Chapter 8 - The Betrayal
The legal proceedings moved terrifyingly fast. With Marcus’s high-powered legal team pushing the felony fraud charges, Brenda was finally cornered.
I sat in the back of the courtroom for Chloe’s preliminary hearing. Brenda was sitting in the front row, looking haggard and old. Her country club friends had abandoned her. The family had completely cut her off.
When the judge asked Chloe how she pleaded to the property damage and reckless endangerment charges, Chloe’s public defender stepped forward.
“Your Honor, my client wishes to change her plea to guilty, in exchange for full immunity regarding the grand larceny charges.”
Brenda bolted upright in her seat. “What?!”
The lawyer continued. “Chloe is prepared to testify that Brenda Carmichael coerced her into cutting the car cables, and she will provide text messages proving Brenda forged the signature on Sarah Vance’s checks and spent the $45,000 alone.”
Chloe had turned on her own mother to save her own skin.
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“You little rat!” Brenda screamed in the middle of the courtroom, lunging toward the defense table. Bailiffs immediately tackled her to the ground.
I watched without an ounce of pity. They were finally tearing each other apart. The venom they had used on me for twenty-two years was finally eating them alive.
