Zaden hesitated for a moment, his small fingers fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. The eyes of the courtroom were on him, a sea of faces waiting for his response. His father’s confident expression seemed to falter slightly, but Damian’s lawyer shot him a reassuring look.
The judge waited patiently, his gaze steady and kind, as if willing Zaden to find strength in his presence. The silence in the room was thick and suffocating, but Zaden took a deep breath and stood up from the bench. He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a phone. The small device seemed incongruous in his tiny hand, yet it held a power that everyone felt at that moment.
