All Chapters of In Defense of a Murderer: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

My mind went blank when I got the call from the hospital. My mother-in-law, Marie Palmer, came over to bring my husband, Zachary Lambert, some of his favorite homemade pickles. She had only left not too long ago, but I was now informed that she had gotten into a car accident.Feeling panicked, I rushed to the hospital. Along the way, I kept trying to get in touch with Zachary. Busy with his work as a lawyer, he often neglected to take my calls, but he had to this time! His own mother was lying in the hospital, her fate still unknown!When yet another one of my calls to him went unanswered, I pocketed my phone with a frown and hurried over to the operating room. In between pants, I asked the nurse, "H-How is my mother-in-law?"Sighing, the nurse told me, "We're doing our best to save the patient, but she is in critical condition. I'm afraid you might have to be prepared for the worst."Beside myself with anxiety, I hurriedly called Zachary again. At last, he took my call, but he sna

I didn't know how to respond to Marie's question. My resentment over Zachary's lack of trust in me intensified.Mustering a forced smile, I replied, "Zachary's working, Mom. He can't get away."I wasn't sure if Marie believed me. Her smile seemed to have faded slightly. She gestured for me to come closer. Doing so, I noticed that her eyes were red."I know Zachary has done you wrong, Annie. I know what's going on. He has never been home whenever I've gone over to your house recently. How can a person be that busy?" Marie said.She spoke with strength, and her cheeks looked flushed. My heart clenched at the sight of that. I knew patients often showed signs of improvement before taking their last breath. Seeing this now, I felt even more anguished.Marie noticed my sorrow. She used her hand, which felt extremely cold to the touch, to wipe my tears away."Once I'm gone, there won't be anyone to help you teach him a lesson. You're a lovely person, Annie. You should be happy. Stop all

I sneered at the mention of the culprit who hit Marie. That person never showed up, not even once. It was only when I went to the police station to deal with the case that I found out the perpetrator, a woman, had been bailed out by a friend.Before leaving, the two said they would settle the matter in court.Outraged, I got in touch with a friend of mine who was a lawyer and asked him to help file a lawsuit against the culprit. Bewildered, he asked me why I wasn't asking Zachary for help. After all, Zachary was considered one of the best lawyers in town. If he handled the case, there was no doubt he would ensure that the culprit got sent to prison.Smiling bitterly, I scrounged up an excuse by saying that Zachary was busy with another case. I didn't tell him that I couldn't even get in touch with Zachary, nor did Zachary even believe that something had happened to Marie.However, when the court proceeding took place three days later, my friend and I ended up running into Zachary a

Clenching my fists, I fired back, "What evidence do you have to say that it's my mother who's trying to file a fraudulent claim?"Snorting, Gigi replied, "So what if we don't have any evidence of that? We're not here to prove your mother's guilt today."Frowning, the judge warned us to maintain order in court.When it was time to read the verdict, I felt as though my heart was being squeezed. Alas, Gigi was declared innocent due to insufficient evidence.As we were leaving, I saw the smiles of joy on Zachary's and Gigi's faces. That felt like mockery to me. All of a sudden, I wondered if Zachary could keep that smile up once he found out who Gigi had killed.They happily walked out of the courtroom, only to find me standing at the entrance with an unpleasant expression."Why are you still here, Annette? I'm warning you. You'd better not do anything rash!" Zachary declared.He stood defensively in front of Gigi and eyed me warily as he continued, "If you do anything to harm her,

"No. That's impossible. How could this be? You're just trying to trick me, right, Annie? These invoices are all fake, right?" Zachary cried out.Sneering, I replied, "Yes, of course. I'm just trying to trick you."Exhaling in relief, Zachary protested, "How could you joke about something like that? That's too much! But you know, now that I think about it, it's been a while since I last saw Mom. Let me drop Gigi off, and we can visit Mom together."Gigi probably never expected Zachary to refuse to get a divorce. In fact, it even sounded like he wanted to patch things up with me. Her smile was frozen on her face.However, Zachary droned on without paying any attention to her. While speaking, he even got his phone out to call Marie.Alas, when he heard the robotic voice informing him that the number he called wasn't in service, he became well and truly agitated."The number's not in service? How is that possible? Did Mom do something with her number?" Zachary asked, anxious to get a