Chapter 8 - Judgment Day
The courtroom was packed. The media had caught wind of the "Architect’s Daughter" scandal, and reporters lined the back rows.
I took the stand on the second day of the trial.
I recounted the entire night. I described the biting cold, the confusion, the betrayal. I described the feeling of my lungs tightening, the snow freezing to my skin, the absolute certainty that I was going to die alone on the pavement because my husband chose to believe a lie.
There wasn't a dry eye in the jury box. Even the bailiff looked sickened.
Then, it was Arthur’s turn.
He took the stand, refusing to look at his daughter. Evelyn Hayes tore into him.
“Mr. Vance,” Evelyn paced in front of the jury. “Did your daughter ever express hatred toward your wife?”
“Yes,” Arthur mumbled, staring at his hands.
“Did she try to convince you that your wife was a thief?”
“Yes.”
“And you believed her, without a shred of professional evidence, so completely that you forced your wife into a blizzard?”
“...Yes.”
“And when the police told you your daughter had stolen your wife’s life-saving medication, how did that make you feel, Mr. Vance?”
Arthur finally broke. He buried his face in his hands and sobbed. “I created a monster. I enabled her. I killed my own marriage. It's my fault.”
Chloe, sitting at the defense table, rolled her eyes and muttered, “Pathetic.”
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The microphone at her table was still on. The entire courtroom heard her.
The jury literally gasped. In one single, heartless word, Chloe had destroyed her own defense. She wasn't insane. She wasn't a victim. She was just deeply, irredeemably evil.
