Page 111 of Vengeful Vows

The same can’t be said for Veronika. When her plans to out an underage victim of abuse for personal gain were unearthed, she lost hundreds of thousands of followers in a day and was stripped of multiple endorsement deals.

She will be licking her wounds for years, if not decades.

I shift my focus back to the present when Tillie discloses, “Riley made a new dress for you, too. It’s in your closet at home, next to Ark’s clothes.” Her giggle warms my heart. “Do you know he wears stuffy suits and ugly ties every day? Mrs. Lichard said it is because he’s a business mogul.” She peers up at me with her nose screwed up. “What is a mogul?”

She is given an answer from a man I will walk through hell to shelter as well as he protected her. “It is a man who won’t stop fighting until he gets everything he wantsanddeserves.” As I admire the crispness of Ark’s designer suit and his gorgeous face, he drinks me in like I don’t look wretched before he shifts his rapidly narrowed eyes to the bailiff. “Get the shackles off her, now.”

“Sir—”

“Now!” Ark repeats, yelling.

“It’s okay,” I whisper, unbothered by the restraints.

I pled guilty to murder. I deserve to be in shackles.

I just hope they won’t be on for much longer.

Since I pled guilty, I automatically waived my right for a trial. My lawyer said the ADA would rather plead out my case than see it go to court, but the DA took a stance no one anticipated. He left my fate in the hands of a judge I’ve never met.

I could have recanted my confession and faced a jury of my peers, but I couldn’t risk them finding me not guilty or calling a mistrial. That would keep the case open, and the investigation into my relationship with Ark would be ongoing.

I don’t want Ark to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder, waiting for the authorities to catch up with him. I want him to live his life as freely as a snap decision he made will allow Tillie to live hers.

He gave her the freedom I’ve been desperately seeking to unearth for the past ten years, and he has the means to make sure she lives her life to the fullest.

I could barely afford to buy a pair of gym shoes, so I’d serve thirty consecutive life sentences if it was the only way I could give my daughter the life she deserves.

When the bailiff instructs the court-goers to rise, I hug Tillie for a second time before I watch Ark guide her to an empty section of a pew near the front.

The courtroom is full. Journalists fill the back of the pews, victims of abuse take up the middle, and a small handful of people I class as family stretch across the front two pews.

The bailiff demands quiet when the tension in the room reaches fever pitch, and a handful of SA protestors can’t help but shout their anger at the system that did them wrong.

“She wouldn’t have needed to kill him if the courts had done their job.”

“We should be paying her for taking out the trash.”

“This is what is wrong with the system. They always make out the victims are the perpetrators.”

The judge doesn’t appear bothered by the catcalling and booing. He walks to his bench with a mountain load of files stuffed under his arm and his glasses balancing precariously on the end of his nose.

The room falls into silence when we’re instructed to sit.

My backside has barely touched my seat when I am told to remain standing.

Here it comes. The outcome of my decision is about to be unearthed.

“I am of the belief you’ve pled guilty, Ms. Palkova?” When I nod, the judge looks down at me over his glasses. “Have you been threatened or coerced into pleading guilty?” Shock rains down on him when I switch my nod to a head-shake. “Would you like to say anything on your own behalf before I make my ruling?”

My attorney announced the verdict would be quick, but I didn’t anticipate proceedings to move so fast.

After a big breath, endeavoring to remove the nerves from my voice, I nod. “Only that I trust your v-verdict and the process on which you took to reach it.”

He dips his chin. Appreciation that I’m not going to hold up proceedings longer than necessary is seen all over his face. “Have you reviewed the pre-sentence report with your attorney?”

Again, I nod.

“So you are aware the ruling handed down today will be ratified immediately and without further endorsement from either the ADA or your attorney?”

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