Chapter 12 - ISABELLA’S TRIAL
Isabella entered court wearing a simple gray suit.
No ivory satin.
No diamonds.
No sapphire ring.
Claire’s ring had been returned to Ethan.
He kept it inside a small wooden box.
The prosecution began with the hidden room.
Jurors saw photographs of the restraints.
The medication pumps.
The plaster wall.
The scratches Claire carved into the bed.
Then they watched Emma’s phone recording.
Ethan’s pale hand appeared through the broken wall.
His voice whispered:
“Miss Emma.”
Several jurors looked away.
Dr. Wells testified for two days.
Isabella’s attorney called him a liar seeking a reduced sentence.
He admitted that was partly true.
“I want less time.”
“I also want the truth recorded before she replaces it.”
The funeral director testified.
Isabella bribed him to remove Claire’s sapphire ring before the coffin closed.
She kept it as a trophy.
The forged guardianship documents were introduced.
So were the passports carrying Emma’s identity.
The financial records proved Isabella had purchased the sedatives in Emma’s name.
Her plan to frame the housekeeper became undeniable.
William testified.
Isabella watched him with the same polite expression she wore in the ballroom.
“You loved my client,” her attorney said.
“I believed I did.”
“You married her voluntarily.”
“Yes.”
“You gave her access to your home.”
“Yes.”
“You ignored concerns from employees.”
“Yes.”
“Then you share responsibility.”
William looked toward Emma.
“I share responsibility for failing to see.”
“I do not share responsibility for murder.”
Isabella’s attorney turned toward the jury.
“Mr. Sterling needs a villain because his company is collapsing.”
William did not react.
The prosecutor called Ethan last.
His testimony was recorded with a child specialist present.
He described the false trip to Maine.
The sedatives.
The hidden chamber.
Isabella telling him his father wanted a new family.
Then he spoke about the night Emma found him.
“I cried quietly because she said the wall was thick.”
“Why did you keep crying?” the specialist asked.
Ethan looked toward the camera.
“Because Miss Emma worked late.”
“I thought she might hear.”
In the courtroom, Emma covered her mouth.
The specialist asked Ethan what Isabella said after locking him away.
“She said poor people hear things but nobody listens to them.”
Isabella looked toward Emma.
For the first time during the trial, fear appeared on her face.
The jury was no longer looking at a billionaire’s new wife.
They were looking at a woman who believed class could function as a locked door.
The prosecution played Claire’s final recording.
Her voice was weak.
“William will believe her until believing her costs him everything.”
Then came the sound of Isabella turning off the oxygen.
The recording ended.
Isabella stood.
“She was already dead.”
The courtroom froze.
Her attorney grabbed her arm.
She pulled away.
“She had no brain function.”
“She was destroying a family.”
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The prosecutor did not need to ask another question.
Isabella had confessed to deciding who deserved to live.
