Chapter 6
The trial started two months after Liam was born.
I sat in the front row every day.
Liam was with a nanny in the waiting room, too young to be in the courtroom.
James sat two rows behind me.
He’d been subpoenaed as a witness for the prosecution.
Eleanor looked worse every day.
Her jumpsuit was wrinkled. Her hair was gray at the roots. She’d lost weight. But her eyes were still sharp. Still full of hate for me.
The first week was the embezzlement case.
The DA called witness after witness.
Bankers. Accountants. Former employees.
They laid out every dollar. Every fake invoice. Every shell company.
Twelve million dollars.
Stolen while I was grieving my dad. While I was planning my wedding. While I was pregnant with Liam.
Eleanor’s lawyer tried to paint her as a confused old woman who’d made a few accounting mistakes.
No one bought it.
The second week was the conspiracy case.
The fake texts. The fake paternity test. The plan to take Liam and the company.
They played the voice note in open court.
Eleanor’s voice, cold and clear, filled the room.
“Stick to the plan, son. Once she’s gone, we sell the company and buy that Napa vineyard you want. She’ll never see that baby again.”
I saw jurors flinch.
I saw one woman wipe a tear from her eye.
Then they called James to the stand.
He raised his right hand. He swore to tell the truth.
The DA asked him simple questions at first.
“Mr. Voss, how long has your mother controlled your finances?”
“Since I was a teenager,” James said. “She paid all my bills. She told me what to study. Who to date. Where to live. If I disagreed, she’d cut me off. She’d tell me I was nothing without her.”
“Did she show you fake text messages between your wife and another man?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“A week before the baby shower.”
“Did you believe them?”
James paused.
He looked at me.
“No,” he said. “Not really. I knew Clara. I knew she’d never cheat. But my mom was so convincing. She said she had more proof. She said if I didn’t go along with it, Clara would take the baby and leave me with nothing. I was scared. I was weak. I did what she told me.”
“Did she tell you about the fake paternity test?”
“Yes. The night before the shower. She said once the test came out, everyone would believe Clara was a liar. That I’d get full custody. That we’d be better off.”
“Did she tell you her real plan? To sell Hale Tech and buy a vineyard?”
James’s voice cracked.
“Not until after she was arrested,” he said. “I heard the voice note for the first time when Clara played it on the stairs. I had no idea. I swear to god, I had no idea she wanted to take Liam away from Clara. I thought she just wanted to make sure I was taken care of. I was so stupid.”
Eleanor’s lawyer stood up for cross-examination.
He was aggressive.
“Mr. Voss,” he said. “Isn’t it true you’re only testifying against your mother to get back in your wife’s good graces? To save your marriage?”
James looked him dead in the eye.
“No,” he said. “I’m testifying because it’s the truth. My mother stole twelve million dollars. She tried to destroy an innocent woman’s life. She tried to steal a baby. She deserves to be punished. And I deserve to live the rest of my life knowing I didn’t let her get away with it.”
The courtroom was quiet.
Then someone in the back clapped.
The judge banged her gavel, but I saw a small smile tug at her mouth.
When James stepped off the stand, he walked past me.
He didn’t say anything.
He just gave me a small, tight nod.
I nodded back.
The last day of the trial, the DA made her closing argument.
She held up Eleanor’s phone for the jury to see.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” she said. “This isn’t just a case of stolen money. This is a case of a woman who thought she was above the law. Who thought she could take whatever she wanted. Money. Reputation. A baby. She didn’t care who she hurt. As long as she got what she wanted.”
She turned to Eleanor.
“Eleanor Voss had every advantage. A loving son. Money. Status. But it wasn’t enough. She wanted more. And she was willing to destroy three generations of a family to get it.”
Eleanor’s lawyer stood up.
He gave a weak speech about a mother’s love. About misunderstandings.
No one listened.
The jury went out at three p.m.
We waited.
Four hours.
Five.
At eight fifteen, the bailiff came in.
“Jury has reached a verdict,” he said.
My heart hammered so hard I thought it would jump out of my chest.
James leaned forward in his seat.
Eleanor sat straight, her face blank.
The judge asked the foreman to stand.
“How do you find the defendant on count one, wire fraud?”
“Guilty.”
“Count two, embezzlement?”
“Guilty.”
“Count three, conspiracy to commit custodial interference?”
“Guilty.”
“Count four, defamation?”
“Guilty.”
All counts.
Guilty.
Eleanor closed her eyes.
She didn’t say a word.
The judge set sentencing for two weeks later.
The bailiffs led her out.
She didn’t look at James. She didn’t look at me.
She just walked away.
Arthur squeezed my shoulder.
“We did it,” he said.
I stood up.
My legs were shaking.
James was already at my side.
He didn’t touch me. He just stood there, close enough that I could feel his warmth.
“You did good,” I said to him.
“We did good,” he said.
Outside, the air was cold.
The sky was full of stars.
May you like
I took a deep breath.
For the first time in my life, I felt free.
