Chapter 4 - The Depositions
The legal battles multiplied rapidly over the next month as the defense team attempted every desperate maneuver to break my resolve.
Because the criminal trial was slated for the spring, Rachel pushed for immediate civil depositions to freeze their assets permanently and secure full, sole custody of my unborn child before his birth.
The deposition took place in a high-security conference room at the county courthouse. I sat at the head of the mahogany table, flanked by Rachel and two armed court deputies. My pregnancy was now noticeably advanced; I was seven months along, wearing a simple blue maternity dress, my posture straight and composed.
Across the table sat the three defendants, brought in from the county jail in orange jumpsuits and wrist shackles.
Daniel looked atrocious. He had lost twenty pounds; his dark hair was unwashed, and the arrogant smirk that had defined his face for five years was completely gone. Evelyn sat hunched over, staring at her handcuffed wrists, while Mara wept silently into a crumpled tissue.
Their high-priced defense attorney, Richard Sterling—a man known for defending wealthy domestic abusers—cleared his throat and opened his briefcase.
"Mrs. Hayes," Sterling began, adopting a soft, patronizing tone. "My clients are prepared to offer a comprehensive settlement today. In exchange for your written agreement to request a sentence reduction from the District Attorney, Mr. Hayes is willing to grant you an uncontested divorce, surrender all claims to the marital home, and provide $1,500 a month in child support upon his eventual release."
Rachel didn't even let me answer. She burst into a short, icy laugh.
"Is that a joke, Mr. Sterling?" Rachel asked, leaning across the table. "Your client is facing life in prison without parole. He doesn't get to 'offer' child support from a state correctional facility. He has no leverage here."
Sterling frowned, looking at Daniel before turning back to me. "Clara, be reasonable. Daniel made a terrible mistake in a moment of marital frustration. He was under immense stress from the farm debts—"
"A mistake?" I cut in, my voice calm, level, and sharp as a scalpel.
I looked directly at Daniel. He tried to hold my gaze, but within three seconds, his eyes dropped to the table.
"A mistake is leaving the hose running in the garden, Daniel," I said softly. "A mistake is forgetting an anniversary. You spent two days digging a four-foot pit behind the tractor shed. You measured my shoulders with a tape measure while I was asleep so the dirt would pack tight enough to prevent my chest from expanding when I breathed. You bought three bags of quick-drying topsoil from the supply store on Tuesday afternoon."
Daniel's jaw twitched violently.
"I have the receipt, Daniel," I continued. "I have the recording of you telling your mother that if I suffocated, you could claim the $500,000 life insurance policy you took out on me three months after we got married."
Evelyn gasped, looking up in shock. "Daniel... you didn't tell me about an insurance policy!"
"Shut up, Mom!" Daniel snapped, shaking his shackles violently.
"No, you shut up, Daniel!" Mara sobbed, suddenly turning on her brother. "You told me we were just scaring her! You told me it was just a lesson so she wouldn't leave you and take the farm! You never said anything about killing her or taking an insurance policy! You ruined my life!"
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"I said quiet!" Daniel shouted, lunging slightly across the table before the court deputies grabbed his shoulders and slammed him back into his chair.
"The deposition is over," Rachel announced, closing her notebook with a loud snap. "We will see you in court at the trial. And Mr. Sterling—advise your client to start practicing wearing orange. He’s going to be in it for a very long time."
