Chapter 13 - THE FIRST TRIAL
Vanessa’s trial began eight months after the courthouse fall.
Khloe entered through a secure entrance.
She walked with a cane.
Harrison remained beside her.
Hope stayed with Rachel.
The prosecution played the courthouse footage.
Vanessa approaching.
Richard behind her.
Harrison turning.
The shove.
Khloe falling.
Several jurors looked away.
Harrison did not.
He had watched the video dozens of times.
Each time, he studied a different detail.
Richard’s hand near the alarm panel.
Price’s position.
Vanessa’s eyes moving toward Richard before the shove.
The reporters forced toward the staircase.
The event looked impulsive only if no one examined the preparation.
Vanessa took the stand.
She admitted the affair.
The messages.
The shell invoices.
The confrontation.
She denied intending to kill Khloe.
“I was angry.”
“You placed both hands on an eight-month pregnant woman,” the prosecutor said.
“Yes.”
“You stood at the top of thirty marble steps.”
“Yes.”
“You pushed.”
“Yes.”
“What outcome did you expect?”
Vanessa began crying.
“I didn’t think.”
The prosecutor paused.
“That is not the same as not intending force.”
Vanessa’s attorney described Richard’s manipulation.
The evidence supported it.
Richard had lied to Vanessa.
Used her.
Positioned her.
Encouraged rage.
But Vanessa had still chosen the final movement.
Khloe testified for less than an hour.
She described the affair evidence and the courthouse confrontation.
Vanessa’s attorney asked:
“Did my client look frightened?”
“Yes.”
“Did she believe you had betrayed her?”
“Yes.”
“Did you say something insulting?”
“I told her Richard was incapable of choosing anyone but himself.”
“Did that provoke her?”
Khloe looked toward the jury.
“Words did not move her hands.”
The courtroom became still.
Vanessa was convicted of attempted murder, aggravated assault, and reckless endangerment.
She received twenty-four years.
Before sentencing, she addressed Khloe.
“I am sorry.”
Khloe listened.
Vanessa continued.
“I hated you because you had the marriage.”
“Then I hated you because you were leaving it with more dignity than I entered it.”
May you like
Khloe did not answer.
An apology could be true without creating an obligation to respond.
