“Of course, Your Honour.” Blackwood’s smile tightened. “Please continue, Mr. Lajeunesse.”
“They weren’t suggestions,” I said, my voice stronger. “If I didn’t comply, there were consequences.”
“Ah yes, these alleged consequences.” Blackwood paced before me. “Yet you stayed for three years. If conditions were so unbearable, why not leave sooner?”
The question hit like a physical blow. How many times had I asked myself the same thing?
“It wasn’t that simple,” I said quietly. “He convinced me I had nowhere to go, no one who cared. That I was lucky he put up with me.”
“Moving to the night of September 17th,” Blackwood continued, ignoring my answer. “You claim Mr. Delaney assaulted you because you went to a park without permission. That seems rather extreme, doesn’t it?”
“Marcus’s violence had been escalating for months.”
“Or perhaps there was another reason for his alleged anger?” Blackwood raised an eyebrow. “Wasn’t Mr. Delaney concerned about your recent behaviour—unexplained absences, secretive phone calls, withdrawals of cash?”
“No, that’s not—”
“In fact, hadn’t he discovered evidence that you were meeting someone else? Another man?”
“No!” I gripped the railing. “That’s a lie.”
“Objection!” Damian was on his feet. “Counsel is testifying and making accusations without foundation.”
“Sustained,” Judge Patterson ruled. “Mr. Blackwood, stick to questions based on evidence.”
Blackwood nodded, unperturbed. “Mr. Lajeunesse, you’ve described severe injuries from this alleged assault. Yet you left the hospital beforea complete examination could document them. Why?”
“I told you—I was afraid Marcus would convince me to return.”
“Or perhaps you didn’t want medical professionals to thoroughly examine injuries that had another cause entirely?” His voice hardened. “Isn’t it true that you have a history of self-harm?”
My breath caught. “What? No, I—”
“Objection!” Damian shouted. “This is outrageous, Your Honour. There is no evidence of any such history.”
“Mr. Blackwood,” Judge Patterson warned, “foundation for this line of questioning?”
“Your Honour, we have records indicating Mr. Lajeunesse sought treatment for self-inflicted injuries during his first year of art school.”
Ice spread through my veins. I stared at Blackwood in shock. How had they found out about that single incident—a moment of desperation after my mother died, years before I’d met Marcus?
“I’ll allow it,” Judge Patterson ruled. “The witness will answer.”
“There was one incident,” I said, my voice shaking. “After my mother died. I was nineteen. It has nothing to do with what Marcus did to me.”
“One documented incident,” Blackwood corrected. “Isn’t it possible that under the stress of a relationship you personally felt was controlling, you returned to this coping mechanism?”
“No. I didn’t do this to myself.”
“Yet the pattern of injuries Nurse Torres described—cuts in places difficult to reach oneself, bruising that appears to be from an assault—couldn’t these be self-inflicted by someone determined to frame another person?”
“Objection!” Damian was livid. “This is unconscionable, Your Honour.”
“Withdrawn,” Blackwood said smoothly. “Mr. Lajeunesse, since leaving Mr. Delaney’s home, you’ve been essentially homeless,correct? Living in your car, staying in motels when you can afford them?”
“Yes.”
“And now you’re seeking a substantial financial settlement from Mr. Delaney—a wealthy man who supported you for three years?”
