Chapter 5 - The Voice of the Fire
The courtroom was dead silent as I took the witness stand.
I placed my hand on the Bible and swore to tell the truth.
The D.A., Sarah Jenkins, walked me through the history of my marriage.
I spoke clearly about the emotional abuse, the financial coercion, and the forged loan documents that had prompted me to buy the recorder.
Then, she asked me to describe the night of the attack.
I closed my eyes.
I recounted every detail.
The smell of the hot iron.
The steam.
The exact words Lorraine had said.
The feeling of the boiling oil eating through my clothes and skin.
A few jurors gasped.
One woman covered her mouth.
Then, the D.A. played the recording.
My screams echoed through the courtroom speakers.
It was horrifying to hear myself beg for help.
But it was Adrian’s chilling whisper that froze the room.
“I’m divorcing you. I refuse to live with this ugly monster anymore.”
And then, Lorraine’s cackle.
The jury stared at the defense table in absolute disgust.
Lorraine shrank in her seat.
Adrian stared at his hands.
When it was time for cross-examination, Adrian’s uncle approached me like a predator.
“Mrs. Vance, isn't it true you purchased this recording device to illegally spy on your husband out of paranoia?”
“I purchased it for my own protection,” I answered firmly. “Because he was forging my signature.”
“You expect us to believe you just happened to be recording when this alleged assault took place?”
“It was voice-activated, sir. His screaming triggered it.”
He paced back and forth.
“You claim my client poured oil on you. But isn't it true you were holding the pan?”
“No.”
“Isn't it true you threatened to ruin him, and in a fit of rage, you pulled the hot oil onto yourself to frame him?”
“That is a lie.”
He leaned over the podium, sneering.
“You’re a very wealthy woman, Elena. You could have left at any time. Why stay with a man you claim was so abusive? Unless you enjoyed the drama?”
The courtroom erupted in murmurs.
The judge banged his gavel.
“Objection, badgering!” the D.A. shouted.
“Sustained,” the judge warned.
But the defense attorney smiled. He had planted his seed of doubt.
I looked directly at Adrian.
He was smirking at me.
He thought his uncle had saved him.
He thought he could still slip out of this.
He didn't know I had a final card to play.
“I stayed,” I said loudly, my voice cutting through the noise of the courtroom.
The judge looked at me, surprised.
“I stayed,” I continued, looking directly at the jury, “because I needed proof. I needed proof of his crimes, not just against me, but against this city.”
The defense attorney frowned. “Move to strike!”
But I wasn't finished.
“Ask him about Inspector Higgins! Ask him about the structural steel on the Riverside project!”
May you like
The courtroom exploded into chaos.
Adrian’s smirk vanished instantly.
