When the day of court came I decided not to go. My real identity as Samantha Peterson was going to be used and afterall, what I did wasn’t exactly legal, so I didn’t want to risk it.
For all the court knew, I was two different people.
Instead, I arranged for my lawyer to be present in absence of Samantha, and Alexander and his lawyer, was present for Victoria and Quinton.
Quinton was slowly recovering in the hospital. It had been a few days and he would be let out any day now.
Despite being worried about his condition, his question still stuck to me from the first night I visited him.
Did he now call me Samantha or Victoria?
Truth be told, I didn’t know who I was now.
Samantha was the old me. The scared, gullible little girl.
Victoria was the vengeance seeking me. The cold, unhappy girl.
Who I wanted to be, I had no clue.
However I think I had a rough idea.
Afterall I was named Samantha at birth. Victoria was just a facade. I didn’t have to be the same Samantha, of course not. But I would dispose of my identity as Victoria and honor the name my parents gave me.
Before I could think to much about it, the familiar tone of my phone rang out loudly and I pulled it out of my back pocket.
Seeing Alexander’s name on the screen, I quickly swiped the screen and placed the phone against my ear.
“Is it over?” I asked without a greeting.
“It is,” Alexanders low voice replied.
I sat in the passenger seat of Alexander’s car and watched as he suddenly appeared out of the court building.
He glanced around the cars and once it landed on his, he tugged onto his suit and walked down the stairs, meanwhile slipping his phone back into his pocket.
Appearing near the drivers seat, he opened the door and swiftly slipped in.
He didn’t look at me and stared straight ahead.
“So?” I asked anxiously, “-what happened?”
Alexander lightly tapped onto his steering wheel, and suddenly a grin spread across his face.
He lowly chuckled and leaned back with a smug look.
“They weren’t given the possibility of parole. Since the death penalty, unfortunately, wasn’t in the picture, the court settled for life time in prison,” Alexander explained and suddenly a wide smile spread across my face.
This was the day I had been waiting for.
“However, Maxwell has it differently,” Alexander said slowly and my smile faltered.
“You wouldn’t believe it, but there was a confession. Since Marcus was the one who shot Mr Peterson, and Catelyn’s blade was the cause of Mrs Petersons death and Maxwell was simply apart of the robbery, but in no way associated with the two deaths, he was granted twenty years in prison and six months of parole.”
After his explanation, I looked at him in disbelief.
“In no way associated with the two deaths? He was the one who had the gun! He pulled it out!” I tried to reason and Alexander spoke in a calm voice.
“Your lawyer mentioned that. However Maxwell didn’t use any of the weapons. But Samantha,” Alexander suddenly sighed.
“-thats beside the point. The point is, their in prison. They’re out of our lives. No more revenge, no more fake identity. You can live your life how you want, where you want and with whom you want,” Alexander explained as his head faced mine, his dark eyes peering into mine.
I took in all of his words. He was right. I should be happy.
All this time I hadn’t realised that without Alexander or Quinton, I wouldn’t have done it.
“However I want?” I asked in a quiet voice and Alexander grinned in confirmation.
My eyes trailed down to his lips and I couldn’t help but smirk in mischeif. Now that Marcus was gone, I could do as I please.
Without a second thought, I grabbed Alexander’s shirt and yanked him towards myself, pressing my lips to his.
Looks like no matter what, there would always be a Victoria to me.
***********************************************
After spending a few more minutes in the parking lot, Alexander and I finally left.
During our ride back home, we recieved a call from the hospital mentioning Quinton was now stable and safe to leave the hospital grounds.
So instead of continuing the route home, we took a few turns, and made our way towards the hospital.
Once we got there, we went straight up to Quinton’s room.
Opening his door, Alexander stepped to the side to allow me in first.
Slipping in, I spotted Quinton already out of his bed, buttoning up his shirt with a cringe.
“Quinton!” I hissed, “-the doctor said to keep the moving around to a minimum!”
Glancing over at me, Quinton rolled his eyes and now sat on his bed, as he bent down to slip on his shoes.
“Dear, I have no desire to walk the streets naked,” Quinton deadpanned as he suddenly paused.
“Although-” he began and Alexander cut him off.
“Don’t even think about it.”
Giving us a sly grin, Quinton continued putting on his shoes.
“Well? Isn’t anyone going to explain what happened at court?” Quinton asked, sitting back up.
I glanced over at Alexander with a small smile.
“It went just as we wanted,” Alexander began to explain, “-Marcus and-”
Before he could continue, Alexander must have felt the vibration of his phone, as he pulled it out of his blazers pocket and stared ar the screen.
With a small frown, he glanced up at us.
“Excuse me,” he said in a low tone as he held the phone to his ear, and swiftly exited the room.
I slowly turned back over to Quinton and decided to ignore Alexanders sudden absense.
“As we were saying,” I said to Quinton, “-Marcus and Catelyn are in. For life. Maxwell got off easier, twenty years and six months parole,” I explained roughly, not getting into detail.
Quinton seemed a little confused at Maxwell’s difference in sentence, and before he could ask, I raised my hand and shook my head.
“Don’t ask. It’s a long story.”
Quinton slowly nodded his head as he stood up. He pulled on his coat, and gave me a wide smile.
“This means a celebration right?” He beamed, “-drinks? On me?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, I chuckled and shook my head.
“No way. You,” I said pointing towards him, “-are most certainly not allowed to drink in this state.”
Hearing my words, Quinton immediately frowned. However he then looked at me and shrugged.
“The doctors don’t have to know.”
Before I could abject, the door behind us opened once more, and Alexander stepped back in.
I turned around and eyed his curious expression.
“Alexander?” I asked with furrowed eyebrows, “-who called?”
Taking slow steps into the room, he slightly tilted his head to the side.
“That was Mr Sanders,” he explained slowly and raised an eyebrow.
“Mr Sanders?” Quinton echoed, “-he hasn’t contacted us or the Celeste business in years,” Quinton said as he cracked his knuckles.
“I’m ready to leave,” Quinton sighed.
Ignoring him, I walked over to stand in front of Alexander.
“Why did Mr Sanders call?” I asked and Alexander’s eyes trailed over to mine.
“He wants to meet up,” he gruffly said, “-he said he wants to see Samantha and myself,” Alexander mumbled in a confused tone.
“What?” I said, dumbfounded, “-but he only knows me as Victoria,” I tried to explain and Alexander sighed.
“He is a fellow man and company owner of wealth and authority. He could’ve had access to information or details of what’s happened with Marcus through your lawyers and Marcus’,” Alexander stated and I slowly nodded my head.
“What does he want?” Quinton asked and Alexander shrugged, loosening his tie.
“I guess we’ll have to find out.”
With that, Alexander wrapped his arm around my shoulders and directed me out of the room.
I looked over my shoulder to see Quinton trailing behind us, as he eyed the arm Alexander had around me.
Making eye contact with me, he smirked and sent me a little wink.
I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t help grin as I turned my head back around.
I leaned into Alexander and continued to walk down the hospital hall.