Chapter 15 - THE TRIAL BEGINS
The trial began four months later.
By then, James was healthy.
My ribs had healed.
My wrist no longer needed a brace.
The scar near my temple remained.
I kept it visible.
Michael wanted jurors to believe time had softened what happened.
I wanted them to see that mountains leave marks.
The prosecution began with the insurance policy.
Fifty million dollars.
Then the financial transfers.
Then the affair.
Michael's attorneys objected constantly.
The judge overruled most of them.
Ashley testified on day four.
She described the planning.
The storm.
The drive.
The overlook.
She admitted her own guilt without minimizing it.
Then the prosecutor asked the question everyone had been waiting for.
"What did you see?"
Ashley looked toward Michael.
He refused to look back.
"I saw Michael place both hands on Emma's shoulders."
The courtroom became silent.
"And then?"
"He pushed."
My eyes closed.
I heard it again.
The scrape of my boots.
My scream.
The wind.
Michael's voice above me.
Don't worry, Emma.
You and the baby won't suffer much longer.
Ashley repeated those words under oath.
Michael finally looked at me.
His face was empty.
The defense attacked Ashley.
They called her jealous.
Dishonest.
Financially motivated.
A criminal attempting to reduce her sentence.
All true.
But then prosecutors played the vehicle recording.
Michael's own voice filled the courtroom.
What if she survives?
She won't.
The defense table stopped moving.
On day six, I testified.
Rebecca had prepared me for every question.
Still, walking toward the witness stand felt like walking toward the cliff again.
I swore to tell the truth.
The prosecutor began gently.
"Mrs. Carter, did you slip?"
"No."
"Did you fall accidentally?"
"No."
"What happened?"
"My husband pushed me."
Michael stared at me.
I described his hands.
His smile.
His words.
The ledge.
The blood.
The cold.
The kick beneath my palm.
Then the helicopter.
Daniel.
James's emergency birth.
Several jurors were crying.
I wasn't.
Not yet.
Then the defense attorney stood.
He suggested trauma altered my memory.
He suggested hypothermia caused hallucinations.
He suggested I had marital resentment after discovering Michael's affair.
Finally, he asked the question that made Michael sit straighter.
"Isn't it true that becoming publicly recognized as Daniel Bennett's daughter changed your financial circumstances dramatically?"
I looked at him.
"Yes."
"So after the accident, you stood to become vastly wealthier."
The prosecutor objected.
The judge allowed limited questioning.
The attorney continued.
"Potentially billions?"
"Maybe."
"And Michael would receive nothing if convicted."
"Correct."
"So you have significant financial motivation to accuse him."
I smiled slightly.
"No."
He paused.
"No?"
"I already had millions before Michael tried to kill me."
I looked directly at the jury.
May you like
"He needed me dead for money."
"I only needed to stay alive."
