Chapter 12 - The Shadow in the CourtroomThe courtroom was packed to the gills. Flashbulbs popped outside the courthouse steps as media outlets continued to milk the salacious details of the "Smart-Home Arsonist and the Betrayed Wife."
I walked through the double doors with Maya flanked tightly to my right. I wore a tailored charcoal pantsuit, my head held high, refusing to shrink under the weight of the cameras or the whispers of the gallery.
Vanessa sat at the defense table. She looked unrecognizable. The glamorous, sharp-tongued homewrecker was gone, replaced by a gaunt woman in a shapeless orange jumpsuit, her hair limp and devoid of makeup. She didn't dare look in my direction as I took my seat in the front row.
Judge Thomas banged his gavel, restoring order to the room.
"We are here for the sentencing phase of The State versus Vanessa Cole," Judge Thomas announced, adjusting his glasses. "Before the court issues its final judgment, the defense has requested to present a surprise witness under the provision of mitigating circumstances."
My heart gave a sharp, uncomfortable thud. A witness? Who could she possibly have? Ryan was locked in federal holding.
The heavy side door of the courtroom creaked open.
A tall, middle-aged man in a rumpled suit stepped inside. He had thinning gray hair, anxious eyes, and walked with a slight limp.
I froze. The breath caught in my throat.
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It wasn't a stranger. It was Arthur Vance—Ryan’s former senior partner at the firm, the man who had supposedly retired six months before the scandal broke.
Maya leaned over, her voice a sharp hiss in my ear. "Who the hell is that, and what is he doing here?"
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