Chapter 7 - The Deposition
Z
The atmosphere inside the corporate conference room was suffocating. Sunlight streamed through floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the long mahogany table where two legal teams sat facing each other. On one side sat my father, Arthur Miller, wearing a sharp navy suit that couldn't hide the significant weight he had lost over the past month. Beside him were his high-powered defense attorneys, led by the ruthless trial lawyer Victor Vance (no relation to my lawyer, Laura Vance). On our side sat Laura, Daniel, and me.
This was the court-ordered deposition ahead of both the civil suit and the criminal trial. Under oath, Arthur was required to answer questions directly, with every word recorded by a court reporter sitting at the head of the table.
Victor Vance leaned forward, placing his hands flat on the table. "Before we begin, I want to state for the record that my client maintains his absolute innocence regarding all charges of intentional assault. What occurred on the night in question was an unfortunate, chaotic physical accident during a heated emotional discussion."
"The court reporter will note Mr. Vance's statement," Laura said smoothly, adjusting her glasses. "Now, let's begin."
Laura turned her focus toward Arthur, who sat with his jaw clenched, staring at me with cold fury.
"Mr. Miller," Laura began, her voice calm and methodical. "Did you, on the afternoon of August 12th, state to guests at your daughter Olivia's party that the 2024 Mercedes-Benz parked in the driveway was an anniversary gift from you to Olivia and Jason?"
Arthur cleared his throat. "I indicated that the car was being made available to them, yes."
"Did you own that vehicle?"
"It was a family vehicle," Arthur claimed smoothly.
"Mr. Miller, please answer the question directly," Laura interrupted sharp as a razor. "Was the vehicle registered solely in the name of your daughter, Emily Miller?"
"On paper, yes," Arthur admitted stiffly.
"Did you forge Emily Miller's signature on the DMV title transfer document dated three days prior to the party?"
Victor Vance put a hand up. "Objection. My client asserts his Fifth Amendment privilege regarding that question based on pending state charges."
"Duly noted," Laura smiled faintly. "Let's move to the physical confrontation. Mr. Miller, you picked up an aluminum camera tripod weighing approximately seven pounds. Why did you pick up that object?"
"I was moving it out of the way to clear space on the patio," Arthur lied smoothly, leaning into the camera recording the deposition. "Emily approached me aggressively, yelling and making a scene. I turned around quickly while holding the equipment, and she bumped into it and fell. It was an accident."
Laura didn't blink. She reached into her briefcase, pulled out a tablet, and set it on the table facing Arthur. She pressed play.
The high-definition video filled the silent room. On the screen, Arthur's face was clearly visible. He wasn't turning around to move equipment. He was staring directly at me, raising the tripod with both hands over his right shoulder, and swinging it downward with explosive force directly into my pregnant abdomen. The sickening sound of the metal impact echoed through the conference room speakers, followed by my terrifying scream as I collapsed to the concrete.
"Mr. Miller," Laura said quietly in the silence that followed. "Does that video look like a man moving equipment out of the way?"
Arthur's face went completely red. Sweat glistened on his forehead. "You don't understand the context!" he suddenly exploded, slamming his fist onto the mahogany table. "She was disrespecting me! In front of my friends, in front of my family! I built this family! Everything she has came from me! She had no right to talk to me like that!"
"Arthur, shut up!" Victor Vance snapped, grabbing his client's arm.
"No!" Arthur roared, his composure crumbling entirely as he glared across the table at me. "She's an ungrateful bitch! I gave her a home, I let her go to school, and she sits there acting like she's independent! That car should have been given to Olivia years ago! Emily didn't deserve it!"
The room fell into dead silence. The court reporter's fingers flew across the stenotype machine, capturing every single word of Arthur's furious outburst.
Laura slowly picked up her pen, marking a note on her notepad. "Thank you, Mr. Miller. You have just established full malicious intent, motive, and personal animus for both the civil battery suit and the criminal trial. No further questions."
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Arthur stared at his defense lawyer, realizing too late what he had just done. In a single moment of unbridled narcissism and rage, he had completely destroyed his own defense.
Daniel reached over under the table and squeezed my hand tightly. For the first time in my life, I saw my father for what he truly was: a fragile, pathetic bully whose power existed only as long as people were too afraid to stand up to him.
