HER SISTER-IN-LAW PUSHED HER PREGNANT BODY—STILL STRAPPED TO A WHEELCHAIR—INTO A DEEP POOL! BUT WHEN A BRAVE WOMAN JUMPED IN TO SAVE HER, THE SISTER-IN-LAW DID SOMETHING EVEN MORE SHOCKING...

Two months later.

The Cook County Criminal Courthouse was surrounded by a wall of news vans, flashing broadcast lights, and throngs of spectators. The "Rooftop Heiress Attempted Murder" had become the trial of the century. The leaked footage from Maya’s bodycam had been viewed over a hundred million times worldwide, sparking international outrage.

Inside Courtroom 402, Victoria Montgomery sat at the defense table. She was no longer wearing emerald silk or diamonds. She was dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit, her hair unwashed and stringy, her face sunken, her eyes shadowed by the dark reality of solitary confinement. Her multi-million-dollar defense team had tried to plead temporary insanity, acute psychosis, and even evidence tampering, but the digital forensic evidence was ironclad.

Clara sat in the front row of the gallery, supported by Julian. Her cast was finally off, replaced by a walking brace. Her pregnancy was now at thirty-six weeks, her belly full, round, and healthy. Her skin had regained its color, her eyes their warmth, though the trauma lingered like a phantom scar.

Beside them sat Maya Lin. Julian had not only cleared her brother’s medical debts in full, but he had also funded Maya’s own private security and investigative firm, appointing her as the Chief of Protective Intelligence for the Montgomery family.

"All rise," the bailiff intoned.

Judge Harrison took his seat at the bench, looking down over his half-moon spectacles at Victoria. The jury had returned after a record-breaking twenty-five minutes of deliberation.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?" the judge asked.

The jury foreperson stood, holding the slip of paper. "We have, Your Honor."

Victoria looked up, a faint, desperate flicker of hope dancing in her sociopathic eyes.

"On the count of Attempted First-Degree Murder of Clara Montgomery, how do you find the defendant?"

"Guilty."

"On the count of Attempted Feticide, how do you find the defendant?"

"Guilty."

"On the count of Aggravated Battery with a Deadly Weapon, how do you find the defendant?"

"Guilty."

A collective murmur rolled through the courtroom. Victoria collapsed into her chair, her hands clutching her head as her high-priced attorneys stared down at their legal pads in grim resignation.

Judge Harrison looked at Victoria with utter revulsion. "Victoria Montgomery, your actions demonstrated a level of calculated depravity rarely seen in this court. Driven by greed, you attempted to consign a defenseless pregnant woman to an agonizing death at the bottom of a swimming pool, and when that failed, you attempted to poison her in a sanctuary of healing. You are a menace to society."

The judge slammed his gavel down with the force of an executioner’s axe.

"I sentence you to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. You will serve your sentence at Logan Correctional Center. May God have mercy on your soul, because this justice system will not."

Victoria screamed as the marshals hauled her up. She thrashed against her chains, spitting toward the gallery. "You stole my life, Clara! You stole everything! I curse you! I curse your child!"

Clara did not flinch. She met Victoria’s wild, venomous eyes with calm, unshakable strength. Clara gently placed her hand over her abdomen and whispered, "You have no power here anymore."

As the heavy steel doors closed behind Victoria for the final time, Clara felt a sharp, sudden tightening across her abdomen.

She gasped, clutching Julian’s arm. "Julian..."

Julian looked at her in panic. "Clara? What's wrong? Is it the baby?!"

A warm rush of fluid broke past Clara’s feet, pooling on the marble courthouse floor. Clara looked at her husband, a radiant, tearful smile breaking across her face.