Chapter 9 - The Courtroom Drama
The jury deliberated for exactly forty-two minutes.
It was a record in the state of New York.
When the foreperson stood up to read the verdict, Victoria Sterling was trembling so violently her chair rattled against the floor.
"On the charge of aggravated kidnapping in the first degree, we find the defendant... guilty."
Victoria gasped.
"On the charge of torturous assault, we find the defendant... guilty." "On the charge of attempted murder, we find the defendant... guilty."
With every word, Victoria sank lower into her chair. By the time the judge hammered his gavel and sentenced her to life in federal prison without the possibility of parole, Victoria had completely lost her mind.
"Julian!" she screamed, lunging across the defense table as the bailiffs grabbed her arms. "Julian, you can't let them do this! I love you! I did it for us!"
Julian stood up from the gallery. He looked down at the woman who had stolen four years of his life.
May you like
"You don't know what love is, Victoria," Julian said, his voice carrying over her screams. "And you are going to spend the rest of your life in a cage realizing it."
He turned his back on her, took Clara's hand, and walked out of the courtroom. The sound of Victoria’s hysterical screaming faded behind the heavy oak doors, gone from their lives forever.
