Chapter 3
The bail hearing was three days later.
I was released from the hospital the night before.
My arms were wrapped in bandages.
My cheek had five stitches.
I wore a loose blue dress that hid my bandages but showed my pregnant belly.
The courtroom was packed.
Reporters lined the back wall.
Ethan’s family and friends sat on the right.
My parents, Rosa, and a few of our closest friends sat on the left.
Ethan was led in in handcuffs.
Orange jumpsuit.
His hair was messy.
He looked tired.
But when his eyes met mine, they burned with rage.
He mouthed something at me.
I’ll kill you.
I didn’t look away.
I held his gaze until the judge called the court to order.
Ethan’s lawyer stood first.
He was a tall, slick man in a $5,000 suit.
He paced in front of the jury box, voice booming.
“Charlotte Carter is a woman scorned,” he said. “She found out her husband was having an affair. She concocted this entire elaborate hoax to ruin him. To steal his fortune. The cage? She had a key. The burns? She did them to herself. The metal tag? She scratched it after the fact. This is not a victim. This is a schemer. A gold digger who married a wealthy man and planned to rob him blind from day one.”
He turned to me.
Pointed.
“She is six months pregnant with another man’s child. That is why Ethan Carter confronted her that day. That is why she is lying now. To cover her own sins.”
The courtroom murmured.
I felt my face get hot.
My mom squeezed my hand.
Then it was our turn.
My lawyer asked me to take the stand.
I walked to the witness box.
Swore to tell the truth.
Sat down.
He asked me to describe that day.
I told them about the receipt.
About Ethan grabbing my arm.
About Martha smiling on the patio.
My voice shook at first.
But then I thought about the cage.
The cold metal.
The moldy bread.
The baby kicking.
My voice got stronger.
“He dragged me across the grass,” I said. “I screamed. I begged him to stop. I told him the baby was moving. He said the baby wasn’t his. He shoved me inside the cage and locked the door. For three days, he left me there. No food. Barely any water. The sun burned my arms so bad they blistered. At night, I was so cold I thought I’d freeze to death. I thought I’d die in there. I thought my baby would die in there.”
I paused.
Swallowed the lump in my throat.
“I didn’t fake any of this,” I said. “Look at my arms. Look at my cheek. Why would I do this to myself? Why would I put my own baby at risk? For money? I had money. My parents have money. I didn’t need Ethan’s. I just wanted to be married. To have a family. I had no idea I’d married a monster.”
The judge was leaning forward.
His face was tight.
Several people in the gallery were crying.
Then the back door of the courtroom burst open.
A woman ran in.
Late 30s, same eyes as Claire.
It was Lila, Claire’s younger sister.
She held a thick stack of papers in her hand.
“Your Honor!” she yelled. “I have evidence! Evidence that Ethan Carter abused my sister for years! Police reports! Hospital records! He threatened to kill her if she left him!”
The judge called her forward.
She handed the papers to the bailiff.
The judge read them.
His face got darker and darker with every page.
He looked up at Ethan.
Slammed his gavel down.
“Bail is denied,” he said. “The defendant is remanded into custody until trial. The severity of the charges, the evidence presented, and the clear flight risk leave me no other choice.”
Ethan jumped up, screaming.
The bailiffs grabbed him, dragged him out.
He yelled my name over and over.
Threats.
Curses.
I walked out of the courtroom with my head high.
Rosa hugged me.
Lila hugged me.
Agent Torres was waiting by the door.
May you like
She smiled.
“Told you we had him,” she said. “Now we build the rest of the case. And Charlotte? We’re going to make sure he never sees the light of day again.”
