chapter forty one

The next two weeks moved with the kind of focused momentum that left very little room for stillness.Vivian scheduled three separate testimony preparation sessions. Claire Odum's office sent formal documentation requests daily. Dennis's legal team worked in parallel managing the corporate side — ensuring the Robertson Group shares remained secured under Hawkins Capital while the criminal proceedings developed.I barely slept.Not from distress this time. Not from the kind of sleeplessness that had once driven me to a bridge in the rain.This was different.This was the sleeplessness of a person building something. Checking every brick before laying the next one. Making sure nothing would crack under the weight of what was coming.Sheila came to the penthouse on a Wednesday afternoon.I had agreed to see her alone. Dennis was in a meeting across the city and I had specifically waited for a day he would be occupied because I needed this conversation to happen without anyone else in the

Chapter forty two

The trial took four months.Four months of testimony, of cross examinations, of Vivian and Claire Odum building a case so complete that Gerald's lawyers spent more time apologizing for him than defending him.I sat in that courtroom every single day.I listened to Dr. Esso read his written account aloud, his voice breaking only once, on the word "heart." I listened to Dr. Monroe describe the morning her daughter didn't come home from school. I listened to the prosecution lay Catherine Robertson's life out piece by piece until she was no longer a footnote in someone else's story.She was the story.Gerald never took the stand. His lawyers advised against it, and for the first time in his life, he did as he was told.The jury deliberated for six hours.When the foreman stood and read the verdict, I did not cry, and I did not smile. I simply breathed, the way you breathe after holding something underwater for a very long time and finally letting it go.Guilty on all counts.First degree

All Chapters of They Will Fall At Her Knees : Chapter 41 - Chapter 42

chapter forty one

Chapter forty two