There's Betrayal & THERE'S BETRAYAL

Heather continued, "Do you know Bruce Benning?"

Samantha replied carefully, "I do. I met him when I stayed in Bristol. My son Alan was diagnosed with a benign brain tumour and Mr Benning operated on him. It's been successful. That was eight years ago."

Heather asked, "How did Mr Benning learn of your skills?"

Samantha replied clearly, "After the operation, Alan's motor skills were compromised for a time. I had to help him use his arm and hand again properly. I was playing with him, using some plasticine, moulding his favourite monsters when Mr Benning came in. We talked and he seemed fascinated by it."

Heather led, "Did it go beyond that?"

Samantha replied, "It did. It was close to Halloween and he asked if I could make him up for a party. He wanted to be an abused spouse as his friends always said he was so uptight, he'd never heard a joke. His reputation, unwarranted according to him, was that he wouldn't put up with a woman saying no to him, let alone show her dominance over him. This would show them all they were wrong.

"I made him up for three parties that year, each had slightly different tones as the bruising matured. Since then, I have done it on three other occasions all some years apart."

Heather asked, "Apart from Mr Benning do you know anyone else in this court?"

Samantha looked around and replied, "Carole and Samantha. I did their makeup for some parties in Liverpool last year. They said their husbands would never hit them but they wanted to see how their friends reacted."

Heather pressed another button and images of both Carole and Samantha came up. These must have been Samantha's copies as it showed the whole process. Neither had any visible marks before she started. When she had finished, I believed her, I had hit Carole. She's phenomenally good.

I almost jumped in delight as I realised Carole's pictures were the ones she had shown the court!

Heather closed, "So all these photos show the work you did and no actual physical bruises?"

Samantha said, "They were flawless when they came in. They looked battered when they left."

Heather asked simply, "Where you aware what your creations were actually to be used for? To discredit and accuse their husbands of assault and for Benning to sue women who refused his advances!"

Samantha was shocked, "No. I'd never do something like that. Had I known I would have contacted them and offered to tell the truth for them."

Heather said, "Thank you."

Miss Johnston had no questions. She looked shocked, defeated.

The Sheriff humped like to indicate he was happy to close but Heather wanted her pound of flesh. As Benning took the stand, two men entered the court. They looked solely at him. Benning did not look happy at all. I stared at him. I wanted to watch Heather roast and dissect him! My cruel smile (I had practised for this moment) showed how much I was looking forward to this.

Heather began, "Mr Benning, you had an adulterous affair with Ms Rees since before she married Mr Benson, have you not?"

Benning's haughty persona came over, "No. I only came to her rescue."

Heather took him through all his lies and his arrogance made me cringe. He only loved himself. He tried whenever he could to put in his accomplishments. When Heather's noose was, figurately, around his neck, she opened the trap door.

Heather smiled, "So you stated yesterday you had only recently become intimate with Ms Rees after her husband assaulted her. Yet today, I've shown the court ten years' worth of you spending time together at all those hotels. Meetings which lasted for days. Did she laugh at your attempts to make love to her?

Benning was angry, "No. We only recently became intimate."

Heather continued, "Many of those hotels have complaints about the noise from your room, your "moose calls" as you shared your intimate times. Are your hotel neighbours lying?"

Benning glared at Heather as she put up the numerous complaints received.

Heather was smiling as she continued, "There are even more complaints regarding your behaviour. About how you love to expose your little penis in front of a female in their pools. You were careful there were no others to see but the hotels kept records of them."

Heather brought those up. He was a sexual pervert.

Heather began closing up, "You lie to cover up your affair with a married woman. You lie to your employers, you contend what we have just seen is fiction.

"Are you really a surgeon or is that another con job?"

Benning was mad, "I'm a surgeon, one of the best."

Heather laughed, "You may be a talented surgeon but as a human being you are despicable."

