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In the early hours of the morning, my phone rings. I jump out of bed immediately when I hear the ringtone I set when Amy is distressed. The noise sensitivity detector near Amy alters me when the noise level crosses a certain amount. If she has a nightmare and starts panicking, the noise created from the rustling of bedsheets and movement increases the noise level which alters me with a phone call. When Amy moved in I didn't want her to suffer the nightmare alone or try something when she is depressed. This simple technology is very useful to keep an eye on Amy while giving her privacy.

I rush to her room and see Amy murmuring in her sleep. I know she is having a nightmare and soon she will scream and then the panic attack will start. I shook her shoulder and woke her up so she won't get to the worse part of her nightmare. But as soon as she woke up in her dazed state she thought I was her attacker and pushed herself off the mattress and moved back to the far end of the bed pulling her knees to her chest and, whispering and begging to let her go. I stay still for her to calm down. It's been a long time since she had a nightmare. Not since she came back here. She exhausts herself with office work, cleaning and workout that she is too tired when she goes to bed. It's heartbreaking to look at Amy so scared and fragile after she has worked so hard to get better. Though I know it's not a setback, just an incident which is probably caused because of all the stories she read about the other victims. It's still hard to see her struggle. And when she struggles I want to cut those two bastards into pieces. I might have convinced Amy with the emails from the anonymous but my reason to put Sandro in prison is personal.

Amy rocks front and back trying to calm herself. I wait near the foot of the bed giving her the space she needs and not frightening her further. When she stops rocking and rests her head on her knees staring out at the sky, I slowly approach her and lie next to her. I know she doesn't like to be touched but she looks exhausted so I pull her to lie with me. Bonelessly she falls on me.

"Are you okay?", I ask her softly.

" hmmm" she hums

"Do you want to talk about it", I say and give her time while I continue to stroke her hair.

"Someone pushed me in a dark room... It was not empty... So many women... Mostly young... couldn't see their face... But hear their cries... Their struggle... Sandra was there... Hurting them... It was barbaric... He was coming after me... But you woke me up... Thank you", she says every word filled with misery and sadness. I pull her closer and held her tight.

" You read all the emails. Could be an effect of that?"

"Felt so real", she says as a tear rolls down her eye and falls on me.

"Just a nightmare, Amy. Everything will be fine"

"I am scared, Ethan.", she whispers.

" Don't be sweetheart, I won't let anything happen to you. Don't think about Sandro or the emails. I will deal with everything. You just have to appear in court and answer some questions.", I say softly. She stays quiet for a long time and says.

"Okay"

Soon she falls asleep in my arms. I hold her and cherish the moment because I don't know if I will ever get another chance to hold her.

--------

Like promised, James and I kept Amy out of the loop regarding the case. For the past three months, we helped the DA file a charge sheet, submit evidence and set a date in court for the hearing. Sandro did everything in his power to sabotage our attempts but thanks to my Pops who pulled out some big guns to help us move forward. After my parents, Greg and Elsa knew Pops decision regarding the will and CEO, they flipped. They went online to call Amy names, to accuse my Pops of favouritism and openly support Sandro. If there was any way we could have reconciled our relationship, it was all gone when they went ahead and lied to the media about Amy.

Today is an important day for the case as Amy will take the stands and say her story in front of the Judge and the jury while the defence will try to question her. Our defence team has provided enough training to Amy so she can tackle the defence attempt to turn around her statements in their favour. But it will not be easy. I have shielded her from the media and any other criticism she has faced for so long. This will be her first time since her attack where she will speak in front of so many people. Amy looks nervous and stressed and Sandro's presence is not helping matters as he continues to smirk and wink at her.

"Don't look that Bastard. Look at us and say everything that happened that night.", James says to Amy holding her hands.

" Stop stressing her, James.", Kate says slapping her brother on the back of the head.

"What if no one believes me?", Amy says in a tiny voice.

"The DNA evidence is strong, Amy. There is also CCTV footage. There is no way he will not be punished", I say trying to boost her confidence.

Soon Amy is called to take the stands and she looks beyond nervous. The defence attorney, Mr Matthew Quinn, is one the most famous attorney in the country. He is also merciless in his questions. As soon as Amy sits in the seat, he fires her with questions. His initial free questions are about her childhood and our relationship. Then he proceeds to ask her about the divorce.

"So, Ms Green, you say you didn't know why Mr Harris divorced you. You just took the money he gave and left.", he says portraying Amy as a money hungry woman.

"I didn't know the reason for the divorce but I tried to find out. Ethan was not taking my calls or letting me in his house or office. So, I had to move on eventually. I didn't get any money from Ethan. We had a prenup signed before marriage", Amy says. This is the first time I am hearing her talk about our divorce and what happened later and it makes me realize how much the divorce broke her heart. She had a plan for her life before I came along. I selfishly made her change all her plans and then dropped her off in the middle of nowhere. Every time I realize I had everything in my grasp and foolishly let it go, the self-loathing only increases.

Mr Quinn proceeds to question her about the years after our divorce and trying to highlight how Amy was desperate for money. Then he continues to admonish her for accepting money to play my wife. The prosecutor had to raise objection several times before Mr Quinn could stop portraying Amy as a who*e. It took everything in me to not punch him. Then he went after James's and Amy's relationship. His attempt was to portray Amy as a loose woman who took favours in exchange for her body. Kate had to drag James out of the court before he did something to the defence attorney.

We had expected all these questions and have submitted proofs that will defend Amy. Pops stepped in to prove that he requested Amy's presence on the island. Shockingly, my mother stepped in, to second his statement. When the court was not in the session, my mother apologized to me for wrecking my relationship with Amy. She said she finally saw how much I really loved Amy and she felt now the least she could do was stand by the truth.

When Amy was asked to explain what happened in the theatre room, everyone went absolutely silent. It was painful to hear her say everything that sick bastard did to her. When Amy gave her statement to the police in the hospital, she didn't want any of us there. Only a few nurses and the policemen were present. I didn't know the entire event and listening to her explain how he violent he was, choking her, biting her and other barbaric things he did to her, made me feel helpless. If only I was not a giant a***ole and could have returned to the room to check on her instead of being on the beach drinking my misery while she suffered. Amy broke down a couple of times and the entire court was moved to tears watching her struggle with her emotions while she recalled the attack. The Judge had to give a break when Amy had a panic attack from the terrifying memory.

After the break, Mr Quinn was merciless. He wanted the court to believe that Amy was into kinky sex and she consented to it. His questions were crude and were intended to ruin her. However, Amy held herself strong and answered every degrading question. The Judge herself felt that Mr Quinn was out of line and dismissed the session for the day with a severe warning. The media also slammed the defence team for being remorseless. A picture of Amy leaving the court in tears garnered a huge media frenzy.

Amy continued to appear in court for the next several days. Every time she was in court, the questions the defence team asked her, their statements and the false accusations weighed her down. It reflected in her treatment. Nightmares and panic attacks have increased since then. The process to get justice was tedious than I thought it would be. At times when the arguments were brutal, Amy would look so dejected and all I wanted to do was take her far far away from all this viciousness.

After all the questioning, the grand jury deliberated for several hours and came out with a guilty verdict. To say we were overjoyed would be an understatement. After working on the case and seeing Amy struggle, it all finally paid off. There was a collective cheer in the crowd. Sandro was sentenced to 10 years in prison and a fine of 10 million dollars.

A few weeks later Matt was also found guilty and was sentenced to 7 years in prison. Even though Amy thought all the credits should go James and me, it was really her strength that won the case. Both the defence team tried to implicate Amy as an sl*t, but she stood strong under the criticism and proved herself.