Chapter 13 - THE VERDICT OF SHADOWS
The jury deliberated for less than forty-five minutes.
When the courtroom doors opened and the twelve jurors marched back into their box, the atmosphere was thick with suffocating tension.
"Has the jury reached a verdict?" the judge asked.
"We have, Your Honor," the jury foreman replied, standing tall.
"On the count of attempted first-degree murder of Leo Sterling, how do you find the defendant?"
"Guilty."
"On the count of first-degree murder of Sarah Sterling, how do you find the defendant?"
"Guilty."
"On the count of grand larceny and fraud, how do you find the defendant?"
"Guilty."
Victoria didn't react. She sat motionless, her eyes staring blankly at the polished wood of the defense table as the judge read the sentence: two consecutive life terms in a maximum-security state penitentiary, without the possibility of parole.
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As the bailiffs stepped forward to escort her through the side exit toward her permanent cell, Victoria turned her head slightly, her gaze locking onto Elena sitting in the gallery.
Elena didn't shrink back. She didn't look away. She met Victoria’s hollow, defeated gaze with calm, quiet dignity—the simple maid who had refused to let a child die, who had pointed her finger through the dark, and whose courage had brought an empire of deceit crashing down.
