Chapter 371: Book 5: Lucille’s Confession

Maddox waited patiently for Lucille’s entry into the courtroom. He wanted to know Lucille’s true motive behind her behavior. It couldn’t be love. He could feel how much she hated him. Then why did she want to marry him? Why was she obsessed with him?

Strangely, it had started after Lennox’s death.

“There she is. I think she’s mad at you. Look at the way she’s glaring at you,” Declan leaned in to whisper.

Maddox glared back at her, the fury and hatred clear on his features. He wanted her to face the same fate as her co-conspirators. Having her around was a threat to his mental and physical well-being. She was as toxic as her parents.

Her three friends were brought in as well, and now all four glared at him. Maddox didn’t care. The defense attorney, Sigmund Floyd, an international celebrity lawyer, strode into the courtroom with his team. He gave everyone a look of disgust as he joined Rebekah’s father.

The judge arrived, and soon the court proceedings began. He addressed Lucille, who stood with a pale look on her features. “Are you Ms. Hartley, the person charged in this case?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“Have you discussed the charges and defenses with your attorney?” The judge looked unconvinced.

Lucille glanced at her attorney. “I understand the charges against me and the evidence the prosecution has. While I maintain my innocence, I recognize that the evidence is sufficient to convict me. Therefore, I wish to enter into an Alford plea to avoid further risks of trial.”

The judge shook his head. “I cannot accept this plea because I do not find a sufficient factual basis. The case will proceed to trial.”

He turned towards the prosecution. “The prosecution can call its first witness.”

Scott Bailey took the stand and was sworn in.

The prosecution approached him. “Mr. Bailey, please describe what happened on the night of September 14th at Maddox Laurier’s house?”

Scott Bailey elaborated on the events of that fateful night. “Mrs. Laurier and Ms. Lucille had drugged Mr. Laurier, and he fell unconscious, Your Honor. Ms. Lucille decorated the room, stripped him, and recorded intimate videos of herself with Mr. Laurier. Later, she summoned Ms. Hansley to witness the setup they had created. It caused a misunderstanding between the two, and Ms. Hansley fled in tears. They forced me to erase the footage. A white car was stationed outside to kidnap Ms. Hansley. But she evaded it and sought my help instead. I dropped her off at her friend’s house, but the same car chased me everywhere to kill me. It was a miracle that I could save myself and seek police help.”

The prosecution next summoned Officer Stewart to the witness stand. “Officer Stewart, can you tell us what happened on the night of October 6th? Did you receive a call from the victim, Maddox Laurier?”

“Yes, around 9 pm, I received a call from Mr. Laurier. When I reached there, I found his pregnant girlfriend, Ms. Hansley, missing. We checked the footage and interrogated the two security guards present. They admitted that Ms. Lucille Hartley and her three friends had arrived at the house to kidnap Ms. Hansley. There was foul play involved as the duo fled the crime scene immediately. We received a call from Ms. Hansley’s bodyguard, Bruce Delaney, about their whereabouts. Our team reached their hideout to rescue Ms. Hansley. But Ms. Hartley and her friends were armed, Your Honor. They shot the bodyguard and escaped. Our team tailed them, but they threatened Mr. Laurier. They would kill Ms. Hansley if he didn’t call us off. Ms. Lucille wanted to marry Mr. Laurier in return for Ms. Hansley’s safety.”

He explained the whole incident to the court. The defense attorney cross-questioned him repeatedly. But it didn’t affect Officer Stewart.

“We arrested the miscreants at 4:10 am, Your Honor, but Ms. Hansley had escaped. She has been missing since then. The traffic police tracked the vehicle she had fled to San Francisco. We’re still looking for her.”

The prosecution submitted all the evidence of the kidnapping. It was proved in court that the four women had hatched and executed a conspiracy to perfection. Only the intention wasn’t clear.

The defense attorney looked agitated. “Officer Stewart, did you find any evidence that the defendants had personally touched the victim, Ms. Hansley? The alleged victim in this case might have been a voluntary participant.”

Officer Stewart fumed at the defense attorney. “The victim was tied up and kept imprisoned, Your Honor. She wasn’t given food during the entire time she was in their custody. I doubt she would willingly do this to herself in her pregnant condition. If the victim was tied up and moved from one hideout to another in her unconscious state, then she was definitely personally touched by her kidnappers. I have enough proof to contradict the claim of the defense counsel.”

