Chapter 13 - PRESTON’S DEAL
Preston requested a plea agreement.
He offered evidence against my parents in exchange for reduced charges.
The prosecutor required him to admit planting the phone and striking Sophie deliberately.
He refused.
He would admit the phone was a joke.
He would admit the board swung farther than intended.
He would not call it planned.
His pride remained stronger than his fear.
Then Paige accepted her own deal.
She admitted helping Preston choose Sophie as the target.
She provided voice messages.
In one recording, Preston said:
“Children are easy.”
“They cry.”
“Adults decide the crying proves guilt.”
Paige asked what would happen if I defended Sophie.
Preston answered:
“Then the court sees Evelyn as emotional.”
“Mother will testify that she has always been unstable.”
Paige also revealed that Preston planned to leave Cassandra after the trust hearing.
He promised Paige the Miami house.
He promised her control of the hotel’s events division.
He promised to recognize their relationship publicly.
None of those promises appeared in legal documents.
Paige began to understand she had been another disposable person.
She testified anyway.
Cassandra filed for annulment and sued Preston for fraud.
She gave investigators access to his encrypted cloud account.
Inside were drafts of Sophie’s obituary.
The file had been created one week before the wedding.
It described her death as a tragic fall during a family celebration.
The document included a quote from Preston.
“Our family is devastated by this unimaginable accident.”
My hands became cold.
The defense claimed it was part of a crisis-communications template.
Other templates existed.
None named Sophie.
None used the phrase family celebration.
The prosecution now believed Preston had prepared for the possibility that the board would kill her.
My mother had searched head injuries.
My father purchased the phone.
Preston chose the board.
They created the accusation.
The difference between their plan and Sophie’s survival may have been the angle of one blow.
Preston’s bail was permanently denied.
When guards led him from the hearing, he looked toward me.
“You always hated me.”
I stood.
“No.”
“I spent my childhood trying to earn your kindness.”
“That was my mistake.”
Sophie was not in court.
May you like
She was painting at home with Helena.
I refused to let Preston use her presence as another audience.
