Chapter 17 - THE VERDICT
The jury deliberated for eleven hours.
I spent most of that time with James.
He was nearly five months old.
He had Daniel's blue eyes.
At least Daniel insisted they were his.
I thought they looked like my mother's.
We waited in a private room inside the courthouse.
Daniel paced constantly.
Rebecca worked through emails.
Nicole held James while I tried to eat.
At 6:14 p.m., the message arrived.
Verdict reached.
My legs felt weak.
We entered the courtroom.
Michael already sat at the defense table.
He looked smaller than he had months earlier.
Not physically.
Something inside him had collapsed.
The jury entered.
No one looked at Michael.
The clerk stood.
"On the charge of attempted murder in the first degree."
My hands tightened.
"We find the defendant guilty."
Daniel exhaled.
"On the charge of conspiracy to commit murder."
"Guilty."
"Insurance fraud."
"Guilty."
"Wire fraud."
"Guilty."
"Evidence tampering."
"Guilty."
Every word removed another piece of Michael's future.
He stared straight ahead.
Then the clerk reached the final major charge.
Attempted murder of an unborn child under the applicable state enhancement tied to violent injury during pregnancy.
"Guilty."
That was when Michael broke.
He turned toward me.
"Emma!"
Deputies moved instantly.
"This is because of him!"
He pointed at Daniel.
"You think he loves you?"
"Mr. Carter, sit down."
"You think he came for you?"
Daniel stood halfway before Rebecca pulled him back.
Michael kept shouting.
"He came for the company."
My heart stopped.
"What company?"
The courtroom erupted.
The judge ordered Michael removed.
He fought the deputies.
"Ask Daniel!"
The doors closed behind him.
I turned slowly toward my father.
Daniel's face had changed.
He knew exactly what Michael meant.
Rebecca whispered, "Not here."
But I was finished with secrets.
"Tell me."
Daniel looked toward the reporters.
"Emma."
"Now."
He lowered his voice.
"Your mother's family owned something Michael discovered during his genealogy research."
"What?"
"A dormant trust."
I stared at him.
"My mother had no money."
"She didn't know."
The trust had been created by my maternal grandfather.
Not Robert Hayes.
Laura's father.
James Bennett.
The man I had unknowingly named my son after.
The trust contained shares from an early technology investment.
Shares untouched for decades.
Daniel swallowed.
"Michael thought the trust had expired."
"Did it?"
"No."
"How much?"
Rebecca answered.
"Current estimated value is approximately one hundred and eighty million dollars."
I felt dizzy.
Michael had not tried to kill me for seventy million.
That had only been the money he could access immediately.
He believed my death might eventually unlock much more.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Daniel looked ashamed.
"I learned about it during trial."
"And you hid it."
"I was verifying it."
"You promised."
His face fell.
I walked out before he could answer.
Michael was going to prison.
Ashley was going to prison.
I had won.
May you like
Yet as I stepped into the courthouse hallway, I realized victory did not automatically end betrayal.
Sometimes it only exposed the next secret.