Heather pressed a button and began scrolling through the photos of Benning's spousal abuse photos. She stopped and allowed people to read the accompanying letters which showed how he had conned four courts into giving him substantial financial settlements against females, like Betsy, whom he had befriended. The court records showed they had all denied assaulting him. His own records showed he had formulated his plans in revenge for them having the audacity of refusing his advances. Those photographs had been the means by which he convinced the Sheriff's despite all the other evidence led to show the women had not assaulted him.

Heather grilled him over them. He couldn't answer some damning statements. She prized off his veneer as she rounded on his abuse of those women. "Your colleagues were right about you, were they not. You cannot accept a woman as an equal, able to refuse your pathetic advances. Those who did and had assets you went after. You lied in court. You're just a little man in every sense of the name."

His angry reply wasn't unnoticed by the Sheriff, Heather almost laughed as he called her "a fucking witch!" His arrogance was leaking away. The realisation of what was coming was slowly dawning on him. After she ripped him to shreds over the women, she moved on to the main course.

Heather showed the records of meetings between Carole and him, their written and email correspondence. He denied they had been speaking for the length of time Heather had been saying. When she showed the detail plan to accuse me of assaulting Carole, there were some sobs from the gallery. Benning had a detailed plan of how they were going to bankrupt me and fuck my life. Benning tried to deflect, saying they were just lovers' tales, a distraction, they never would have done so.

Heather explained, "It was exactly what you have been doing. You played his parents, you played his employer. You have duped Miss Johnston into presenting this, to this very court."

She continued with more documents. She spoke to Benning, "You didn't intend to stop here, did you. You already had another money-making scam in mind, didn't you." Benning denied it but was looking increasingly worried. Looking at those two men and Carole.

Heather paused like you do before starting your dessert. Heather pressed some more buttons. There was a loud gasp from the court. It sounded like Carole, when his plan to sue her for all her money when he was tired of her came up on the screen. I could hear someone like her sobbing.

Up on the screen was Benning's plan to marry Carole to solidify his position as head neurosurgeon. Following three to four years, he would have trained in new techniques which would allow him to move to the US where he would make millions. Carole would be discarded as he would have grown weary of her. He would ensure she committed adultery so he would take everything. He had three scenarios for her adultery to occur. One tied up blindfolded which had an asterisk, (Carole did like some bondage), one drugged and the last, introduce her to her fantasy big cock.

I could clearly hear Carole sobbing as her dream was shattered beyond repair. Her reputation would never recover. Fuck her! I smiled, a very hearty smile.

Heather led further, "You lied in this court, you lied in other courts to obtain financial rewards. I think you will find the courts will have little mercy on you. Sheriff Griffiths in Hamilton has issued a warrant for your arrest. These officers are here to enforce it. On your victims' behalf, I obtained a court order to freeze all your assets which has been enforced this morning.

"I'm sure Ms Rees is now understanding the difference between what she so easily threw away and a con artist hellbent on fleecing gullible women by any means to make up for his many inadequacies."

The Officers led a shocked Benning away. Heather then called me to the stand. Heather led me through my marriage, my complete blindsiding. She went into detail about the early evening, the words of love from Carole, the blowjob to end all blowjobs. I'm sure just to rub it in. The negligee set to tease me for later. I admitted to emptying my bladder over it after I'd thrown it into the bin. I explained my devastation and shock at what had happened. This was compounded by the fact they had told others I was an abuser. I lost my parents, my job and many friends because of their lies. I was still unemployed as no one wanted me even though it was acknowledged I was a bloody good engineer. I had lost everything I held dear.

The Sheriff said he would make his decision the following day regarding the division of assets, he ended, "Mr Benson you have been completely exonerated and have avoided a gross miscarriage of justice. You are the decent, honourable, caring man your lawyer said at the beginning. You deserve to find someone like you to build a good future.

He ended curtly, "I will deal with those who lied in my court tomorrow."

Jim was hugging Heather. He hugged me. Bill, Sandra and the others hugged me. I saw my mother crying. She'd lost a daughter and a son. With what Dan said, her visits to her grandchildren had been markedly reduced.

