Chapter 5
O
Every eye in the room locked on me, eager to see what I could possibly produce.}
“We request to play a video,” I said.N
Stella handed over a USB drive.
The judge nodded. The court staff took the drive and opened the files onscreen. Th
Three folders appeared on the large monitor.
At my request, they clicked on the first one and began to play the video inside.
The footage showed Veronica wearing a short blue nightdress, straddling a teddy bear.
She swayed her body seductively, her expression one of pure ecstasy.
The courtroom gasped.
“What the… Is that Veronica… doing that with teddy bear?”
“She has a husband! What the hell is this?”
“Who acts intimate with a teddy bear while ignoring their actual spouse?”
Whispers and stunned murmurs filled the room.
Veronica’s face flushed deep red.”
She had never expected this kind of evidence–especially since she
“Miss Veronica hás her reasons!” Dariel quickly jumped in to defend her.
sure there had been no cameras in the house.
“She had a traumatic childbirth–it was almost fatal–and she’s been battling postpartum depression.“} “There’s a doctor’s note to prove it.”
“Maybe… this was just her way of coping.”
The crowd slowly nodded in understanding.”
“If it’s postpartum depression, then it makes sense.“}
“People with depression can act in all kinds of unusual ways.“”
“I remember hugging a flowerpot and crying every day when I had it.”
Someone else muttered, “What kind of man drives his wife to that point? Unbelievable.”
With public opinion starting to shift, Dariel pressed his advantage.
“Miguel, you’ve gone too far,” he scolded.”
“Not only did you fail to care for your depressed wife, but you deliberately exposed that video–just to humiliate her.”@
“Unbelievable. All this just to fight for assets? What kind of husband does that?”
They slammed the moral blame squarely on me, trying to paint me as the villain.
Veronica broke down in angry tears.
www
“Don’t cry, sweetheart. With your parents here, no one can bully you!” Her mother wrapped her in a tight embrace, then turned to glare at me with venom in her eyes.”
O
“People say even one day of marriage should count for a hundred days of kindness. But You’ve done nothing but hurt my daughter!”}
“Do you have any idea what a woman’s reputation means?“}
“How’s she supposed to face the world after this?! You’re a disgusting excuse for a man!”
Franco was fuming too his eyes were bloodshot.
“I misjudged you all these years,” he snarled. “You ungrateful dog! We treated you like family–and this is how you repay us?“N “You dare humiliate my daughter like this? I won’t let you get away with it!“”
The courtroom buzzed with fury.
People were practically ready to flay me alive on the spot.
Meanwhile, media outlets broadcasted everything live, and the internet exploded with scathing comments and condemnation.”
“Order!”
The judge banged the gavel, trying to regain control.
I stood calmly. “Your Honor, please play the second folder of videos.”
Since I dared show up in court today, I came fully prepared.”
The judge nodded.
ding Our Marriage Over a Plush Toy
The judge nodded.
A court technician opened the second folder–filled with multiple video files.}
They played the first clip.
It was the one I had watched in my car days earlier.
A life–sized teddy bear strutted out of the bedroom and began dancing in front of the security camera.[
Everyone froze, wide–eyed.\
“Wait… what the hell?”
“Is this place haunted?“”
“How’s the teddy bear moving on its own?”
Whispers filled the room as reality began to shift for everyone watching.”
This wasn’t so simple anymore.
Dariel, who had been self–righteously criticizing me just minutes ago, suddenly looked uneasy. A flicker of guilt passed through his eyes.
Veronica’s face went pale.
She quickly changed her tone. “Honey… so that’s what was going on. Our house is haunted?”
“You must’ve wanted a divorce because you were scared, right? I understand now. I’ll throw out the bear tonight. Let’s just go home and fix things.”
Her voice wavered with a pleading look in her eyes.<
The judge turned to me. “Do you agree?”
I answered without hesitation. “No.“”
Veronica began to sweat, her composure cracking.
She tried again. “Honey, I was wrong. I should’ve listened to you. Let’s stop fighting, okay?”
Panic was written all over her face.
Still, I remained silent.<
Stella stood and requested to play the second video.
M
The footage showed the teddy bear spinning around while hugging Veronica–then dropping to one knee and handing her a bouquet of flowers.
Veronica didn’t back away.”
Instead, she giggled and replied sweetly, “If I take your flowers, I’m yours now.”
“I love you, baby!”
The courtroom exploded.”
Everyone stared at Veronica like she had grown a second head.”
“What the hell?! This is beyond bizarre.””
“If I saw that in my own house, I’d lose it too. There’s gotta be someone inside that bear.”
More videos played one after another.
They were all similar in nature.
Veronica and the teddy bear–overly intimate, disturbingly affectionate.\
Bedroom. Living room. Kitchen./
Every corner of the house had been turned into their stage.”
It was unspeakably absurd.”
Many people blushed just from watching it.
”
Even the judge, who had previously looked at me with disdain, now glanced at me with something closer to sympathy. “Veronica… What is all this?”
“Explain it! What the hell is going on?!”
Her parents stared at her in disbelief, their faces dark with anger and shame.
“I–I–I… I don’t know!” Veronica stammered, lips trembling.
She quickly shook her head and glared at me, humiliated and furious–blaming me for exposing the videos.
