Gabriel stood up once again, his chair scraping loudly against the floorboards. “Your Honor, this is entirely inappropriate because my daughter is a minor who has absolutely no reason to be involved in a property dispute!”
“This completely stopped being only a property dispute the exact moment your child approached a sitting judge in severe distress,” Judge Barrett replied coldly.
Bianca sat rigid in her leather chair, her hands trembling slightly beneath the tabletop.
Penelope looked back and forth from Daisy to Gabriel in utter shock. “What is she talking about, Gabriel?”
Gabriel desperately found somewhere else to look, staring blankly at the wall molding.
Judge Barrett directed the court officer to safely bring Daisy to the witness area, clarifying that while the child would not be sworn in as an adult witness, the court was obligated to hear what she had to say. The judge made it clear to both legal teams that when a child steps forward with troubling information, no official proceedings would move forward as if nothing had happened.