The next day, the Sheriff dissolved the marriage and awarded me in line with the prenup. In addition, he ordered her to pay the amount she should have paid into the joint account and the payments she made for her adulterous relations from the joint account. The cost of her car which she could have easily afforded. The bonds had been worth £125000 so he awarded me £112500 from those. He awarded alimony against her at £675 a month until I found a job paying a comparable salary to the one I'd lost due to her lies. Heather's staff had added all the figures and they were in the documents she had given to the court.

Carole looked a shell of her former self. I doubt even Samantha could hide she had spent a lot of time crying. The Sheriff told Carole in no uncertain terms he had seriously considered jailing her for lying in his court. Had she won and the truth came out later she would have been jailed for several years at least. He fined her £5000 and gave her a suspended sentence of three months in jail. In addition, he instructed that she pay my legal expenses in full within one month or the suspended sentence would be enforced.

Carrie and Samantha were fined £1000 each to be paid within thirty days.

Benning was appearing at Hamilton Sheriff Court and he'd explained to Sheriff Griffiths his thoughts.

Afterwards, over a coffee, Heather, Jim and I discussed what to do about the future.

Heather was going to involve the General Medical Council and try and have Benning struck off the medical register. As we were talking, Jim received a call from the Hamilton Court. Benning had been remanded in custody. Sheriff Griffiths had made it clear to his defence that at his next appearance he wanted all the money he had stolen from those four women paid into the court account otherwise he was looking at a long prison sentence. In addition, he could expect to pay the full legal expenses and any other justifiable expenses they had due to his false claims on those women. Even with those payments made, he was looking at a substantial jail term.

Heather was also going to involve the General Nursing Council as Carole's behaviour, for such a senior position holder, was contemptible. She knew she would probably fail as it did not involve her abusing her position, unlike Benning, but it would make employers look at her twice having this complaint against her.

I would be looking for a job as I wanted nothing to do with Carole. Heather told me to accept the alimony until I had a job.

It was Jim who startled me when he spoke softly, "Take some time with Sandra. For some reason she seems to like you. Whenever I've spoken with her she seems lovely and caring. Maybe you can help each other as she said she can't be what you want whatever that means.

"I'll say this once. With what you've been through see a counsellor. Despite your cheery outlook, you are in a lot of pain. You don't fool us. A counsellor can help you find yourself, live life, find happiness. You deserve it. Heather and I have seen so much over the years but your story is one which books and films could be made from. You are that good, decent, honourable man. Have help to recover him. Fuck them even more by having a bloody good life."

As we parted Heather's final words made me laugh, "If you think the Sheriff let her off lightly, not jailing her, he didn't. My bill will be close to £24,000. Your rate would have been far lower as you helped Betsy so much but she'll never know that."

Dan popped in after his work. He was very happy for me. He looked tired as the new child didn't sleep much. They had decided to have a third as he wanted a son. He got one. Our parents haven't seen him yet. He offered me a job as night shift attendant. I declined, I had little experience in that field. He hugged me and said, "You'll find someone true to you. You'll have the family you want, at least until that first toxic nappy!" He was laughing as he left.

Sandra, Josie, Mikaela, Gordon, Bill and some others arrived later for a celebratory drink with me. It was so good to have some fun. Josie surprised me by taking me up to dance. She was smiling as she pulled in closer, "Take a chance on Sandra, she has always felt bonded to you. You'll be good for each other. If not, Mikaela or I will hook you!" She laughed as she pretended to hobble away as though I stepped on her foot.

Sandra was the last to leave, "Robert, I said if you needed anything, I would help you. I still mean that. I wish I could have been the woman you needed back then. I'm still a virgin. I so wanted to feel you, make love with you but I was so terrified. My instincts were telling me you would be a considerate and generous lover. My mum was always telling me such horrendous stories about sex, I couldn't face the prospect of it. I still can't overcome those thoughts.

"Mikaela, Josie and others would be open to being very good friends with you or more. You are too good a man to be on your own. I saw how you were when others brought their kids to work. You'll be a great father. Do what you need to, to find that love."

