Chapter 30 The Court Day
Lara's pov
Six months.
Six months since my mother-in-law was arrested for murdering my father.
Six months since my ex-husband was charged as an accomplice.
And now, finally, the trial begins.
I woke up that morning feeling really tired and sick.Damien found me in the bathroom. I was feeling feverish and wanting to throw up.Dry heaving over the toilet.
"You don't have to go," he said. "I can go alone."
"No." I wiped my mouth. "I need to be there. I need to see this."
"Okay."
We got dressed.I put on a black gown , I didn't want something big, so I wore a simple, professional, non flashy gown.
Damien wore the same black gown.
We looked like we were going to a funeral.
Maybe we were.
The courthouse was chaotic.
News vans everywhere. Reporters shouting questions. Cameras flashing.
"Ms. Otto! How do you feel about today?"
"Will you testify?"
"Do you want the death penalty for Claire Ward?"
I kept my head down and let Damien guide me through the crowd.
Inside was worse.
The courtroom was packed already.Every seat had been taken. Some people were standing in the back.
Everyone wanted to see this.
The tech CEO whose father was murdered by her mother-in-law.
The billionaire widow seeking justice.
It was good TV, a good video for people to watch.
I hated it with passion.
We sat in the front row. Right behind the prosecution.
Damien took my hand and squeezed it.
"Are you okay?"
"No."
"Me neither." But I ghat you okay?
The doors opened.
Claire was brought in first.
I barely recognized her.
She looked... old. Frail. Her hair was gray now. Not the perfectly dyed blonde I remembered.
Her expensive suit was gone. Replaced with a drab gray dress.
She looked like what she was.
A woman facing life in prison.
She didn't look at me. She kept her eyes down as they led her to the defense table.
Then Lucas.
He was thinner. Pale. Dark circles under his eyes.
He was in a prison orange cloth instead of his designer suits.
He really looked broken.
Good.
Our eyes met for just a second.
He looked away first.
The judge entered. Everyone stood up.
"Please be seated. The court is now in session."
The prosecutor stood. A woman named Davidson. Mid-forties.
"Your Honor, the People will prove that Claire Ward systematically poisoned Richard Montgomery over a period of six months, resulting in his death. We will show that she purchased arsenic from multiple pharmacies. That she administered it to Mr. Montgomery under the guise of helping with his medication. And that she did this with full knowledge and intent to kill."
She paused.
"We will also prove that Lucas Ward, the defendant's son and Mr. Montgomery's son-in-law, was aware of this poisoning and did nothing to stop it. Making him an accessory to murder."
Claire's lawyer stood. An older man in an expensive suit.
"Your Honor, the defense will show that Mrs. Ward is innocent. That there is no physical evidence. No poison bottle. No direct proof. Just circumstantial evidence and speculation."
Davidson smiled. Like she'd been waiting for this.
"We'll see."
The prosecution's case was devastating.
They had everything.
Purchase records showing Claire buying arsenic from four different pharmacies over six months.
Security footage of her at those pharmacies.
Testimony from pharmacy techs who remembered her.
"She paid cash. Always. And she never bought from the same place twice."
Medical records showing Richard's symptoms.
"His decline was too fast. Even for stage four cancer. The arsenic accelerated it."
Testimony from the Wards' housekeeper.
"I saw Mrs. Ward with Mr. Montgomery's medications many times. She insisted on handling them herself. She said the family needed to take care of him."
Bank records showing the Wards' financial problems.
"They were bleeding money. Richard Montgomery's company was the only thing keeping them afloat."
It went on for hours.Witness after witness.
Document after document.
All pointing to one thing.
Claire Ward murdered my father.
I sat there listening. Not moving. Barely breathing.
Damien's hand never left mine.
Claire's lawyer tried.
"Where is the poison bottle? Where is the physical evidence?"
"Circumstantial evidence is still evidence," Davidson shot back.
"My client was helping care for a dying man. That doesn't make her a murderer."
"Your client was poisoning him. That absolutely makes her a murderer."
The jury looked convinced.
I could see it on their faces.
They believed it.
Because it was true.
On the third day, Lucas was called to testify.
He stood and walked to the witness stand. And took the oath.
"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"
"Yes,I do."
He sat down and finally looked at me.
I stared back. My face was cold and empty.
Davidson approached.
"Mr. Ward, did you know your mother was poisoning Richard Montgomery?"
He was silent.
The courtroom held its breath.
"Mr. Ward?"
"Yes."
Gasps throughout the room.
Reporters scribbling frantically.
Claire's face went white.
"When did you become aware?"
Lucas swallowed. "About four months before his death. I found the arsenic in her bathroom."
"And what did you do?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" Davidson repeated. "You discovered your mother was poisoning your father-in-law and you did nothing?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Lucas looked down at his hands.
"I wanted Lara's company. I wanted her father out of the way. His shares. His patents. Everything."
My nails dug into my palms so hard I felt blood.
He admitted it.
He let my father die for money.
"Did you ever warn Richard Montgomery?"
"No."
"Did you tell your wife?"
"No."
"Did you attempt to stop your mother in any way?"
"No."
"So you just... let it happen."
"Yes."
Davidson turned to the jury. Let that sink in.
Then she turned back to Lucas.
"Did you lov3e your wife?”
Lucas finally looked at me.
"No."
The word echoed through the courtroom.
"I married her for her money. For her father's company. For what she could give me. I never loved her."
The words should have hurt me,should have torn me apart.But I felt nothing.
Just cold satisfaction.
Because now everyone knew.
Now the whole world knew what Lucas Ward really was.
A liar. A thief. A man who helped murder his father-in-law for money.
"No further questions," Davidson said.
Lucas stepped down. He wouldn't dare look at me again.
Good.
I didn't want to see his face anyway.
We left the courthouse that evening exhausted.
The reporters swarmed again.
"Ms. Otto! How do you feel after today's testimony?"
"Will you accept an apology from Lucas Ward?"
"Do you forgive him?"
Damien pushed through. Got me to the car.
Inside, I finally breathed.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"He admitted it. In front of everyone. He let my father die."
"I know."
"I always knew. But hearing him say it..."
"I know."
I squeezed Damien's hand.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For being here. For being there for me, for being a shoulder to lean on.For not being him."
Damien pulled me close.
"Always."
We drove home in silence.
To our son. To our life. To everything Lucas tried to destroy but couldn't.
Because I'd survived.
I'd rebuilt.
I'd won.
And Lucas? Lucas was going to prison.
Right where he belonged.