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The prosecutor smiles. “That is all, Mr Stanton, for the moment.” He turns to the audience. “I call to the witness stand Simon Wells.”
Joshua frowns, stands slowly and returns to his seat next to Vincenzo at the front and the door opens and Simon, Natasha’s friend from Sydney, appears. Fuck.
“Hello, may I call you Simon?” the prosecutor asks.
“Yes,” he replies.
“You worked with Natasha Marx at the Sexual Health Clinic did you not?”
“Yes,” he replies nervously.
“And you know Mr Stanton?”
“Only what Natasha had told me,” he replies as his eyes flick nervously to Joshua.
“What did she tell you?”
“She told me that he was playing her and that he drove her crazy. She never knew where she stood with him.”
“When Natasha started seeing him did she change at all?” the prosecutor asks.
“Yes.”
“How so?”
“She was crying all the time, nervous, unsettled at work,” Simon replies.
“Did this bother you?” the prosecutor asks.
“Yes.”
“How long did this go on for?”
He hesitates as his eyes flick to Bridget.
“For a few months, during which time he was caught with a stripper and Natasha believed it was for her own good.”
The prosecutor frowns. “So he began to brainwash her in effect.”
“Yes I believe so.”
“Then what happened?” the prosecutor asks.
“Um, they told Natasha’s parents about their relationship and her father died of a heart attack.”
“Objection,” Vincenzo calls. “He had an existing heart problem.”
“Overruled,” the judge calls.
“Natasha slipped into a deep depression and was on heavy medication. She didn’t get out of bed for months,” Simon replies.
“And where was Joshua Stanton at this time?” the prosecutor asks.
“I believe he was in LA sleeping with one of his staff and taking cocaine,” Simon replies.
The gallery gasp and Cameron inhales deeply as his stress levels hit a crescendo.
“Did Miss Marx find out about this other woman?” the prosecutor asks.
