Neil was getting dressed as he said, "At least it's not a masquerade party again. If I see Winston with that mask on one more time..."
Coraline chuckled and nodded. "You're just scared," she answered as she grabbed her fox mask to be prepared. She hid it in her purse and walked to the car and drove off to Aria's leaving Neil behind.
Neil frowned and got into his bike, thinking, 'Same old Coraline,' speeding toward the mansion. And sure enough, both were greeted by Winston who smiled and said, "It is so good to see you again."
Neil looked up and breathed a sigh of relief, the butler saying, "Come right in. There actually aren't a lot of guests tonight. This party is specifically friends only," Neil saying, "It makes sense. This is a celebration of Hugh gaining skills as an attorney." And sure enough, despite there only being four guests total, a wide assortment of food had been prepared for the occasion, Hugh having made himself a cracker sandwich with cheese, shrimp and an oyster, saying, "Here's to best friends!" he and the others eating their cracker sandwiches at once. However, they all started choking and needed fruit punch to gulp the crackers down.
Neil laughed sarcastically as Aria said, "By the way, Hugh, you said if you lost the case, there was a big secret you were going to reveal. Guess that's not gonna happen, is it?" Neil staring and uttering, "For real?" Hugh sighed, "Well, I already revealed it during the trial. See, as I said, I was struggling in the course until that very day. I figured if I failed, there was no point hiding it from you anymore," Neil uttering, "So there was nothing else you were hiding?"
Coraline noticed a shadow and looked closer. "Um guys we aren't alone. Someone's literally outside on the property and I can't see a face," she warned.
Sure enough, as soon as the figure appeared, he was gone as Neil blinked and said, "Odd," Hugh breathing a sigh of relief. That one distraction had ended what could have been an awkward conversation.
Coraline sighed and nodded. "I just wanted to tell him I don't blame him. I blame my mom to be fully honest. She lied to the courts a lot," she confessed.
Neil blinked as Aria could tell things were getting awkward, thus she asked, "So, anyone up for more punch?"
Coraline nodded knowing it was best to avoid the topic of her mom. As long as Jerome didn't discover the truth
And so the rest of the evening went well. However, two weeks later, Neil was shocked to see a news report saying that, of all people, Raven had recently been arrested, and supposedly, it was for a crime she had committed three years ago. Needless to say, this was enough for Neil to spit out his coffee, his eyes and mouth wide with shock.
Neil raced down the detention center as well, Raven having not spoken a word during that time despite Coraline's persistence. When she noticed Neil, she frowned and said, "I know what you're here for, and no, I don't want you two or anyone for that matter defending me in court tomorrow." "But why?" Neil remarked, "You're too good to accept help from us? Is that it!?" Raven sighing, "No, if anything, you two are the only ones I would trust to free me, that is if I was actually innocent." "Wait, so are you saying you actually committed a crime three years ago?" Neil remarked as Raven sighed, "Well, I didn't believe it for all these years, but the more I think about it, the more sense it makes that I may very well have been the only one who did it. I keep having this reoccurring dream that I'm at the scene of the crime. I'm standing before a corpse with a bloody knife in my hand," Hades nuzzling up against her cheek as she stroked his head.
