Chapter 7
The trial started three months later.
It was the biggest case Colorado had seen in decades.
Reporters camped outside the courthouse for weeks.
Every channel covered it live.
The world watched as Ethan Carter and Brittany Miller went on trial for attempted murder, fraud, and conspiracy.
I testified on the third day.
Walked into that courtroom, head held high, Liam in Jonathan’s arms behind me.
Ethan sat at the defense table, handcuffed, wearing an orange jumpsuit.
He looked smaller than I remembered.
Tired.
Defeated.
Brittany sat beside him, her face blank, dead inside.
She’d taken a plea deal the week before— testified against Ethan in exchange for a reduced sentence of fifteen years.
She knew there was no way out.
I stood on the witness stand, swore to tell the truth.
Then I told them everything.
Every detail of that day on the mountain.
The drive up.
The begging to go home.
The look in Ethan’s eyes.
The fall.
Waking up on the ledge, broken, bleeding, thinking I was going to die.
Seeing him and Brittany walk away.
Jonathan rescuing me.
Liam being born.
The months in hiding, gathering evidence.
The night Ethan broke into the cabin, confessed everything, threatened to kill us again.
I didn’t cry.
I didn’t stutter.
I told the truth, calm and steady, looking the jury right in the eye.
When I finished, the whole courtroom was silent.
Half the jury was crying.
Even the judge had tears in his eyes.
Ethan’s lawyer tried to paint me as a liar.
Said I’d made the whole thing up to get my hands on Jonathan’s money.
Said I’d fallen, then blamed Ethan because our marriage was failing.
But the evidence was overwhelming.
The emails.
The texts.
The bank records.
The proof of the bribe.
The video from the cabin, clear as day, of Ethan confessing, threatening to kill me again.
Brittany’s testimony, laying every detail of the plan at Ethan’s feet.
The jury deliberated for four hours.
When they came back, the courtroom was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
The foreman stood up.
Held the verdict form in his hand.
“On the charge of attempted murder in the first degree against Ethan Carter… we find the defendant, guilty.”
A murmur went through the room.
“On the charge of conspiracy to commit murder… guilty.”
“On the charge of insurance fraud… guilty.”
“On the charge of bribery… guilty.”
Guilty on all counts.
Ethan didn’t react.
Just stared straight ahead, empty.
The judge sentenced him that afternoon.
Life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Plus an additional fifty years for the fraud and bribery charges, to run consecutively.
He’d die behind bars.
Alone.
With nothing.
Exactly what he deserved.
Brittany got her fifteen years.
The judge told her she was lucky to have a deal, that her betrayal of her best friend was one of the most despicable things he’d ever seen.
She’d be in her fifties when she got out.
No money.
No friends.
Nothing to show for the life she’d helped destroy.
After the sentencing, I walked out of the courthouse into the bright sunshine.
Jonathan was right beside me, holding Liam, who was clapping his little hands like he knew we’d won.
Reporters swarmed us, shouting questions.
Jonathan held up a hand, quieted them.
“Justice was served today,” he said, his voice loud and clear.
“My daughter and grandson are safe. The men and women who tried to destroy them will pay for what they did for the rest of their lives. We ask that you respect our privacy as we move forward, as a family.”
He put his arm around me, and we walked to the car.
No looking back.
That night, we had a small celebration at the cabin.
Just me, Jonathan, Liam, and the small team of people who’d helped us through everything.
We ate cake, opened a bottle of champagne (I had sparkling cider, still nursing Liam), laughed for the first time in months.
Jonathan held Liam up, made him “toast” with his sippy cup.
“To family,” he said, smiling.
“To new beginnings. To never giving up.”
We clinked our glasses.
I looked around the room, at the people who loved me, who’d fought for me.
At my son, happy and healthy.
At my dad, the man who’d saved my life in more ways than one.
May you like
I’d lost so much.
But I’d gained so much more.