She gave me a light kiss and made to leave. I held her arm gently to stop her, "Sandra, I think we can help each other. I was too young, to unsure of myself and the ways of women, to help you. I did care very deeply about you. You were my first love, not infatuation. Jim has said I need to see a counsellor to help me find myself. Perhaps we can both see a counsellor and see what will transpire if they can help us both. You have your fear of sex and I have this emptiness, not knowing who I am. I don't even know if I can get erect again so your fear may not matter."

Sandra smiled, "Robert, if we did this, it would be because I want to be with you as a partner, a mother in the future. You deserve that."

I held her and kissed her, the most passionate kiss I'd shared with her in fifteen years. She was blushing when I finished. Astonishingly, I did have an erection which she must have felt. She did hold herself against me which was more than she had done those years before.

She gasped, "Let's try a counsellor."

Two days later the local paper came out and I found myself on the front page. It was highly detailed and explained the way they had tried to frame me. It left no one in any doubt, I was the good guy. The online edition comments section showed no support for her at all. Some comments about what should happen to her did scare me.

About eight weeks later, I received an email from Heather with copies of her letters to the General Medical Council, General Nursing Council and to Carrie's evangelical church's hierarchy. Heather didn't miss Benning and how his actions were facilitated by his profession and how his actions brought the profession into disrepute. She'd detailed his public exposures, his lies in court. She asked for his registration to be suspended immediately. It helped that on his third appearance in court, though he had paid the money he had conned those women out off, over £250,000, Sheriff Griffiths jailed him for five years. Heather had given Samantha Wiseman's photographs of making him up and her statements to her to the Procurator Fiscal who made sure his defence had copies before they left the court the first day he appeared.

Benning had pled guilty at the first opportunity so he had to have a thirty-three percent discount on his sentence. Sheriff Griffiths made reference to a previous judgement, upheld in the Appeal Court, that although he was limited to a five-year sentence, as in his opinion, the High Court would jail Benning for seven and a half years, with the discount, he could impose this sentence. He'd contemplated sending Benning to the High Court as they could impose a higher sentence which in his opinion, was highly possible. However, with the backlog due to Covid, he decided this was the best course of action. In other words, appeal this at your peril!

Benning, as a senior medical consultant, was a high-profile story and some national papers ran the story. The Sunday editions crucified him. I was approached but declined to comment alleging that I was still too raw from her betrayal to make any statement.

Heather's letter to the evangelical church leadership questioned Carrie's fitness for the office she held and any further promotion. She pointed out Carrie had lied on oath after taking the bible in her hand. How her actions condoned repeated breaches of a commandment which this church demands compliance with. Her position in the evangelical church hierarchy would be problematic. I doubted her marriage would survive such was the zeal of her husband for piety.

I learned at the golf club, Brian and Stephanie had parted. Amy and Grant as well. Sara and Mark were struggling as she was so close to the other three, he now had serious suspicions about her. On the plus side, my drives were going fifteen yards further when I thought the ball was one of Benning's!

As for Carole, I don't fucking care. She took me for a ride to the depths of despair only to find her knight in rusty armour had taken her for an even bigger ride. Karma's a bitch!

Chapter Two

As for Sandra and me, we have been going to two counsellors for over three months. It has been difficult but we've helped each other. Well, at least she's helped me. Sharon is helping Sandra. I accompany her but normally only stay with her when it's about the causes. Some of the stories Sandra said about her mum and how she so twisted her against any form of sex were awful. She hadn't masturbated after her mother had found her doing so when she was fourteen. She'd been thrashed and left black and blue over most of her torso, front and back and legs. She was often in tears when she related those stories. I held her gently. Sharon was brilliant in picking up the key phrases her mum had used and how those impacted on Sandra. She started to give her positive messages when Sandra told her what she had actually felt when with me. If it's about helping Sandra learn about sexual relationships, I'm mostly out the room. I have been getting more involved in those as they have discussed fantasies recently. Sharon wanted Sandra to hear my thoughts as a male to help her understand that while some were highly arousing, it wasn't necessary to do those. The need for boundaries to protect each other. Sandra can blush and I mean BLUSH!