Chapter 14 - The Courtroom Wedding Photos
The trial began six months later.
The prosecution displayed wedding photographs across the courtroom.
Flowers.
Champagne.
Guests smiling above Emma’s grave.
Then they displayed the pictures from my phone.
Wade beside the open floor.
Emma’s bracelet.
The hand beneath plastic.
The jury watched the hidden videos.
Rachel testified about her imprisonment.
Thomas testified about the sabotaged mission and his years in hiding.
Dad testified about the recording and my bruises.
Diane testified against Wade and Marcus.
Her cooperation reduced her possible sentence, but it did not erase the charges.
Wade’s attorney attacked me.
He called me violent.
Unstable.
A child manipulated by military men.
Then he displayed the photograph of Wade’s injured face.
“Did you strike my client repeatedly?”
“Yes.”
“Were you angry?”
“I was terrified.”
“Did he have a weapon?”
“He had his hand around my neck.”
“Did anyone see that?”
I unlocked my phone.
The camera had automatically captured a short video when Wade knocked it from my hand.
His whisper played through the courtroom.
“Be good, or I’ll put you between the bodies downstairs.”
Then the sound of his hand striking me.
Then my first punch.
The attorney stopped questioning.
The jury found Wade guilty on every count.
Marcus was convicted separately.
Nolan received a reduced sentence for providing evidence, but he still went to prison.
Diane pleaded guilty to conspiracy, evidence concealment, fraud, and child endangerment.
Before sentencing, the judge allowed me to speak.
I looked at the woman who raised me.
“I spent years believing a mother was someone who loved you.”
Diane cried.
“I still believe that.”
She looked hopeful.
Then I continued.
May you like
“But love without protection becomes another excuse.”
Her hope disappeared.
