impersonal drone that cut throu

ghter, two counts, this court finds

re you can' t see. I stood there, frozen in my cheap suit, the one my public defender had bro

ound O

usiness suit, her hair pulled back perfectly. But her face was a mask of cold disappointment. Her e

rother, L

moved, just slightly, covering Olivia' s where it rested on her lap. She didn' t pull away. She let

rents were gone, killed in the very accident I was now convicted of causing, and in the

. Ha

ldhood friend and my court-appointed lawyer,

n. We' ll appeal.

her back completely as the bailiffs approached me, their hands reaching for my ar

people cried, and a guard watched everything with bored eyes. I sat on the har

ed out of place in her professional attire, a beac

ss from me, her e

shot, Ethan. I' m not

the table betwe

nly word I c

hy. "She' s not returning my calls. Her firm sent a courier

nvicted of a double homicide was not part of her five-year plan. She was pragmatic.

asked, my voice

said carefully. "He' s... been

that sounded like rocks grind

an, listen to me. I know you. I' ve known you since we w

had felt since the verdict. I lo

p me, Sara

efender, my access is limited. There are things I can' t do, filings I can' t make.

sked, desperate for

rry

certain I had m

I gain legal standing that a public defender doesn' t have. I can access records, file motions on y

etermined eyes, I saw a lifeline. She was the only person left in the world who believed in me.

d tasting strange. "Okay

nly witnesses were a guard and Sarah' s paralegal. She wore a simple dress, and I wore my

rs, she kept

the investigators she hired, the leads she chased. Each one ended in a dead end, a brick wall. The evidence Liam had so care

were denied

ressions, to know when to walk away from a fight. I got into a few, one ugly one with an inmate named Jake who s

e was left after the legal fees, assuring me it was safe. She was the anchor that kept me from drifting away completely. I loved her for it.

law in the chain of custody for a key piece of evidence. A t

. Sarah was there, waiting. I pulled her into a hug, burying my face in her

I whispered.

" she said, her voic

a successful venture capitalist. He and Olivia were married, living in a mansion, their pictures splashed across soci

hing I had

came to me in tears, her face pale with panic. Her family' s sm

lot of it. The auditors are coming next week. My

' t bear to see her suffer. With my software background and a natural

ooks," I told her gen

action histories. I found the discrepancy. It was a sophisticated embezzlement s

arah, she broke

investments. She was going to pay it back. If this comes out, she' ll

pleading. "There' s no way to hide

iven me back my life. Her mother, who had always been kind to me, was facing ruin. I

heavy, but right. "I' ll say I did it

r tears stopping. "Et

ou. For your family. You saved

d ex-convict with access to the company' s books. I didn'

e. But I held onto the thought of Sarah and her gratit

ng for me at the gates. Sarah had told me it would be too suspicious for her to be there. I understood. I took a

go. The house was quiet. I walked through the kitchen, my heart pou

nd her

face, ready to walk in.

voice strained. "Are you sure this is a

a tone I had never heard her use. It sent a chill down my spine. "Liam need

d Liam have t

id. "That waiver. If he knew he was signing away any

we got married. She' d said they were standard legal forms, giving her a

"He was so grateful. So trusting. It was almost too easy. He had no idea the only reason I married him was to become the victim' s

aned against the wall t

e of you for it," her mother said

e was driving drunk. He called me that night, panicking. I told him what to do. How

, every letter, every visit for fourteen years... it all replayed in m

iam had kille

oman I had gone to prison for, not o

ect of my destruction f

' t breathe. The weight of fourteen stolen years, of two prison

t know where I was going. All I knew was that I had to get away. I tore

was a carefully constructed cage. And I had