Chapter 16 - I Chose the Trial
Everyone had an opinion.
My lawyers wanted certainty.
Grace wanted the business case protected from endless publicity.
Some board members wanted the scandal finished.
My doctors wanted me focused on rehabilitation.
Even Madeline’s attorney preferred a deal.
My father did not tell me what to do.
That mattered.
“What would you choose?”
I finally asked.
Dominic looked at me.
“My answer would be based on my anger.”
“So?”
“So I won’t give it.”
I smiled faintly.
Twenty years earlier, he would have decided for everyone.
Now he understood that this was my life.
I rejected the plea arrangement.
Not because I wanted revenge.
Because the planned accident mattered.
If Ryan had only lost control in one terrible moment, I could understand the shape of that crime.
But if he spent weeks preparing to injure me so he could control my company, that truth deserved daylight.
The trial began four months later.
By then, I could walk with a cane.
The scar along my leg remained.
So did the pain on cold mornings.
Ryan’s attorneys attacked everyone.
Marcus was a liar trying to save himself.
Madeline was a rejected mistress.
Thomas was a corrupt executive.
I was an angry wife trying to destroy my husband.
Then prosecutors played the camera footage.
Ryan dragging me across the marble.
Opening the basement.
Pushing me inside.
Locking the door.
No argument could soften it.
The courtroom became silent.
Then came the financial records.
The forged signatures.
The secret company.
The medical-leave documents.
The life insurance increase.
The car messages.
Finally, Marcus testified.
Ryan’s attorney asked.
“Did Mr. Carter ever tell you to kill Elena Carter?”
“No.”
“Did he ever say he wanted her dead?”
“No.”
“Then what exactly did he ask?”
Marcus looked toward the jury.
“He asked me to make sure she couldn’t work for a while.”
The prosecutor stood.
“How?”
“By making her car fail.”
“When?”
“The Thursday after her anniversary.”
“Why?”
“He said he needed her out before financing closed.”
Ryan stared straight ahead.
For the first time, he did not look at me.
Then Madeline took the stand.
The prosecutor asked one final question.
“What did Ryan tell you after Elena fell?”
Madeline’s voice shook.
“He said.”
May you like
“Maybe this solves Thursday for us.”
The entire courtroom froze.
