Chapter 10 - The Ultimate Checkmate
The courtroom exploded into absolute chaos. Reporters jumped from their seats, camera flashes went off relentlessly, and the judge slammed his gavel repeatedly, shouting for order.
Travis stared at his mother in complete horror, his voice trembling violently. "Mom... what... what did you do?! You said those were special herbal supplements for the babies!"
"Shut up, Travis!" Deborah shrieked, her composed facade shattering into pure hysterics. "I did it for us! She was going to leave you eventually! If she lost the babies, she would have stayed dependent on you! The life insurance policy you took out on her would have made us rich!"
Travis slumped back in his chair, his eyes wide with utter realization. He hadn't just abandoned his wife—he had been a pawn in his mother's sick, murderous plot to murder his family for money.
The judge slammed the gavel down one last time, his face thunderous. "Bail is revoked immediately! Defendants Travis Montgomery, Deborah Montgomery, and Richard Montgomery will be held without bond pending trial for Multiple Counts of Conspiracy to Commit Premeditated Attempted Murder!"
Bailiffs swarmed the defense table, pinning a screaming Deborah to the desk and snapping heavy iron cuffs around her wrists. Travis offered no resistance; he simply cried silently, a broken shell of a man being dragged off to a lifetime behind bars.
I stood up slowly from the gallery, smoothing my coat. I walked past the row of defense tables, pausing right in front of Travis before the guards led him away.
"Sarah..." Travis wept, begging with his eyes. "I didn't know about the poison... I swear I didn't know!"
I looked down at him with quiet pity. "It doesn't matter whether you knew about the poison, Travis. Because when I was crying on that floor, screaming for my life and the lives of your sons... you walked out the door for a handbag anyway."
I leaned in closer, dropping my voice to a soft whisper that sent a final chill down his spine.
May you like
"And oh... there's one last thing you should know, Travis. Three months ago, I noticed the strange powder residue in those vitamins. I swapped them out for harmless calcium pills from day one. I knew what your mother was trying to do all along. I just waited for the perfect moment to let you all destroy yourselves."
Travis's jaw dropped in absolute shock as the ultimate realization hit him: he had lost his marriage, his children, his freedom, and his entire life to a trap he had walked into willingly.
