It was the last day of the trial and the media frenzy was showing no signs of abating. It had reached fever pitch following the testimony from Texas against her former husband and this of course had been her plan. She had delivered the performance of a lifetime and not only damaged Burke’s reputation even more but had also raised her public profile again. She was now the talk of every internet gossip column and the darling of the tabloid press. Texas felt adored and she loved every minute of it much to the disdain of her daughter Fathom. Burke meanwhile was focused on clearing his name and wanted to do it on his terms. This meant not cross examining his ex-wife for to do so, he believed, would be to play straight into her hands. He would not get drawn into some media circus battle with her and nor would he allow his attorney Andre Wayward to cross examine Heathen when he was forced to take the stand for the prosecution. It pained Burke to see his son suffer so and he would not permit any further questioning of him much to the chagrin of Andre.
Outside the court house, roving reporter Dick Stroker was once again reporting live on the court case that was making him a tv sensation. 
Inside the courtroom prosecutor Ann Thrax had been grilling Burke for almost an hour on the witness stand. Andre Wayward had tried to talk Burke out of taking the stand but Burke insisted upon it as the only way he could prove his innocence. But so far it was not going well for Burke.
Ann Thrax was a top notch lawyer with a reputation of a viper. She’s been known to grind down the hardest of criminals and had only ever lost one case in her entire career. There was no way she was going to let billionaire Burke Simmington get away with this crime.
Burke was getting restless as Ann kept going over and over the same accusation. It would only be a matter of time until his anger would spill out.
Texas sat glaring daggers at her ex-husband from across the courtroom.
There was an audible gasp from the spectators in the courtroom as billionaire Burke Simmington all but admitted that he had in fact administered a beating on his former groundsman as Texas had said. Would this admission go against him in this case? His wife Brystle thought so. As did his lawyer Andre Wayward. He knew Burke to be volatile and this was why he had wanted to keep him from taking the stand.
Judge Doodie ,however, disagreed.
Ann Thrax acknowledged the judge with a nod before raising her voice as she directed a forceful statement at Burke in an effort to rattle him. Which it did…
Fathom felt helpless as she watched her father react to this questioning on the witness stand. It was quite clear Ann’s tactics were getting the better of Burke.
Burke took a deep breath to calm his thoughts and his voice. He could see what that Ann was trying to rattle him and he needed to calm down. Eventually he spoke in a calm collected way.
When she saw that Burke was not responding in the manner she hoped Ann decided upon a different approach to break him.
This was new information in the courtroom as Burke had never revealed publicly what Fred had told him which then resulted in their physical altercation.
Burke stared directly at Cyril Dolby as he spoke and Cyril stared back as he considered inwardly what Burke had just said.
Around the courtroom those closest to Burke had their own thoughts and opinions about what was being revealed about Fred.
Tammy Flo could see that Heathen was hurting through all of this and did her best to console him.
The truth was Heathen still loved Fred despite of everything he was hearing and it was killing him inside.
Ann continued grilling Burke for close to another hour by which time he looked exhausted and beaten. She knew she had the jury convinced of his guilt and it was time to wrap things up.
Ann rested her palms on the witness stand and leaned close to Burke as she spoke.
Burke was silent. He was exhausted and felt that he was beaten. He could say no more.
Ann stepped away and Judge Doodie excused Burke from the witness stand. Burke stood and looked over at his family as he took his seat. He felt dejected when he saw the look on each of their faces for it looked to them that he was indeed guilty of killing Fred Rimmard….
Burke felt dejected and humiliated as he took a seat next to his lawyer Andre Wayward. Luckily Andre had received a text during Burke’s testimony from someone willing to testify for them. But t could be risky. Nevertheless Andre felt it was the only shot they had to convince the jury of Burke’s innocence.
Burke could not believe what he was hearing. Was Andre seriously considering putting Fred’s mother on the stand to testify for them??
Burke had not time to respond as Devonique made her entrance into the courtroom. All eyes were on her as she confidently strutted to the witness box. Journalists from the press who were allowed into the courtroom were frantically updating their social media websites with the latest revelations.
Andre walked towards Devonique to swear her in.
Devonique paused as she reflected on how things had worked out with her son.
Devonique’s moving testimony pained Burke to hear.
Devonique glanced over towards Heathen and gave him a reassuring and comforting smile. Heathen felt tears building in his eyes and he lowered his head.
Devonique glared straight ahead at Texas as she made her statement and there were a few chuckles around the courtroom. Even Judge Doodie found herself trying not to laugh. She quickly banged her gavel to regain order of the courtroom.
Once the laughter had died down Andre continued.
Andre nodded and then turned to Judge Doodie to explain what Devonique was referring to.
There was a collective gasp and audible mutterings from the court at what Devonique had just testified. The mother of the deceased victim was stating that his death was an accident and nothing more.
A stunned Seth couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
Andre was satisfied with this. The mother of the victim had all but removed any blame from Burke. There was no way the jury would convict him now.
No further witnesses were presented and so both lawyers concluded with their summary to the jury. First up was prosecutor Ann Thrax. 
Next up was Andre Wayward. This was his final chance to convince the jury of Burke’s innocence. 
And that ended the case for the defence. It was up the jury to decide now and Judge Doodie dismissed them to deliberate on the verdict. Court was adjourned but less than an hour passed and the jury had already decided. Everyone was recalled back in. Burke and Andre were asked to stand as Judge Doodie turned to the foreman of the jury.
There was an eruption of cheers in support of Burke as the verdict was announced. And there were some who could not believe the ruling. However Burke and Andre were ecstatically relieved with the news.
Cyril said nothing to his fiancée as she raged at the ruling. For he knew it was his dealings with bribing certain jury members that returned the verdict he wanted.
