Chapter 17 - THE BEGINNING OF THE END
Vanessa’s trial began three months later.
I testified. Ethan testified. Lila testified. Caleb did not—we protected him from that. But his existence, his scars, his story told through the evidence… it spoke louder than any words.
She sat in the courtroom every day. Calm. Quiet. Sometimes weeping. Sometimes staring at me with that same terrible, hungry love.
Her lawyers argued insanity. Obsessive love. Grief. Manipulation by others. But the evidence was too strong. Her own voice. Her own handwriting. Her own signature on documents that proved she had planned every detail for years.
The jury deliberated for four hours.
Guilty on all counts.
Life imprisonment. No parole.
When the verdict was read, Vanessa stood up. She looked straight at me.
May you like
“I would do it all again,” she said clearly. “For you. For Caleb.”
Then she was led away.
