Chapter 5: The Courtroom
months later, we stood in family court.
I had regained my strength.
Parker, now seven months old, sat quietly in my mother's arms.
Tyler looked nothing like the confident man who had walked out of our house that afternoon.
His suit hung loosely from his shoulders.
Dark circles surrounded his eyes.
When it was my turn to testify, the courtroom became completely silent.
I didn't cry.
I simply told the truth.
"I begged him to call an ambulance."
I looked directly at Tyler.
"He looked at the blood."
"And he still left."
The prosecutor displayed his birthday photos on the courtroom screen.
Smiling beside the cabin.
Holding a whiskey glass.
Laughing with friends.
Then the final image appeared.
His social media story posted just minutes after leaving me.
Meat, whiskey, friends, and zero drama.
No one spoke.
The judge removed his glasses.
Then Mrs. Henderson testified.
She described finding me unconscious beside Parker's crib.
She described the amount of blood.
She described the baby's desperate cries.
Several jurors quietly wiped away tears.
Tyler finally stood.
"I never thought she was actually dying."
His own attorney lowered his head.
Because everyone in the room knew that wasn't the point.
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He had been asked to help.
He had chosen not to.
