Chapter 10
The police laid out the whole sordid story.
After their blowout, Effie and Kevin reconciled when he groveled.
But the firm was crumbling. Mismanagement bled cash, and a wave of attorney resignations gutted its core.
That botched case from before snowballed, dragging the firm’s name deeper into the mud.
Effie, drowning in stress, looked haggard every day. That was when Kevin showed his true colors, betraying her, too.
She caught him siphoning off company assets and attempting to escape.
She confronted him, and in the ensuing argument, she lost control, grabbing scissors and stabbing him in the chest.
It happened so fast. By the time the staff screamed for paramedics, Kevin was bleeding out on the office floor.
Despite efforts to save him, he didn’t make it.
Effie was cuffed and hauled away by the police.
Kevin’s wife filed a lawsuit, and Effie finally learned that he’d been married all along.
Regret hit her hard, and she thought of me.
“For old times’ sake, please help me,” she’d pleaded before the trial. “Just say it was self-defense or excessive force rather than premeditated murder.”
In court, her hopeful eyes locked onto mine, but I avoided her gaze, focusing on my notes.
I defended her with cool professionalism, pushing for a lighter sentence while staying true to my principles.
I couldn’t ignore her entirely, but I wasn’t about to twist the truth to fit her narrative.
She mistook my effort for lingering feelings, trying to spark a conversation, which was only met with my icy detachment.
In the end, surveillance footage sealed her fate. The opposing counsel proved she acted with intent, and I lost the case.
Effie faced a harsh sentence.
As the verdict landed, reality crashed over her. In the courtroom, she broke down, her gaunt, disheveled appearance a far cry from the poised woman I’d known.
“Gabriel, where are you going?” she cried out desperately. “Don’t leave me. I’m sorry. I swear I’ve changed. Please, don’t go.”
She lunged forward, only to be restrained by officers, Her struggles turned frantic, but she couldn’t break free, her voice fading into a pained wail.
I didn’t need her apologies.
With steady strides, I walked out, my mind already on unfinished work and the plants waiting for water at home.
This was just another case in the books.
It was time to let go of the past and embrace the future.
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Florence is a passionate reader who finds joy in long drives on rainy days. She’s also a fan of Italian makeup tutorials, blending beauty and elegance into her everyday life.
