A day passed in a blur.

Since the day to meet the Preliminary was set sooner, in a blink, it was already the day when Ian was supposed to meet the judge.

“It happened so fast, and now I can’t believe that I’m going to give statements under a judge.”

In the black SUV, there was Ian, who sat with Mason, Niko, and Raelynn.

The duo wanted to support Ian, and Mason simply wanted to be there just because.

“The subpoena was dated and you received it late, what great timing!” Niko said and shook his head.

“What if the baby is yours?” Raelynn asked with wide eyes.

“I need to see the mom first, Rae. I’m not even sure if I know the lady,”

“But what if the baby is?”

“Apparently everyone needs to know the answer to the single question,” Ian said and looked away.

His mood wasn’t exactly rainbows and butterflies. Raelynn and Niko tried to lift his mood throughout the journey, yet it barely worked.

“This Friday, there’s the premiere of Resident Evil, will you be going?” Mason asked as Niko, who drew the car took a turn to the left.

“I’ll see, uncle. I just have a really bad feeling about the whole thing. I can’t even get myself to sit and work for two hours straight, while I used to stay for nights working.”

“A new script?” Mason asked back.

“Hmm, supposed to be. I stopped working on it halfway. After things settle, I might start writing again.”

“Well, Ian, look,” Mason said in a stern, caring voice.

Ian, who had his head outside the window, turned to look at Mason.

His eyebrows were raised and confused, and it was clear that Ian wasn’t feeling too good by how he looked.

“You have to face tougher situations than this, Ian. The world's number one studio company was subtly after you, heck, they are even now, I bet. But you never gave up. You know, if there’s anything that I know about you, it’s gotta be how much passion and creativity you have with movie making.

Be prepared; be prepared for any and everything that could happen once you walk inside, but, but you’ve got to know that you’re brave enough to face this.”

“Ian,” Niko muttered. “A baby can sound scary, but we don’t know if it’s yours yet, but even if it is, what could be the worst? You’d just have to fund the mom, if she insists, you could arrange the funds for the future of the kid, but no one can stop you in your journey to the top of Hollywood.”

What they had said was true, and Ian had known subconsciously. All these days, while he was worried about the baby or the mother who he hadn’t even gotten the opportunity to meet, he could have simply focused more on writing the script or working on it.

“It’s okay though,” It was Raelynn. “Take your time with things, Ian. But, don’t let it affect you too much.”

That was all that she said.

“250 meters, and we’d be in front of the court. There’s going to be a hell fucking lot of paparazzi!” Niko said as he took the last turn of the journey.

The car came to its destination, and the cameras started going crazy with many questions and statements.

“...As you can see, Ian Renner just got out of the car and headed toward the court. As the news is already everywhere, it is pretty clear that Ian would have a baby to call his father in no time! But the question lies, how many girls have Ian even been with? Is this the only one?”

“... New Yorkers! Young director Renner is just walking inside, and would that be Ian Renner’s baby? Does that mean, the eligible bachelor is a father? No matter what, we’re awaiting the results, or possibly a word or two when they all get out?”

The reporters went crazy with their statements.

Such scandals always worked in their favor. If a couple of cheats, broke up, or anything that could give a sufficient juicy story, they’d gladly comment and make everything public as quickly as they possibly could.

Likewise, even right now, the cameras were focused on Ian and the three other people who walked inside, and the cameramen including every other reporter were talking and showing about it as if it's one of the greatest world wonders.

–

“Don’t look at that side, it’s okay, it’s okay!” Raelynn hushed as she kept her hand on his lower back of Ian as they walked in.

“Finally!” Niko said after a long brisk walk from the car to the closed door of the court.

“I can’t believe there were so many of them, ah!”

“It’s all they know, and they too need to protect their job, what more can we even expect?!”

“Ian, are you okay?” Mason asked, looking at the dumbfounded Ian.

He hadn’t spoken a word since the car ride, and it had started to worry Mason,

“I’m alright, uncle. I just need to get over this as soon as possible. Like-”

As soon as he was about to complete what he was saying, a lady with a kid walked inside where they were.

‘Holy f-’ inside his brain, he cussed at the fact he remembered who the lady was.

“Ian, tell me you don’t know her,” Niko whispered.

“Fuck, I wish I could say that. But I guess I do know her,” he said and mentally slapped himself, harder. So hard that if the slap was real, the bruise would be left for a week.

The lady was none other than Sarah. Her eyes, hair, features, and everything else looked the same yet a bit older than he remembered how it was.

Nevertheless, how could one forget the first face right after reincarnation?

He also remembered how he had thought that the girl was so not his type. With that thought holding onto its dear life, he cussed himself more than millions of times in mind until they were taken to the judge.

-

The girl with the lady in her hand walked inside the court with fear slightly bubbling up in her stomach.

Her lawyer was by her side, and she was walking in with a brave face.

Seeing Ian’s face made her almost fall to her knees, but she was stronger than she’d expected.

“We got this, don’t worry,” the lawyer muttered loud enough for Sarah to hear.

“I know, it’ll be fine, Amen,” she said and prayed to the God above.

Her only thought was how she was doing all of this to get a good life for her son and herself. At first, she backed off a little, but then she remembered how Ian had used her.

He used to make her spend nights with the promise of shopping, and every other little thing that couples do. On the other hand, she was cheating on her boyfriend, but a part of her liked Ian a lot.

It was all confusing—yet her only explanation for herself, and her act was that all she does would be to get a life.

-

Thus, the court case started being questioned in front of the respectable Preliminary.

Ian looked at Sarah, but her gaze was avoiding him the entire time. The judge was an older female, who was being utterly sympathetic to Sarah, but she kept her ground and questioned everything in detail.

“Did you guys know each other?” That was the first question thrown at Ian and Sarah.

“Yes, we do.”

“Yes, your honor.”

Ian had explained how he knew Sarah for his lawyer, which also made things stir clear between him and the lawyer.

Minutes passed, then almost an hour. By the end of the case hearing, the judge went on to explain how this would affect Ian’s career.

“... Hence, this case would once again be heard in the trial, on September 12th, 2019, at 9.25 am. The court is dismissed!” The judge dismissed the court and everyone stood up in respect to the court.

Once the judge was out, Ian stood up from where he was and walked to meet Mason and the others.

“I love how they ignored the DNA tests every once in a while,” Niko mumbled and Ian scoffed.

“Can I talk to the girl?” Ian asked, looking at the lawyer.

“Go ahead, don’t make a scene though, paparazzi are outside,” she said.

Ian walked towards Sarah, who stood alone but with her lawyer by her side.

“I do remember you,” Ian approached her.

“Oh, do you?” Sarah asked back.

“Are you sure this is my daughter? I mean-”

“It is, Mr. Ian Renner, I’d like to go home now, excuse me,” she said and walked away in an instant.

The lawyer followed her client’s lead quietly.

“She seemed to be scared though, who knows from what?” Niko who walked after Ian said and shrugged.

“Hm, we’ll find out. Seeing her now, I don’t even mind if the little girl is mine, cute little thing,” Ian said with a smile.

“The people outside are far from cute, so put your shades up, let’s go!” Niko said and all of them walked outside together.

Different sorts of questions, accusations, assumptions, and yells were heard on their way out.

Ian, who walked with them towards the SUV, got in without giving a single glance at them.

May all the favors be on their side!