Chapter 21 - The Unanimous Verdict
After just ninety minutes of formal deliberation, the jury returned to the courtroom with their final verdict.
The jury foreman stood up, holding the crisp white paper firmly in his hands as he read aloud:
“On all counts of aggravated kidnapping, felony child abuse, and witness intimidation, we find the defendant, Vivian Hayes, Guilty.”
Vivian let out a sharp gasp, slumping forward in her chair as her defense counsel patted her shoulder in hopeless defeat.
Three days later, the judge handed down his official sentence: thirty-five years in federal and state prison without the possibility of early parole.
As the bailiff slapped heavy steel handcuffs on her wrists and led her away toward the holding cells, Vivian turned her head and glared venomously at the gallery.
May you like
Nobody looked back at her.
She had vanished into the darkness she had tried to build for others.
