Chapter 12
Elaine’s lawyers tried to destroy Anna in court.
They called her unstable.
Greedy.
Desperate.
Then Lila took the stand.
The courtroom changed.
She wore a navy dress and Anna’s letter in a locket around her neck.
The prosecutor asked her what she wanted.
Lila looked at the jury.
“The truth.”
She described Julian kidnapping her.
Elaine’s voice on the phone.
The lake house.
The bracelet.
Then the prosecutor played the hospital video.
Anna screamed through the speakers.
My daughter! Please!
Lila closed her eyes.
Noah reached for my hand.
Even the judge looked shaken.
Elaine sat still.
Cold.
Beautiful.
Rotten.
When the defense attorney stood, he smiled gently.
“Miss Hart, you were raised by loving parents, correct?”
“Yes.”
“So despite any alleged irregularities, you had a good life?”
Lila looked at him.
“I had a stolen life with good people in it.”
The courtroom went silent.
He tried again.
“You cannot know what Mrs. Vance intended twenty-three years ago.”
Lila touched her locket.
“She intended my mother to suffer.”
Elaine finally reacted.
Her eyes flashed.
Lila saw it.
So did the jury.
After court, reporters surrounded us.
Someone shouted, “Do you hate your biological father?”
Lila stopped.
Julian looked hopeful.
She answered clearly.
“I don’t owe him hate. I don’t owe him love. I owe myself peace.”
Noah whispered, “That was awesome.”
She smiled.
“Learn from your elders.”
May you like
For the first time, he rolled his eyes like a normal kid.
I almost cried from relief.