Prosecutor Ann Thrax was stunned when the verdict was delivered for she thought she had this one in the bag.
As everyone stood as Judge Doodie stepped down from her chair Burke glanced back and smiled at his wife for the first time since the court case had begun.
Burke rushed forward and embraced Brystle tightly in his arms. He had truly missed her.
Fathom grabbed hold of her father and Burke hugged his daughter. If he noticed Brystle’s sudden unease upon the mention of secrets he certainly did not give anything away.
One person not hanging around for the congratulations was Devonique. She had done her part, delivering the truth and helping to set Burke free. But in the end, her son was still dead. So, for now, she needed to be alone. But only for a little while for Devonique had something else in store for the Simmingtons…
Later, to avoid the crowds of press and paparazzi waiting outside the courtroom, Burke and Brystle made to leave by a secret rear exit. Heathen was already there as he had wanted a moment alone to deal with the outcome of the trial.
Heathen looked at Burke awkwardly. He’d barely spoken a word to Burke since his father’s arrest and subsequent incarceration due to his parole being denied. The last time they’d had any one on one interaction was the night at the opera when he’d found Fred at lying dead at the bottom of the stairs and Burke staring down at him. Heathen accused his father of killing his husband. Even with Burke’s acquittal and Fred’s death deemed accidental, it was hard for Heathen to accept. And then there was the question of paternity hanging over them…
Burke could see how fragile he son looked. He looked to Brystle who understood and stepped aside as Burke approached his son.
The thought of Cyril Dolby being Heathen’s father was too distressing to comprehend for Burke.
Weeks upon weeks of bottled up rage and grief erupted from Heathen and he flung his arms up in anger as he yelled.
Burke nodded as he listened to his son’s anguish. He wanted to assure him that everything would work out in the end and began to gently break it to him unaware that Texas had quietly joined them from the courtroom.
Burke’s anger immediately rose at the sound of his ex-wife’s voice and he spun around to face her.
Heathen stomped past them as he made his exit down the stairs. Burke was furious with Texas for interrupting his talk with Heathen and subsequently upsetting the young man even further.
Brystle had had enough of this bickering between the former spouses and she stepped forward to take charge before it erupted into a full scale war between them all.
Texas gave Brystle another one of her triumphant smirks. It gave Texas pleasure to constantly belittle her and her well timed put down lightened her mood. She looked from husband to wife and remembered that she had a plan to bring to fruition.
With her high heels clicking on the marble floor, Texas marched off. Burke his head but said nothing as he took Brystle gently by the arm and led her downstairs and out to the waiting limo.
That evening back at the mansion just before dinner, Burke and Brystle were having a moment alone in the study.
Brystle brace herself for what was to come. As it turned out, it was not what she was expecting…
Brystle was seeing a different side to her husband. He was showing vulnerability, a trait he had never shown before. And realising that her doubts she had experienced earlier in the court room about Burke were suddenly fading. Burke never admitted he was wrong.
Brystle was so relieved to hear Burke say this. Mayhew had been an innocent bystander, sent away to work overseas by Burke to keep him from seeing Brystle. He’d been framed on a charge of spying and as an employee of Burke’s this had lost him the contract at WindenburgSimmington for the South Shang Simla Sea Leases. This was a billion Simoleon contract and Cyril Dolby had wanted it all along. Framing Mayhew was his unscrupulous way of obtaining it.
This was a relief for Brystle to hear. However there were other pressing matters on her mind, issues that had come to light that night several months ago at the opera that’d never been addressed.
Just as they were getting down to some serious smooching, there was a polite knock at the door and in walked major-domo Joseph Flanders.
What could this mean?
Joseph showed Devonique into the study before leaving and closing the doors quietly behind him.
Burke eyed the woman in front of him. He didn’t appreciate the mention of his lost son Badam. That was a private family matter.
CREDITS:
For this episode of Simasty, I was again inspired by the original court case from season 1 & 2 of Dynasty where Blake Carrington was on trial over the death of Ted Dinard. For the reveal of Devonique as Burke’s sister, that was from an episode in season 5 where Dominque revealed she was Blake’s sister.
Siloli Mansion is my own version of Filoli, the real life house used as the Carrington residence in the original Dynasty.
I used a lot of CC poses throughout this episode. 3 particular talented artists I use a lot are
https://joanneberniceposes.weebly.com
http://www.sims4studio.com/thread/4220/sims-4-cc-princess-paranoia
CC clothing featured:
Brystle’s blue evening dress by DarkNighTt available at: https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/1318727
Brystle’s court outfit by SLYD at: https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/1337161
Long painted nails by S-Club at: https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/1450200
Devonique’s jacket by belal1997 at : https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/1468541
Devonique’s jumpsuit by Jonsims at : https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/1460467
Devonique’s trousers by ekinege at: https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/1493608
Devoniqe’s hat by Elfdor at : https://www.simsdom.com/downloads/151583/hat-tiffany-sims4
High heel shoes by Malden at : https://thesimsresource.com/artists/MJ95
Seth’s suit by Darte77 at : https://darte77.blogspot.com/
Texas’s outfit by Sifix at :https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/1467557
Courthouse used for exterior shots only by Azulsims01 :
Courtroom wall panelling by Peacemaker at :
https://peacemaker-ic.tumblr.com/post/179959123501/splendid-panelling-three-new-painted-wall-styles
simasty.com 
Marvellous as always – I just love the names you come up with and the clever play on words – Keep up the good work!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh man. Ann Thrax cracked me up! Too funny. As were some of the others. Great job and very on the edge of your seat!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much! I really appreciate and value your feedback on here. Also glad that my humour comes across too. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person