Chapter 14 - The Fall of Saraphina|
The following week, the criminal trial of Saraphina Rivers began at the Manhattan Criminal Court.
The courtroom was packed with news reporters, camera crews, and curious onlookers. Saraphina sat at the defense table, wearing an oversized gray jumpsuit, her hair unwashed, her face devoid of makeup. Without her designer dresses and lighting teams, she looked small, bitter, and pathetic.
Her high-priced defense attorney tried to argue for probation, citing mental distress and public persecution.
Then, the prosecution called their key witness.
Elise walked into the courtroom, holding herself with magnificent grace and poise. She took the witness stand, wore a simple black suit, and looked directly into the judge's eyes.
"Four weeks ago," Elise testified in a calm, clear voice that resonated through the quiet courtroom, "Saraphina Rivers pushed me onto a marble floor and kicked my seven-month-pregnant belly. She didn't do it out of panic. She did it out of pure, malicious cruelty, intending to destroy my child."
She pointed a steady finger across the room at Saraphina.
"She believed that because she had money and influence, she could treat a pregnant woman like garbage on the floor. I am standing here today to prove that she was wrong."
The judge looked at Saraphina with absolute disgust.
"Saraphina Rivers," the judge announced, slamming the heavy wooden gavel down. "Your actions were monstrous, dangerous, and devoid of basic human decency. I sentence you to four years in state prison without the possibility of early parole."
Saraphina burst into wild, frantic tears as court officers grabbed her arms, dragging her away toward the holding cells.
"Matthew! Help me!" Saraphina shrieked, looking around the room for the man who had promised her everything.
May you like
But Matthew wasn't there. He was sitting in a public defender's office three floors down, facing his own grand jury indictment for corporate fraud.
Elise stepped down from the witness stand, walking out of the courtroom into the bright afternoon sunlight, leaving the dark ghosts of her past behind forever.
