Chapter 6 - The Fall of the Matriarch
The municipal court building was surrounded by local reporters and news crews when Victoria Ward arrived in the back of a police cruiser. Her expensive hair was disheveled, her designer suit wrinkled, and her hands were secured tightly in heavy, metallic handcuffs.
Dominic followed the police officers up the steps, desperately shouting at the reporters to stop filming. "Get those cameras out of her face! She’s an old woman! This is a medical accident, not a crime!"
Inside the courtroom, the atmosphere was icy. Victoria sat at the defense table, her hands shaking violently as she looked up at the judge. Across the aisle sat Sophia Sterling, representing the victim's interests. Audrey was not present in the room; she had chosen to remain in her sanctuary, refusing to give her abusers the satisfaction of seeing her face.
The prosecutor stood up, presenting the tablet containing the nanny-cam footage. "Your Honor, the state presents absolute, high-definition visual evidence of the defendant, Victoria Ward, intentionally assaulting the victim, Audrey Ward, while she was experiencing a high-risk situation, directly resulting in the loss of an unborn child. The defendant then abandoned the victim on the floor without calling for emergency medical assistance."
When the video played on the large screens in the courtroom, a collective gasp rippled through the audience. The cold, calculated cruelty visible on Victoria’s face on the screen was undeniable.
Victoria’s defense attorney tried to speak. "Your Honor, my client was experiencing severe emotional distress due to family arguments. She did not intend to cause a medical emergency—"
"Silence, Counselor," the judge interrupted, his voice dropping to a dangerous, low pitch as he looked down at Victoria with absolute disgust. "The evidence shows a shocking level of depravity and domestic malice. A mother-in-law intentionally harming a pregnant woman and leaving her to suffer is an offense this court will punish to the absolute limit of the law."
The judge slammed his gavel violently. "Bail is denied. The defendant will be remanded to the county correctional facility to await formal sentencing for felony aggravated assault and termination of a pregnancy. Remove her from my courtroom."
May you like
Victoria began to shriek hysterically as the bailiffs grabbed her by the arms, dragging her toward the holding cells. "Dominic! Do something! Call the lawyers! I cannot stay in a jail cell! Tell them I'm a Ward! Tell them who we are!"
Dominic stood alone in the center of the courtroom, his hands over his face, weeping openly as his mother’s desperate screams faded down the hallway. He realized then that the grand family name his mother had spent her whole life weaponizing was now nothing more than a permanent, public mark of shame.
