CHAPTER 10: THE VERDICT
The trial lasted two weeks.
I sat in the courtroom every day, watching the evidence unfold. The handwriting expert. The contractor. The bank statements. The videos of the destroyed house. The testimony of my father.
My mother sat at the defendant's table, her face a mask of cold composure. She didn't look at me. She didn't speak to me. She acted as if I didn't exist.
The jury deliberated for three hours.
When they returned, my mother was convicted on all counts.
Guilty of forgery.
Guilty of fraud.
Guilty of conspiracy.
The judge sentenced her to five years in prison.
She didn't cry.
She didn't speak.
She just stood there, staring straight ahead, as the bailiff led her away.
I walked out of the courtroom into the bright March sunlight. The sky was blue. The birds were singing.
My mother was going to prison.
And I was free.
May you like
Not because I had won the case.
But because I had finally let go.
