Ellen had intentionally gone a little earlier. She was curious about the man Johan had become and wanted to see him the moment he came in and had not yet noticed her. Because Johan had been silent for a while during the phone call, diving into his memories, something had come back to Ellen's mind.

During their meetings at university she had sensed that Johan felt more for Marieke than for her. Not that that had been a problem for her, not at all. She had seen him as a good friend, more like a brother. But towards Marieke he had something... something he never verbalized, and something she never heard Marieke talk about either. She had never had the impression that the two were more than just friends, but she had sensed that Johan had something of a longing for Marieke. The way he could look at her...

Ellen shrugged her shoulders. Neither Johan nor Marieke had mentioned anything about it. Perhaps she had imagined it, or Marieke had not wanted to respond to advances. It was strange, she suddenly thought, that it had been Marieke who had suggested that Johan would be the best judge to work on Lisa's case. Wouldn't Marieke...?

Ellen sighed. How she was prying into other people's emotional lives!

The hall door opened and a young man with dark hair, curly to his collar, entered. His dark brown eyes looked around quietly and found Ellen, who recognized him immediately and raised her hand. She stood up as he approached her little table. He grabbed her by her shoulders.

"Ellen, girl, how long ago and yet like yesterday. You really haven't changed a bit, maybe gotten older half a year, but that's all. How good to see you again!"

Johan's cordial greeting touched her. She only now noticed how much she had missed him, just as a friend. She looked straight into his eyes, placing her hands on his upper arms.

"Yes, good to see you again! And you, you haven't changed a bit either. I really didn't think, that you would leave your hair so long now that you are a judge. But I can tell you, I'm glad you kept it that way. It has always looked good on you, and you seem to have remained completely yourself in this."

As she spoke, she let her fingers run through his curls for a moment. "Do you remember back then, when I was so crazy about your curls? I don't know what it is, but I hate it when men always have those tightly cropped hairstyles. It feels so unnatural to me."

"What about your husband? How does he have his hair?"

Smiling, Ellen sat down again, while Johan took a seat across from her.

Her facial expression changed immediately when she thought of Alexander. She looked dreamy, in love as she answered, "Alexander? Alex doesn't have curls, but he does have long hair, and he wears it in a ponytail. He's an auctioneer and will soon be doing an auction for Lisa, the woman who asked me to defend her case."

"And how long have you been married?"

"We met when I had just established myself as a lawyer, we dated for six months, and then moved in together and got married shortly after. He really is my soulmate Johan, the bond I have with him... you can compare it a bit to the friendship we used to have, we also had a soul connection, but with Alex it goes much deeper. From the first moment there was a certainty that we belonged together, it felt like a gunshot lit a fire in our hearts. It was intense, but fortunately in the good sense of the word! And the bond that was there from the first moment, it's still there, and it's only getting stronger."

"Beautiful Ellen, I'm happy for you." Johan squeezed her hand for a moment. "And tell me about that case. I have a feeling you didn't just call me about that without reason."

"You got that right, but first... how are you Johan, have you found your soulmate in the last few years?"

"No," Johan could say in all honesty, "I had found her before, but I didn't have the guts to do anything with it."

He glanced briefly at his watch just as a waitress approached their table. They both ordered a salad with nut mix and pasta in sauce, and a glass of water.

"Tell me Ellen, what was on your mind?"

Ellen smiled and told what had happened to Lisa. She saw that Johan was listening intently, and when she told about the rituals, serious thought wrinkles appeared in his forehead.

"And she asked you to defend her?"

Ellen smiled, hanging back slightly to give the waitress room to set down her plate. "That looks good, thanks!"

And to Johan, "Eat well! Yes, Lisa asked me. I've never done anything like this, so I find it quite exciting. But deep down inside, I know I have to help her."

Johan nodded, taking a bite, "It won't be a simple case, Ellen. By the way, I read something recently about how satanic groups also use sexual abuse and rites to enrich themselves and gain more power. A lot of money generally goes through that, and a lot more misery. There would also be a lot of high-ranking politicians involved, and people from royal families. It touched me, the idea that especially women and children are so devastated. So I started looking for it on the Internet. It amazed me how much has been written about it. And the pictures posted with it, really not conducive to your appetite. And about that Lisa, how incredibly sneaky she got into it, via her husband! That ex of hers must be an incredibly cunning asshole."

