Chapter 7
The preliminary hearing was a zoo.
Cameras lined the courthouse steps.
Reporters yelled questions as we walked in.
Natalie showed up wearing a plain gray dress, no makeup, her hair pulled back in a tight bun.
She walked with a slight limp, leaning on Moe Rainer’s arm.
She’d faked an injury for sympathy.
She cried as the cameras flashed.
Moe made a statement to the press.
“My client is a survivor,” he said. “She has been through hell. Today we will prove that Eleanor and Jackson Hale are the real criminals here. They have conspired to destroy an innocent young woman’s life to cover up their own greed and abuse. Justice will be served.”
Inside the courtroom, the judge was a no-nonsense woman named Judge Carter.
She didn’t suffer fools.
Moe went first.
He put Natalie on the stand.
She cried for forty-five minutes straight.
She lied about everything.
“Mrs. Hale hated me from the moment we met,” she sobbed. “She told me I was a gold digger. She told me I wasn’t good enough for her son. She slapped me across the face at the rehearsal dinner. She threatened to kill me if I didn’t call off the wedding. I was so scared. I didn’t know what to do.”
She wiped her eyes.
“On the wedding morning, she called me screaming. She said she’d shaved her own head and written a fake note to frame me. She said she’d cancel the inheritance and destroy Jackson if I didn’t do exactly what she said. I was terrified. That’s why I ran out of the reception. I thought she was going to hurt me.”
Moe nodded, sympathetic.
“Did Mrs. Hale ever promise you and Jackson the $120 million?” he asked.
“Oh yes,” Natalie said, leaning forward. “Many times. She said it was our wedding gift. We bought a house. We bought cars. We planned our whole future around that money. Now she’s taken it all away. We have nothing. We’re going to lose everything because she’s angry.”
She looked right at the jury.
“I just want my life back,” she whispered.
It was a master class in performance.
If I hadn’t lived through it, I might have believed her myself.
Then Sarah stood up.
She walked slowly to the witness stand.
She smiled, calm and cold.
“Ms. Miller,” she said.
Natalie flinched.
“That’s not my name,” she said.
“Isn’t it?” Sarah said. She held up the Ohio marriage license. “According to this, your legal name is Natalie Jean Miller. Married to Gregory Alan Miller on June 14, 2020, in Akron, Ohio. Still married. No divorce filed. No annulment granted. Which means your marriage to Jackson Hale on August 17 was completely invalid. Bigamy. A third-degree felony. Up to five years in prison.”
The courtroom erupted.
The judge banged her gavel.
“Order!” she yelled.
Natalie’s face went bright red.
“That’s fake!” she screamed. “That’s not me! That’s a different Natalie Miller!”
Sarah held up the mugshot from Chicago.
“Is this you?” she asked.
Natalie stared at it.
She said nothing.
“Answer the question,” the judge said.
Natalie’s lip curled.
“Yeah,” she said, defiant. “That’s me. So what? I was young. I made a mistake. That doesn’t mean I didn’t love Jackson.”
Sarah raised an eyebrow.
“Let’s talk about mistakes,” she said. “In 2021, you were convicted of felony theft for embezzling $82,000 from your employer in Chicago. You skipped probation. There’s still an active warrant for your arrest. Is that also a mistake?”
Moe jumped up.
“Objection! Irrelevant!”
“Overruled,” the judge said.
Natalie squirmed in her seat.
“I paid that back,” she lied.
“No,” Sarah said. “You didn’t. The company is still out $82,000. And let’s talk about your husband, Greg Miller. You left him in 2022. You took $15,000 from your joint account. You maxed out his credit cards for $12,000. You left him homeless for three months. Did you love him too? Or was he just another mistake?”
Natalie was shaking now.
Her mask was slipping.
“He was a loser!” she snapped. “He was poor! He couldn’t give me the life I deserved!”
“Ah,” Sarah said. “The life you deserved. And Jackson could give you that life, couldn’t he? $120 million worth of life.”
She held up the texts Natalie had sent Chloe.
“These are texts you sent to your maid of honor three days before the wedding. ‘Once the money hits, I’m out. Jackson’s nice but he’s such a mama’s boy. Six months max then divorce and half.’ ‘Remind me to take Frank’s stupid watch when I break in. It’ll be hilarious.’ ‘There are 120 million reasons to tolerate the old hag.’ Does that sound like love to you? Or does that sound like a calculated plan to steal my clients’ money?”
Natalie exploded.
She jumped up from the witness stand, screaming.
“Those texts are fake! You set me up! You all set me up! That money was mine! It was mine! He was mine! You took everything from me!”
The bailiffs rushed forward and held her down.
The judge banged her gavel so hard the sound echoed.
“Enough!” she yelled. “Ms. Miller, you will compose yourself or you will be held in contempt!”
Natalie collapsed back into her seat, sobbing with rage.
Sarah turned to the judge.
“Your Honor,” she said. “The defense has overwhelming evidence of fraud, theft, burglary, bigamy, and perjury. We request that all of Ms. Miller’s claims be dismissed with prejudice. We further request that the court issue a no-contact order protecting my clients, and that the Chicago warrant be executed immediately.”
The judge looked at Natalie.
She looked at the evidence.
She didn’t hesitate.
“All of Ms. Miller’s claims are dismissed,” she said. “No-contact order granted. Ms. Miller, you are to have no communication of any kind with Eleanor or Jackson Hale, directly or indirectly, for the next five years. Bailiff, take Ms. Miller into custody on the Chicago warrant.”
The bailiffs stepped forward.
They cuffed Natalie’s hands behind her back.
She screamed and kicked as they led her out.
“I’ll kill you all!” she shrieked. “You haven’t seen the last of me! I’ll burn everything you love to the ground!”
The courtroom went silent.
I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.
Jackson squeezed my hand.
May you like
It was over.
Or so we thought.
