“Your father threatened me. I barely escaped.”
Caleb immediately pulled her into his arms, his voice cold and absolute.
“Julia, I will never forgive you. Your father being crippled is his own retribution.”
Then they presented all kinds of forged evidence, accusing my father of extortion, threats, and violence.
The judge didn’t even bother to look closely. A few perfunctory words, and the verdict came down.
I lost.
In an instant, my father and I became villains. Monsters who failed at extortion and then harmed a pregnant woman out of spite.
The snickers and mockery from the gallery stung my ears. I clenched my fists so tightly my nails dug deep into my palms.
The moment the hearing ended, before we even stepped out of the courthouse, reporters and onlookers had already blocked the entrance.
Heidi walked out surrounded by flashing cameras and sympathetic hands. Tears shimmered in her eyes, her palms pressed together like a persecuted saint.
The crowd’s anger and pity exploded at once, and fingers flew toward me and my mother.
I stood in the middle of it all, the cold wind numbing my already frozen face.
This wasn’t justice.
This was a trial they had orchestrated from the start.