I Was the Unwanted Fifth in Their Life and Death Pact novel · Chapter 24 of 24
Chapter 24: Fifth Chair
Heidi stood to be sentenced in a gray jail jumpsuit, with her hair pulled back and no ribbon.
I sat in the front row, between Nolan and Dane.
Behind us sat Brody and my partner from the dispatch center.
The three women from the Foundation board had come on their own.
The prosecutor had their recording of the coffee shop.
Mrs. Brackett was not in the room, because she had been charged on Monday with obstruction.
Derrick sat alone in the back row.
His company had lost its backers the week the dinner went online.
He didn't look up when I passed.
The judge asked whether the defendant wished to speak.
"Yes," Heidi said.
Her voice was small, but the room was so quiet it reached every wall.
"I'm not going to say I didn't mean it," she said. "I meant to pick up. I wanted to know if you were dead."
Nobody moved.
"I was twelve when my parents died and the Bracketts took me in."
She swallowed.
"The first thing I learned in that house was that someone is always the favorite. I was the favorite for eight years, and I didn't know how to be anything else."
She turned her head and looked directly at me.
"That's not a reason. I'm only saying it so you know I know it's not."
I held her eyes and said nothing, because there was nothing in me to give.
"I'm sorry I hung up," Heidi said.
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