,"

Olivia could barely listen to a word anyone said. After the door to the courtroom slowly opened and An older woman in a yellow dress walked in, trying to be as gentle and as quiet as ever.

But she wasn't that gentle. She took half the court's attention. Olivia, taking a longer time to process her entrance the moment she walked in through that door, holding on tight to a little girl in a silk blue dress and perfect pig tails highlighted with blue ribbons, slowly as she walked down the aisle, trying to find her way to where Victoria sat like it was compulsory she did. She was so beautiful and she had the cutest tiny eyes Olivia had ever seen. She was perfect.

The little girl held on tight to her tiny doll, trying to protect it from falling to the ground with the way the lady pulled her. She looked so timid and so tiny in her perfect white stockings and black shoes. She rubbed her eyes too like she had just woke up from sleep.

For some reason, she made Olivia's heart race especially when she saw the lady place her gently in the seat right besides Victoria's. For some reason, tears clouded her eyes immediately. She watched as the maid tried to straighten the girls dress while she kept rubbing her eyes with a long, tired look on her face.

Olivia's eyes slowly drew to Victoria's, and there it was, the confirmation she needed in that wry smile of hers. She watched Victoria turn away slowly and look down on the little girl. She reached for her head and tapped it slowly.

"Ms Silver," Philip repeated.
Rafael could see how distracted Olivia was. He slowly followed her gaze till It led him to the row where the Silvers were, to the little girl.

To her daughter.
It had to be her daughter.

Olivia held her breath.
She could feel herself almost explode from where she stood. Her legs were shaking and so were her hands, her mouth too. It was like she was trying to say something but she just couldn't.

"Is that-" he could hear Susan whisper softly to him just as she slowly looked away from the silvers.

Rafael exhaled.

"It's a trap." He whispered back to her. "They are trying to get into her head, to distract her."

Rafael slowly turned back to Olivia.
She gulped hard. She needed a minute, she shut her eyes for a second trying to push back the tears she felt in her eyes before they fell. She always thought she was mentally prepared for that moment, but being judged in a box, surrounded by people who called her "the accused" wasn't exactly how she had intended to meet her child for the first time in six years. She knew this was what Victoria wanted, to bait her, to make her lose all of her concentration and do something that could ruin everything. She exhaled loudly.

Tony slowly leaned towards Rafael from where he sat behind him. He reached for his arm gently, making Rafael turn slightly

"Is she going to be okay?" He asked, concern laced in his tone. Rafael wasn't sure he knew how to answer that especially with how Olivia was trying so hard to bottle all that pain inside.

"Do you need a minute Ms. Silver?"
Olivia's attention returned back to the court the moment she heard the Judge's voice. She slowly turned to the woman in her mid fifties who sat behind the biggest table in the room with her eyes focused right on her.

Rafael was right.
This new judge looked a whole lot scarier than the last one. Not scarier, tougher.

She shook her head quickly, sniffing as calmly as possible

"No my Lord," she cleared her throat "I'm fine."

The room was quiet for a while as Olivia tried everything within her power to keep her eyes focused on Philip and away from Victoria and her evil grin.

"You May proceed barrister," the Judge instructed Philip just as he walked closer to Olivia

"Me Silver," he started again "In May nineteen ninety seven, you were kicked out from your adoptive home at Apapa, Lagos, you remember that right?"

Olivia hesitated for a while, then she slowly nodded

"Can you tell this honorable court why?"

Olivia exhaled. She slowly turned to Rafael, he had his eyes glued on her, like he was wondering what Philip was talking about and why it wasn't anywhere in her file. She exhaled again.

"I-" she started, "I-"

Her focus moved to the girl beside Victoria again. She had her eyes glued to Olivia like she knew who she was, or was she just trying to listen?

Olivia shut her eyes
She was too embarrassed. She couldn't bring herself to say it especially now that her child was looking at her.

"I-"

"In May nineteen ninety seven my lord," Philip turned to the Judge. "Ms Silver was kicked out of her adoptive home by her adoptive parents for trying to kill their only son-"
The court became a little bit noisy

"I didn't try to kill him, I only stabbed his hand with a table knife." She tried to defend herself

"You mean the same knife you tried to threaten Mr Silver with?"

"That was a bread knife."

"It doesn't make a difference," he turned to the Judge who had her eyes glued to them, remaining calm. "My Lord, May I bring to this court's notice that Ma Silver here was only eight years old when this incident happened. She shocked her adoptive family so hard that they had to kick her out that night, in the cold, where she stayed roaming the streets of Lagos till the Silver foundation found her and saved her life, brought her to the FCT where they gave her a life, a home and even helped her find her only existing relative; her fathers sister who currently resides in Enugu state. So tell me your honor, how could a child, an eight year old, even have thoughts of hurting someone so badly to the extent-"

"It was self defense. He was going to rape me!"
Olivia blurted out. The court became quiet just a little bit. Olivia slowly rose her head so she could look Philip in his eyes. "He was going to rape me and so I tried to protect myself. I only took that knife because I wanted to scare him a little bit but he kept coming to me. He was going to hurt me-"

"Was he?" He looked at her "You were only eight years old, how could you tell what his intentions were just because he looked at you and touched you in a few decent places."

"Because it was not the first time." Philip paused for a moment. Olivia too. She needed to breathe. She was saying too much already, too much of her past. Too much from her past that had nothing to do with what she was being accused of. A past she didn't want to remember, a past she had spent twenty three years of her life trying to bury and leave behind.

"So you're saying, your husband, wasn't the first man to rape you?"

"Objection my Lord," Rafael got up quickly "Relevance in question."

Philip scoffed

"I must agree barrister Philip," the Judge added "What does the personal life of the accused have to do with anything?"

"My Lord! I'm just trying to prove to the court how exactly violent the accused has always been." He turned back to Olivia. "Soft on the outside, but always calculating how much people have hurt her, waiting for their cups to get filled so she could strike. They have a name for people like her. Wh-what do they call them again?" He asked pretending to think. "Oh that's right, a green snake in a green grass, the perfect chameleon-"

"My Lord," Rafael rolled his eyes

"A chameleon."

"My Lord please address the conduct of-"

"May I remind you barrister Philip," the Judge started, "You're here to ask questions and prove your case and not to batter or call names or judge. That's my job, do yours right or get the hell out of my courtroom."

Philip took a deep breath

"Forgive me my Lord."

"You should be sorry." The woman told him right before she turned back to the file in front of her.

"That would be all my Lord," Philip bowed and walked away from the box.

Rafael slowly lowered his gaze to Olivia. He glared at her. Her hands were trembling as she swallowed hard on her saliva trying to avoid eye contact with anyone.

That was it...it was over for her.