Chapter 7 - The Trial
The trial of Richard Evans was the media spectacle of the year, though Arthur’s legal team miraculously managed to keep my name, and Lily’s name, out of the most sensational headlines.
I was called to the stand on the third day.
Walking into the courtroom, I felt a strange sense of calm. I looked across the room and saw Richard sitting at the defense table. He looked small, broken, and terrified. He wouldn't even meet my eyes.
The prosecutor led me through the events of that fateful night. I told the jury how my water broke. I told them how I begged my husband for help. I told them how he rolled over and told me to take a cab because he couldn't miss a work meeting.
There was a collective gasp from the jury box. Several women glared at Richard with pure disgust.
Then, Marcus took the stand. He meticulously laid out the paper trail. He showed the jury the bank statements, the offshore accounts, the emails Richard had sent to the clinic demanding the six million dollars in exchange for his silence regarding the embryo mix-up.
"The defendant didn't care about his wife," Marcus told the jury, his voice echoing in the silent courtroom. "He didn't care about the child she was carrying. To Richard Evans, this pregnancy was nothing more than a lottery ticket. He allowed his wife to endure a life-threatening labor, fully intending to abandon her and the child the moment the check cleared."
Richard’s defense lawyer tried to argue that Richard was under immense psychological stress, that he was panicked, that he made a poor judgment call.
No one bought it.
The jury deliberated for less than four hours.
Guilty on all counts. Extortion, fraud, and embezzlement from his former firm.
When the judge handed down a sentence of twelve years in federal prison, Richard finally broke down, sobbing into his hands.
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I didn't feel sorry for him. I didn't feel angry anymore, either. I just felt nothing. He was a stranger to me now, a cautionary tale of a man destroyed by his own absolute selfishness.
I stood up, walked out of the courtroom, and never looked back.
