Chapter 5 - The Ticking Clock
Victoria stood completely alone at the long defense table.
Her expensive beige blazer looked wrinkled and messy now.
Sweat glistened on her forehead under the bright lights.
She looked at me, her eyes burning with hatred.
"You think you are so smart, Mara!" she spat.
"You were always a cold, ungrateful little brat!"
"Your father hated you before he died in hospital!"
I did not let her cruel words break my composure.
I stood up slowly from my leather courtroom chair.
My posture was straight, dignified, and perfectly balanced always.
"My father left me his journal, Victoria," I said.
"He knew you were poisoning his daily tea slowly."
Victoria froze on the floor, her jaw dropping open.
The color drained from her face completely this time.
"That is a lie!" Victoria screamed, shaking her head.
"Henry died of natural heart failure three years ago!"
General Vance pulled a secondary paper from his pocket.
"We exhumed Henry Bennett's body two weeks ago, Victoria."
General Vance announced in a low, booming voice line.
"The toxicological analysis confirmed high levels of heavy metals."
"He was systematically poisoned over a eight-month period."
Gasps erupted across the crowded marble courtroom floor again.
Spectators stood up from benches to see the villain.
Reporters shouted questions from the back row seats loudly.
"Is it true, Mrs. Bennett? Did you poison him?"
Victoria stumbled backward, bumping against her empty wooden chair.
She fell onto the floor, sobbing hysterical fake tears.
"He was sick! I only gave him his medicine!"
Judge Harrison slammed his gavel three times in succession.
"Order in the court! Silence in the gallery now!"
Two uniformed county sheriff deputies entered through side doors.
They marched straight toward Victoria sitting on the carpet.
They pulled her up by her beige blazer arms.
Cold steel handcuffs clicked tightly around her thin wrists.
Victoria thrashed against the deputies' firm physical grips.
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"Get your hands off me, you filthy peasants!" she.
📖 Chapter 6 brings the dramatic moment handcuffs click on Victoria's wrists. Follow the story to see her fall. 👇
