Chapter 200 Epilogue Three: Trials and Judgements (Rachel Thorne).
Chapter 200 Epilogue Three: Trials and Judgements (Rachel Thorne).
Epilogue Three: Trials and Judgements (Rachel Thorne).
Rachel’s trial began two months after Silas’s conviction.
She had been held at the county jail in the Sixth District since her arrest. ADA Crystal James worked closely with ADA Jeremiah Crane of District Six, striking an agreement that allowed Crane to prosecute not only the murder charges, but also the attempted rape and kidnapping of Ileana.
For months, Rachel’s attorney had tried to convince her to accept a plea deal. She refused every time.
“I am not spending my entire fucking life in prison!”
Her attorney pinched the bridge of his nose, already exhausted.
“I don’t think you understand the gravity of the situ—”
“I understand perfectly clear!”
Rachel snapped.
“So do your fucking job. Either get me a better deal… or I’m going to trial.”
Her attorney tried.
Crane was relentless. He had no intention of offering anything less than fifty years.
Now, the day of trial had finally arrived.
Jason, Tessa, Ileana, and both Generals were called as the district’s star witnesses.
“Ms. Green,”
ADA Crane began,
“is there anything you recall about the defendant on the night of your abduction?”
Ileana took a slow sip of water before lifting her gaze to Rachel.
“She went out of her way to see me,” Ileana said calmly. “Things became uncomfortable—to the point that my friend Jason asked her and her party to leave.”
She paused, collecting herself.
“At the time, I thought it was strange, but I didn’t think much of it. The way she said my name… and how she commented on the color of my dress.”
Crane walked back to the prosecution table and lifted a sealed evidence bag.
“This teal dress, Ms. Green?”
Ileana nodded.
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
Crane turned to face the jury.
“The same color the defendant texted to Patrick Cleese that night. No further questions.”
The rest of the trial was just as brutal.
Tessa took the stand next.
Through tears and quiet sobs, she detailed how Rachel had paid her to fabricate the false story known as ‘L’—a calculated attempt to destroy Lorina’s reputation.
“She said she wanted something dirty enough to ruin her,”
Tessa testified.
“When I told her I wasn’t exactly a writer, she showed me a story she’d already created. We decided to call it the story of ‘L’.”
Crane stepped closer.
“And what was the result of that story, Ms. Daniels?”
Tears streamed down Tessa’s face.
“It ruined Lorina. After the first story spread, Rachel wanted to make sure there were no doubts—so she paid a homeless man to lie about her.”
In the gallery, Mr. and Mrs. Kely sat rigidly beside their sons. Their fury was palpable as they listened to how their daughter and sister had been dismantled piece by piece.
Crane’s voice softened slightly.
“Ms. Daniels, why did you agree to do this? It’s not as though you needed the money.”
Tessa swallowed hard.
“I—”
She hesitated, then whispered,
“I was jealous.”
Her voice broke as sobs shook her body.
“Lorina was everything I wanted to be. Beautiful. Kind. Smart. Popular. Everyone adored her—and I was invisible. I hated her for it. I was a coward, and I took it out on someone who never deserved it.”
She turned toward the Kelys, shame etched across her face.
“I know you’ll never forgive me… but I am so sorry.”
Crane nodded, then faced the jury.
“No further questions.”
Rachel’s attorney rose.
“So, if I’m understanding you correctly, Ms. Daniels—you also had a motive to want the victim deceased?”
“Objection!”
Crane was on his feet instantly.
The judge struck his gavel as murmurs rippled through the courtroom.
“Order. Order!”
Silence fell.
The judge fixed Crane with a measured look.
“Overruled. The witness may answer.”
Crane sat back down, irritation flickering across his face.
“I—”
Tessa faltered.
“I didn’t want to hurt her—”
“Didn’t want to hurt her?”
the defense pressed.
“You just testified that you helped spread a story that destroyed her life.”
“Yes—but I didn’t want her dead—”
“But you ‘were’ jealous of her, correct?”
“Yes, but—”
“Ms. Daniels,”
the attorney cut in sharply,
“who sent the message that lured the victim out that night?”
Tessa went pale.
Her eyes flicked toward Rachel.
