Chapter 5
The preliminary hearing was two months later.
I was five months pregnant by then.
My stomach was already big with twins.
Ethan held my hand as we walked into the courthouse.
Reporters were there.
The story had made local news.
A mother-in-law accused of trying to kill her daughter-in-law's unborn babies.
It was the kind of story that sold papers.
Linda was brought in wearing an orange jumpsuit.
Her hair was a mess.
No makeup.
She looked old.
Tired.
But when she saw me, her eyes blazed with hatred.
The prosecution laid out their case.
The toxicology report.
The prescription bottles found in her home.
The text messages.
The emails.
The journal I'd found.
It was damning.
Linda's defense attorney tried to paint her as a loving grandmother who'd been framed.
He tried to say I was mentally unstable.
That I'd drugged myself to get attention.
That I'd kicked myself in the stomach.
But the evidence was too strong.
The judge ordered her to stand trial.
No bail.
She'd stay in jail until then.
As they led her away, she turned to me.
And she smiled.
A cold, terrifying smile.
"This isn't over," she mouthed.
I shivered.
Ethan squeezed my hand.
"She can't hurt you," he said. "She's in jail."
But I knew better.
Linda had ways of hurting people even from behind bars.
And I was right.
A week later, Ethan got a call from his aunt.
Linda had been telling everyone in the family that I was abusive.
That I'd been hitting Ethan.
That I'd been cheating on him.
That the babies weren't even his.
Some of them believed her.
Or they wanted to.
Because it was easier than accepting the truth.
Ethan's uncle sent him a text saying he was a disappointment.
His cousin called him a fool for believing "that woman" over his own mother.
It hurt.
But it also made something clear.
These people weren't our family.
Not really.
Family didn't choose a monster over the people she'd hurt.
Family didn't believe lies over evidence.
Ethan blocked all their numbers.
He deleted them from social media.
He cut them off completely.
"It's just us now," he said. "You, me, and these two babies. That's all the family we need."
I kissed him.
And for the first time, I truly believed it.
We started looking at houses in Oregon.
Somewhere rainy and green.
Somewhere no one knew our names.
Somewhere we could start over.
I found a beautiful house outside Portland.
A craftsman with a big backyard.
A porch swing.
A nursery that could fit two cribs.
Ethan put in an offer.
It was accepted.
We were going to have a fresh start.
But first, we had to get through the trial.
And Linda wasn't going to make it easy.
Her attorney filed motion after motion.
Trying to get evidence thrown out.
Trying to delay the trial.
Trying to make us give up.
But we didn't give up.
We had too much to fight for.
Two little lives growing inside me.
A future together.
A chance at happiness.
May you like
And I was going to protect that future.
No matter what Linda did.
