Chapter 10 - The Reckoning in Court
Six months later, the county courthouse in Cumberland County smelled of industrial floor wax and old oak paneling.
The wires had been removed from my jaw three months earlier. The surgical scar along my left lower cheek had faded to a fine, pale line that only appeared when the light hit it directly. My speech was clear, strong, and unwavering.
I sat in the front row of the gallery, my hand resting comfortably in Thorne’s grasp.
At the defense table sat Cressida.
She wore a plain navy-blue pant suit purchased off the rack from a budget department store. Her once-flawless hair was cut short and unstyled; her hands, free of acrylic nails and diamonds, rested flat against the wooden table.
Beside her, Balthazar sat in an orange detention jumpsuit, his wrists bound by an iron chain wrapped around his waist. He had spent the last half-year in federal custody, and his arrogant demeanor had withered into the hollow, defeated gaze of a ruined felon.
Judge Harrison adjusted his spectacles and looked down over the bench.
"In the matter of State versus Cressida Aloud," the judge began, his voice echoing in the vaulted room. "The court has reviewed the negotiated plea agreement. In exchange for the dismissal of Class C attempted manslaughter, the defendant has entered a plea of guilty to Aggravated Felony Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury."
The judge looked directly at my sister.
"Mrs. Aloud, your conduct on the afternoon of July fourteenth was not merely criminal; it demonstrated an appalling lack of basic human decency. You struck an defenseless woman with a weapon of opportunity, caused permanent skeletal trauma, and conspired with corrupted officials to conceal your crime."
Cressida began to weep silently, her shoulders shaking.
"The court sentences you to an active term of forty-eight months in the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, with twenty-four months suspended pending five years of mandatory post-release probation and four hundred hours of community service."
The gavel came down with a heavy, final *thud*.
*Crack.*
Cressida gasped as the bailiff stepped behind her, placing his hands on her arms to guide her through the holding cell door.
As she turned, her eyes met mine across the wooden railing.
There was no rage left in her. No arrogance. Only the desperate, pleading terror of someone who had finally discovered that the world did not belong to her.
I did not smile. I did not glare.
I simply watched her disappear behind the heavy steel door, closing that chapter of my life forever.
Balthazar’s sentencing followed. For his federal procurement fraud and bribery convictions, he received seven years at a federal correctional institution, alongside an order for four point two million dollars in restitution that would follow him to his grave.
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When Thorne and I walked out of the courthouse steps into the bright autumn afternoon, the air felt cleaner than it ever had before.
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