Chapter 23 - The Annulment Hearing
The hearing took place six weeks after my wedding.
Six weeks.
Some brides were still waiting for their professional photographs by then.
I was waiting for a judge to decide whether my marriage had been built on fraud.
Julian sat across the courtroom.
Victoria sat behind him.
Neither looked at me when I entered.
Rebecca presented the evidence methodically.
The pre-wedding asset research.
The forged email.
The attempted bank access.
The power of attorney.
The recordings.
The Day One plan.
The wedding video.
The loan application dated before our marriage.
Julian’s attorney objected where appropriate.
But there was only so much to argue.
Then Julian testified.
Rebecca asked him whether he loved me when he proposed.
“Yes.”
“Did you also know Ms. Hart owned company shares?”
“Yes.”
“Did you research their value?”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell her?”
“No.”
“Did you discuss her grandfather’s trust with your mother?”
Julian hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Did you believe that trust belonged to Elena?”
“Yes.”
“Would the trust have affected your financial plans after marriage?”
His lawyer objected.
The judge allowed the question.
Julian swallowed.
“Yes.”
Rebecca stepped closer.
“Did you cancel your honeymoon without telling Elena?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“My mother believed we needed to establish routines.”
“Did those routines include depositing Elena’s $45,000 cashier’s check?”
He looked at the table.
“Yes.”
“Did Elena agree?”
“No.”
“Did they include obtaining access to her brokerage account?”
Silence.
“Mr. Voss?”
“Yes.”
“Did Elena agree?”
“No.”
Then Rebecca asked one final question.
“Mr. Voss, if Elena had told you before the wedding that she possessed no company shares, no substantial cash, and no trust, would you still have married her?”
The courtroom became completely still.
Julian looked at me.
For the first time in weeks, our eyes met.
I saw shame.
Maybe regret.
Maybe both.
He opened his mouth.
Closed it.
The judge waited.
Finally Julian whispered.
“I don’t know.”
That was the answer.
Not just for the judge.
For me.
The man who once promised he would choose me in every lifetime could not say he would have chosen me without a financial portfolio attached.
The judge took a recess.
Twenty-eight minutes later, we returned.
I gripped Rebecca’s hand beneath the table.
The judge began speaking.
I heard legal language first.
Material misrepresentation.
Intent.
Reliance.
Fraudulent inducement.
Then the sentence I had been waiting for.
“The petition for annulment is granted.”
I closed my eyes.
The marriage was legally undone.
I had entered the courthouse as Julian’s wife.
May you like
I walked out as Elena Hart.
Again.