"Must have been," Ellen corrected him, "he killed himself. The lawsuit goes against the perpetrators who systematically abused her with sex and those rites. Lisa was an insecure young woman when she married that man. He initiated her through BDSM, making her his submissive. She learned from him how to be a top woman sexually. And then the abuse by others began.

Because of the death of her ex, she is now wealthy. His money, his house, his household contents, everything goes to her. All in all, it will probably run into millions. She already has a few plans with it, and one of them is to have a shelter built in the back of the estate where she lives with her soulmate. Yes, just in between, that is so incredible. A few days after she broke with her ex, she recognized the gardener of that estate as her soulmate. Like with Alex and me.

But back to her plans... The house she wants to have built there is meant for women like her, women who are getting out, and can find a place of safety there. It will be a set of four houses with a common living room in the center. So they can come together, but also retreat to their own little houses. Her second plan is to support projects with interest-free loans. If the projects do not succeed, the money does not have to be paid back. Lisa and her partner Sjaak live by the guidance of their inner voice, just like you and me, and therefore they trust that they will get the right people and projects on their path."

"It sounds like she's been through a lot over the years. Insecure, and then destroyed by that abuse, and now so knowing who she is and what she wants," Johan voiced his thoughts. "Do I have that right?"

"Yes, she is very special. She's a firebird, a wounded firebird, but she's healing and that fiery in her is already coming out. She knows what she wants. Whether she also already knows exactly who she is... it seems so, but in my opinion not quite yet. But that doesn't matter, it will come."

"I guess so, she's obviously been able to put a lot of shit behind her," thought Johan. "Now I'm just wondering what your reason was for calling me about this."

"Why I called you about it... Because this case could well be a stepping stone to those other cases of satanic ritual abuse that you, and I for that matter, have read about. So for such a case as this, we need a judge who really wants to do justice and who is not guided by shady, high-ranking people, politicians and the like. A judge who follows his heart. When we were talking about that last night, Marieke immediately thought of you. She was at that meeting with Lisa and her partner Sjaak, because she is going to arrange security at that estate. She mentioned your name, and I knew immediately that I had to ask you, even though I know that lawyers don't officially have a say in that."

Johan smiled, moved because Marieke had thought of him. "You don't have a voice in it either, you don't get to decide anything, but you do get to, as you're doing now, inform your former college friend of the situation so he can try to push himself forward."

He winked at her. "It seems to me that this is going to be a horribly difficult case. Not because of the facts, but because of the people being charged. These kinds of people are as dark as night, and besides stinking rich and powerful. They have their opportunities to influence things. On the other hand, you mentioned that Lisa was able to take screenshots. So her ex had cameras hidden here and there?"

"Yes, her ex had cameras all over the house that he could control remotely. Truly sickening. I already knew about this from Alex, he had found several. There were no more recordings on them, apparently Henk had already taken them over."

"Some people are so handy, they can make that go automatically to a computer. So if you want those recordings, you need his computer."

Ellen nodded, "And Lisa has that, a laptop. As far as she knew, he only used a laptop. And USB sticks, on which he kept his recordings. The papers on which those perpetrators wrote down their wishes, and that ritual candle, she doesn't have them, but Alex is going to try to find them before the auction starts. By the way, he has also asked Marieke for protection, we are all pretty much under her protection now."

Johan smiled, "That's not such a bad idea, that protection. There's a lot of evil behind this whole thing, isn't there? Ellen, I actually have to leave. Let's keep in touch. And I promise you that I will try everything I can think of, to get that case. Deep down inside I too feel that that case should be for me. It seems for a reason that just recently I have been studying this subject further!

Don't worry about the bill here, I will have it forwarded to my office. We do that more often, consider it a business lunch."

He hugged Ellen amicably and said goodbye.

Ellen remained seated for a moment, watching him as he addressed the waitress and then walked out. Through the window she saw him look back and wave. She waved back and smiled. How wonderful it would be if this man could try Lisa's case!

To chapter 177. Continuing work

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