Rachel sat perfectly still—hands folded, expression serene.
“I did,”
Tessa whispered.
Her voice was strained, barely audible.
“Really?”
the attorney sneered.
“You again?”
“But only because Rachel told me to! She—”
“It’s always someone else, isn’t it, Ms. Daniels?”
he interrupted.
“But no one hated the victim longer than you did.”
“Objection!”
“Withdrawn,”
the attorney said coolly.
“No further questions.”
He returned to his seat.
Rachel remained composed, her face a picture of innocence—though Tessa could see the smug glint in her eyes.
Frustrated, Crane rose once more.
“Ms. Daniels, do you know how the victim died?”
Tessa’s head snapped up.
“They said it was a poison… Doxoten?”
Crane stepped forward.
“Some poison? You mean you’d never heard of it before then?”
She shook her head.
“No, sir.”
“But the defendant has been connected to it multiple times,”
Crane said evenly.
“And she confessed. No further questions.”
Rachel’s attorney stood again.
“Your Honor, I renew my objection and request that my client’s confession be dismissed. She was under extreme stress at the time of her arrest.”
The judge leaned back.
“Noted, Counselor. Overruled.”
Rachel suddenly leapt to her feet.
“That’s not fair! I was stressed! I didn’t know what I was saying! Why are you being so mean?!”
The gavel slammed down.
“Order! Order!”
the judge barked.
“Counselor—control your client!”
From that moment on, the trial unraveled rapidly.
Mountains of evidence and testimony stacked against Rachel, piece by piece, leaving no room for doubt.
After a two-week trial, the verdict was delivered.
Rachel was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, attempted rape, and defamation.
She was sentenced to seventy-five years in prison.
No parole.
\------
The day Ileana visited Rachel, she barely recognized her.
Gone was the carefully crafted, “innocent” sweetness once adored by Peoria’s high society. In its place sat a woman worn down by prison life—her skin rough, her eyes hollow, exhaustion etched deep into her face.
Edward had warned Ileana that incarceration hadn’t been easy on Rachel. Still clinging to a warped sense of status and superiority, she’d made herself a frequent target—both among inmates and guards. Constant fights and repeated trips to the infirmary had eventually led to her placement in solitary confinement.
As Rachel sat down across the glass, there was no remorse in her expression. Only irritation. Only disdain.
She lifted the receiver, lips curling into a familiar smug smile.
“Well, well,”
she sneered.
“What are you doing here? Came to gloat?”
Ileana studied her quietly for a moment before answering.
“Why would I do that, Rachel?”
she asked calmly.
“There’d be no satisfaction in it.”
Rachel’s face twisted violently.
“Oh, shut the fuck up!”
she snapped.
“Do you know what I hate most about you? You ‘always’ act so goddamn superior! Like you’re special! Like you deserve everything!”
Her voice rose, sharp and unhinged.
“Everybody loves you! WHY?!”
Her breathing grew frantic.
“It was mine! It was all mine! My life! My family! My fiancé! My frie—”
“That was Rachel Thorne’s life,”
Ileana interrupted evenly.
“Last I checked… your name is Abigail Loman.”
The color drained from Rachel’s face.
A name she hadn’t used in so long she’d nearly forgotten it.
Ileana leaned forward, her voice still calm—still devastating.
“The crazy part is… you could’ve kept that life. I never tried to take it. I liked being Ileana Green.”
Her gaze didn’t waver.
“You’re not here because I came back, Rachel. You’re here because you got greedy.”
She hung up the receiver and pushed her chair back, turning to leave.
“I HAD A DREAM I KILLED YOU!”
Ileana froze.
Slowly, she turned around.
Rachel was smiling—wide, manic, unhinged.
“I dreamed you died!”
she hissed.
“That YOU were the one I gave the Doxoten to! That YOU drowned! That my life was perfect once you took your last breath!”
Ileana’s expression hardened. She picked up the receiver one final time.
“Then I wish you pleasant dreams, Rachel,”
she said coldly.
“Because that’s the only place you’ll ever see my death again.”
Click.
Ileana left the prison without looking back, Rachel’s screams and curses echoing uselessly behind her.