The prosecution brought in its third witness, Bruce Delaney.

Bruce elaborated on the entire sequence of events that took place that night.

The prosecution now faced the jury. “Members of the jury, a conspiracy does not require that everyone hold the victim. It requires an agreement to commit a crime and an overt act towards it. The defendant planned the kidnapping and executed it with the help of her friends. They tortured the victim and threatened to kill her if she refused to cooperate. They had no plans of releasing her even after Mr. Laurier gave in to their demands.”

The judge inspected the police incident report, the judicial affidavit of the complainant, and the judicial affidavits of Bruce and Scott. The other forensic reports, the fingerprints, and the traffic police records of the vehicle used cleared all doubts about the case. There was no way the defendant and her co-conspirators could escape punishment.

Rebekah’s father looked agitated. He hadn’t expected his strong defense counsel to fail.

The judge inspected the evidence.

The prosecution continued. “The evidence shows the defendant and her friends used fear to move the victim over twenty miles away from her house. Given her condition, that is not consent. That is a violation of Penal Code 207. The evidence of guilt is overwhelming, Your Honor. We ask you to hold the defendant and her co-conspirators accountable for this violent act. Find them guilty of kidnapping.”

The judge turned his attention to Lucille. “Ms. Hartley, do you wish to address the court before sentencing? Is there anything you would like to say about the circumstances that led to this offense?”

Lucille gave Maddox a death glare before turning her attention to the judge and the members of the jury. “Yes, Your Honor. I’m not the only one to be blamed in this case. Iris Hansley snatched the man I wanted to marry. I have known Maddox for a long time, long before she had met him. We were destined to marry. That’s what my mom had instilled in my mind. I had reached out to her nicely, but she didn’t step back. This was the only way out for me.” She paused for a melodramatic pause.

The prosecution frowned at her new claim, seeking permission from the judge to intervene. “So, were you in a relationship with Mr. Laurier? Did he promise to marry you?”

Lucille looked ill at ease. “No, he treated me like a sibling.”

“If the feelings weren’t mutual, how could you expect Mr. Laurier to marry you? If you really love him, how could you inject him with a high dose of GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate) that could kill him? Why did you do it, Ms. Hartley?”

Lucille glared at Maddox with intense hatred. “I don’t love him, Your Honor. I hate him the way I hated Lennox for rejecting me.”

Gasps of horror escaped from the audience. Maddox stilled and stared at the crazy woman. Did she approach Lennox as well? But she was over ten years younger than Lennox. Was she crazy?

The prosecution hushed the whispers. “Please explain yourself, Ms. Hartley.”

“I loved Lennox, Your Honor. But he never shared my feelings because I was eleven years younger than him. He crushed my heart every time I approached him. It left me miserable and suicidal. But he didn’t care. He was planning to marry his girlfriend instead of marrying me. I’m glad my mom didn’t let his dream come true.”

Maddox gaped at the crazy woman. This was a secret he had no idea about.

The prosecution intervened. “If you loved Lennox, why do you want to marry his brother, whom you don’t love?”

She gave him a desperate look. “What could I do? My crazy foster parents made a weird will stating that I would get the Hartley fortune only if I married a Laurier. With Lennox dead, Maddox was the only way to get my inheritance. For years, my mother supported me financially, but now I’m penniless. I need my money, Your Honor.” She broke down into sobs, leaving everyone stunned by her admission.

Maddox froze, realizing her intentions at last. So all this had been about her inheritance. Why couldn’t she seek his help instead?

The case was closed, and the judge sentenced Lucille to four years of imprisonment and a hefty fine. She was devastated but accepted her fate. Rebekah, Veronica, and Leilani were sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and a fine. It was all over, but Maddox’s heart was heavy.

He somehow realized how little he had known his brother and his so-called family. Why hadn’t Lennox ever opened up to him? Why hadn’t his dad shared his problems with him? He felt like an orphan for the first time.

The wish to have Iris close to his heart drove him crazy.

With the cases solved and justice delivered, nothing could stop him from going to San Francisco now. He would leave tonight.