Chapter 8
The trial lasted three weeks.
I testified for two days. Garrett's lawyer cross-examined me for hours. Tried to break me. Tried to make me cry. Tried to make me look like a liar.
I didn't break.
I told the truth. Every bit of it. The control. The isolation. The bruises. The broken arm. The night I ran. The fake psychiatric evaluation. The corruption I'd found in his files.
When I finished, the jury was crying. Even the judge looked shaken.
Then the witnesses came. Former employees. City officials who'd taken bribes (now cooperating). The doctor who'd signed the fake evaluation. Noah. The nurses from the hospital.
And Garrett's own former assistant—who testified that Garrett had bragged about "keeping Elena in line." That he'd called me his "property." That he'd said, and I quote, "She'll never leave. She's too scared."
The defense case was weak. Garrett didn't testify—his lawyers wouldn't let him. They called character witnesses. Business partners. People who said Garrett was a great guy.
But the evidence was too much.
The jury deliberated for two days.
Guilty. On all thirteen counts.
Garrett was sentenced to eighteen years in federal prison.
The judge called him "a predator who used his wealth and power to control and destroy those around him."
After the sentencing, I stood outside the courthouse. Clara was in Noah's arms. My mother was beside me. James was there too, holding my hand.
Reporters shouted questions. I didn't answer. I just looked up at the sky.
Blue. Clear. Wide open.
It was over.
Garrett was going to prison. His empire was gone. His name was ruined. And Clara and I were free.
May you like
I didn't feel triumph. I felt something better.
Peace.
