My Husband Hung Up on Me the Night I Gave Birth novel · Chapter 23 of 24

Chapter 23: The Hearing

The courtroom was full by eight-thirty.

Mama sat on my left with Bean asleep on her shoulder. Ryan sat on my right, in the gray suit, with his hands flat on his knees.

Behind us sat six of Gwen's donors, and three reporters with their notebooks open.

They brought Gwen in at nine.

She wore an orange jumpsuit and no makeup, and her auburn hair was pulled back tight.

She looked across the room and found my husband first.

She smiled at him.

It was the smile from the bistro, kind and tender, and my skin crawled.

The judge read the charges aloud.

Kidnapping. Assault. Conspiracy. Unlawful restraint of a woman in labor.

"Ms. Dearing, you have pleaded guilty to every count," the judge said. "Do you wish to make a statement before I hear from the victim?"

"I do, Your Honor."

She stood and unfolded a single sheet of paper.

"My brother was twenty years old," she said. "He was holding a phone. A police officer shot him in the dark, and another officer put a gun in his hand, and everyone I trusted let me bury him as a criminal."

Her voice was steady and pleasant.

"I waited six years. I was patient. I was kind to everyone. And on the day he died, I made the man who killed him feel what I felt."

"Ms. Dearing," the judge said.

"I would do it again."

A sound went through the benches.

She sat down, and she did not look at me once.

"Mrs. Tierney," the judge said. "You may speak."

I stood.

My hands wanted to shake, so I laid them flat on the rail in front of me.

"Your Honor, I'll be brief."

I turned my head and looked at Gwen. She was staring at the table.

"Look at me," I said.

She looked up.

"I called my husband from a hospital garage on the thirteenth of August. A man was following me, and I was in labor. I was alone. I called three times."

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