Chapter 19 - The Verdict
The trial lasted six weeks.
Lily never entered the courtroom.
Emma testified for two hours.
She described the bathroom.
The straightener.
Renata's instant change when Grant entered.
The defense attorney asked, "You disliked Ms. Cole, didn't you?"
Emma looked at the jury.
"I disliked what I saw her do to a child."
Grant testified next.
So did Nathan.
Dr. Vale admitted altering medical records under pressure.
Simon, facing overwhelming evidence, pleaded guilty before closing arguments and testified against Renata and Margaret.
The crash recording ended any realistic defense.
Renata's lawyers argued she had not caused the mechanical failure.
The prosecutor answered simply:
"She drugged Claire, removed Lily from the crash, and left a living woman behind."
The jury convicted Renata on nearly every major count submitted to them.
Margaret was convicted of conspiracy, fraud, evidence tampering, and charges tied to the sabotage scheme.
Simon received a long sentence under his plea agreement.
Vale lost his license and later served a shorter sentence for falsifying medical records and obstruction.
Outside the courthouse, cameras crowded the steps.
Grant said only one thing.
"My daughter told the truth before any adult was ready to hear it."
Then he left.
Emma waited at the house with Lily.
When Grant walked in, Lily ran to him.
"Is it done?"
He held her.
"The trial is."
"Is Renata coming back?"
"No."
Lily exhaled.
Then she looked at Emma.
"Can Emma stay?"
Emma's heart tightened.
Grant looked at her.
Emma had thought about this for weeks.
"I love you, Lily," she said. "But I don't want to be your maid forever."
Lily's face fell.
Emma crouched.
"That doesn't mean I'm leaving your life."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Emma had applied to nursing school.
Grant had offered to pay.
She refused the gift and accepted a no-interest employee education loan instead.
"Stubborn," he had called her.
"Independent," she corrected.
That night, Lily sat at Claire's old piano.
She pressed one key.
Then another.
Grant stood in the doorway.
Lily looked at him.
"Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"I think I'm ready to sing again."
Grant did not move.
He was afraid even breathing might scare the moment away.
After the verdict, Grant declined every television interview. Instead, he asked Daniel Cho to create a fund for domestic workers and caregivers who reported abuse in private homes and then lost income for speaking up.
He did not name it after Emma.
She would have hated that.
He named it the Listening Fund.
May you like
When Emma heard, she said, "That's a little dramatic."
Grant answered, "Apparently I have a dramatic face."
