“Because Grandma says people who tell family secrets are traitors. But Daddy needed to know.”
The jury deliberated for six hours. Guilty on all counts.
At sentencing, Judge Mills—the same judge who gave me custody—looked down at the fallen matriarch.
“Mrs. Wright, you have used your wealth to damage this community. Most egregiously, you attempted to frame an innocent man to steal his child. You have shown no remorse.”
Bernice stood straight, defiant to the end.
“I sentence you to twenty years in federal prison. No possibility of parole for fifteen years.”
The gavel cracked like a gunshot.
