Chapter 23 - The Criminal Trial
Thomas rejected the final plea offer.
He believed a jury would see him as an ambitious husband who made desperate financial decisions.
The prosecution showed the forged loan.
The fake mortgage statements.
The shell companies.
The cryptocurrency transfers.
The messages planning to remove me.
Marta testified.
Thomas’s attorney attacked her credibility.
He said she was an angry mother seeking revenge.
Marta answered:
“I spent my life protecting him from consequences. Testifying is the first time I have stopped.”
Elise testified next.
She admitted helping prepare false property documents.
She described the plan to change the locks.
Then I took the stand.
Thomas’s attorney asked why I refused to place him on the deed.
“Because I bought the apartment before I met him.”
“Didn’t marriage make it a shared home?”
“A shared home is not automatically shared title.”
“Did you trust your husband?”
“I did.”
“Then why the property agreement?”
“Trust does not require abandoning legal clarity.”
The attorney suggested my financial secrecy caused his desperation.
I answered:
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“He knew the apartment belonged to me. He knew the business equity belonged to me. He did not lack information. He lacked permission.”
That distinction became the center of the case.
