Chapter 11
Marlene’s trial began in summer.
The courtroom was full of family.
Some came to support her.
Some came to watch her fall.
Some came because people love disaster when it is not burning their own house.
Marlene wore navy.
Pearls.
Soft makeup.
A wounded grandmother costume.
She smiled at the jury like she had baked them cookies.
The prosecutor began with the soup.
The burns.
The theft.
The recording.
Then the cabin.
Marissa sat beside me like a small, furious queen.
Caleb sat behind me.
Not beside me.
My choice.
He respected it.
Tyler testified on the second day.
He looked smaller in a suit.
He admitted everything.
Marlene stared at him with such cold hatred that even the judge noticed.
The prosecutor asked, “Who told you to steal from Mrs. Lawson’s purse?”
Tyler swallowed.
“My mother.”
“Why?”
“To make Jenna look like a thief.”
“Why?”
“So she’d sign over the cabin land.”
Marlene shook her head slowly, performing heartbreak.
Then Paige testified.
Her voice trembled but held.
She read old emails.
Marlene calling her ungrateful.
Threatening to ruin her credit.
Demanding access to accounts.
“I thought that was just how families were,” Paige said.
The prosecutor asked, “What changed?”
Paige looked at me.
“Jenna bled in the kitchen, and Mom still cared more about the paperwork.”
George testified last that day.
He admitted he knew Marlene bullied people.
He admitted he minimized it.
He admitted he stayed comfortable while others paid the price.
Marlene looked away from him.
For the first time, he did not chase her eyes.
That evening, Caleb walked me to my car.
“Are you okay?”
“No.”
He nodded.
“Can I do anything?”
I looked at him.
“Keep telling the truth tomorrow.”
May you like
“I will.”
He did.
