Let's Make A Bet

Aria’s POV:

The lady left and Liam walked away with some men who approached him, I wore my shade and cap before descending from my car.

Found my way past the paparazzi and headed to the courtroom; it was a little crowded, but luckily I found a seat beside a man dressed in a brown suit. He kept trying to peek past my disguise, and it was really irritating.

“Aria?” he muttered. I cleared my throat and took off my sunglasses.

“Who are you?” I asked with raised brow.

“Julian, a friend of Liam.” He extended his hand to me, and I saw no reason to accept it because, just like him, Liam was a stranger to me as well.

But just to be polite, I accepted his handshake. “Hello.”

The case finally began; the accused Salmon was brought to court, and he had a smile once he spotted Liam.

Then my gaze diverted to Caleb, who was busy going through some files.

“Who do you want to win?” Julian questioned, and I shrugged my shoulder; I really just wanted to see Liam in action.

“How about we make a bet?” Julian had a smile when he said that.

“What sort of bet?”

“Choose your side,” he urged. I bit my lower lip and reminisced about the videos found online of Salmon shooting the minister’s son; that video was enough to send him to jail.

“I think Caleb Thompson will win the case.”

“Confident much?” He laughed and retracted a small sticky note from his pocket, wrote down some numbers, and handed it to me.

“100,000 if Caleb does win, and you get to pay me the same amount if Liam wins.”

I gasped in disbelief. Was he trying to scam me right now, or what?

“I’m not paying such an amount.”

“Fine, take out one zero. Let’s make it 10,000. You in?”

I thought for a while and nodded. “I am in.”

We were past the boring parts of the case when Liam invited a video expert to the stand. After he swore, Liam began asking questions.

“Do you think the video was tampered with?” he asked the expert.

“No”

“This was caught by a CCTV camera , so it’s not really clear, but the sound was great, right?” he asked, and the man agreed.

“If we listen carefully, we could hear a car drive in and footsteps.”

“Objection, he is speaking under speculation.” Caleb stood up.

“Overruled,” the judge replied.

“It means he can answer the question.” Julian leaned and explained, and this caused me to scoff.

“I know what it means,” I muttered and returned my attention to the case.

“And according to the camera at the entrance, my client arrived in the parking lot with a bike, and there was just one entrance there. A few seconds after the gunshot was heard, a car quickly drove out of the parking lot, which means there were other people present,” Liam explained to the judge before Caleb stood up.

“It’s a public parking space, so it’s normal for other cars to be there,” Caleb stated.

Liam nodded and asked the expert to leave; he now invited a doctor.

“You were in charge of treating Aldo before he took his last breath, right?”

“That is correct.”

“So, can you watch this video, please?” Liam asked, and after he got the court approval, he showed the video to the doctor, who kept watching it.

“You see, the man’s position, and at that angle, he could send a bullet to what part of the body?”

The doctor took a proper look at the video “The chest and shoulder, maybe.”

“But Aldo was shot in the stomach, right?” Liam questioned, and Caleb stood up again.

“Objection, he is trying to mislead the court.”

“What are you trying to prove?” the judge asked.

Liam stood before the judge. “There was someone else present at the parking lot; according to the camera, a car drove into the lot at 12:13, but no one left the car, and after Aldo was shot at 2:02, the car drove out.”

“Your client had a gun pointed at my client.” Caleb retorted.

“Of course, and that’s an offense, but your client owed my client a huge amount of money, and all he wanted was his money.”

“Exactly, so he killed my client out of anger,” Caleb stated, and Liam chuckled.

“If he kills your client, then who will refund his money? His intention was just to threaten him; the people in that car shot Aldo Walters, and my client just happened to be pointing a gun at him at that same time.”

The case went on and on, with them providing evidence and also new witnesses.

After we had a ten-minute break and returned to court, it was time for the judge to announce his verdict.

My gaze moved to Julian, who also had a nervous look.

“The court has received and reviewed all the evidence presented and has decided that the accused, Salmon Lalory, is found innocent of the murder of Aldo Walters.”

The court burst out in a roar and quickly quieted down when the judge hit the hammer.

Julian turned to me with a smile. “You can scan my card.”

He shamelessly shoved his phone at me, and I can’t believe I lost such an amount. It was so obvious that Caleb was going to win the case; no one expected Liam to put the blame on a car that drove out of the lot.

My gaze moved to Liam, who was organizing his documents; to Caleb, who had loosened his tie frustratedly; and to Salmon, who had a wide smile on his face. Why didn’t I just bet on Liam?

“Or you could pay in another way.” Julian whispered; he had a large smirk on his face, and I knew it wasn’t going to be a good way.

I cleared my throat. “What way is that?”

“I will give you an address; show up at 7pm.”

I clenched my fist and glared at him. “Chill, it’s not what you’re thinking about.” He laughed, and I finally sighed in relief. Then why was he inviting me over at such an hour?