Chapter 5 - The Verdict and the Fields
The judge didn't take long to deliberate.
We barely had time to finish a cup of coffee in the courthouse hallway before the bailiff called us back into the room.
The judge looked stern, his eyes sweeping over Arthur and his high-priced attorney before fixing on us.
“This court finds that the late Fiona Miller possessed full testamentary capacity at the time she executed the deed and distributed her personal assets,” the judge announced, his voice ringing crisp and final. “The medical testimony confirms her mind was sound. Furthermore, the evidence clearly demonstrates a pattern of voluntary abandonment by the plaintiffs, contrasted by twelve years of dedicated, uncompensated care provided by the defendant, Mrs. Mabel Miller.”
He banged the gavel.
“The case is dismissed with prejudice. The deed and the assets remain legally assigned to Mrs. Mabel Miller. Court is adjourned.”
Arthur slammed his fist onto the wooden table, shouting an obscenity that earned him an immediate warning from the bailiff, before storming out of the courtroom with his sisters trailing behind him like angry hornets.
I didn't gloat. I didn't smile. I just sat there in the wooden pew, letting out a long, shuddering breath as the weight of the past year finally lifted off my shoulders.
May you like
Thomas put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close.
“It’s over, Mabel,” he whispered, kissing the top of my head. “We can finally breathe.”
