No one joined his laughter.
The silence pressed against the courtroom walls until even the reporters stopped typing.
Judge Eleanor Brooks lowered her glasses.
“Mrs. Vance,” she said carefully. “Please explain why you believe this hearing should expand beyond the divorce petition.”
I kept my eyes on Julian.
“Because every financial document submitted by Mr. Vance is connected to evidence obtained through coercion, fraud, and violent intimidation.”
Marcus slid a thick binder across the table.
“The plaintiff requests permission to introduce Exhibit A.”
The judge nodded.
Julian’s attorney rose immediately.
“Objection.”
“On what grounds?”
“Relevance.”
Marcus smiled.
“It establishes motive.”
The judge accepted the binder.
The first photograph appeared on the courtroom monitor.
It showed the inside of our old lake house.
A broken dining chair.
Blood across polished hardwood.
A calendar dated nine years earlier.
The second image followed.
Hospital records.
Three fractured ribs.
A collapsed lung.
Second-degree burns.
The attending physician’s notes had one sentence highlighted.
Patient refuses to identify attacker.
Gasps echoed through the gallery.
Julian shifted in his chair.
“I don’t know where those came from.”
Marcus turned another page.
“The treating surgeon is waiting outside.”
Julian looked toward Nora.
For the first time that morning, she wasn’t looking at him.
She was staring at the photographs.
“You said…” she whispered.
Julian squeezed her hand.
“I can explain.”
She slowly pulled away.
Part 3
The courtroom doors opened.
An elderly man entered carrying a weathered leather briefcase.
