They Buried Me in the Desert. I Built Weapons for the Crown Chapter 08

They Buried Me in the Desert. I Built Weapons for the Crown Chapter 08

The day of the trial was overcast.

Gideon stood at the defense table.

“Your Honor, I admit my actions that day were excessive, but this was not kidnapping, and it certainly wasn’t

unlawful confinement.”

Gideon kept his voice low.

“My sister lona has spent years at Sable Ridge with severe sand-lung syndrome, but she kept refusing

treatment out of spite.”

“As her brother, I couldn’t stand watching her do that to herself, so I sent a helicopter to bring her home.”

“All I wanted was to get her to a private hospital in Meridian Harbor as quickly as possible.”

“As for the so-called donor matching, it was supposed to be voluntary medical help between family members, and only if it was safe for her. I panicked and handled it badly.”

His defense attorney immediately submitted a carefully prepared record of the substantial tuition and living expenses Ashborne Pack had paid for lona over the years, trying to portray the entire case as a family misunderstanding born out of love.

Octavia sat in the gallery with red-rimmed eyes, dabbing at her tears with a handkerchief.

“I’m a mother. They’re both my daughters.”

“lona was always withdrawn and rebellious as a child. I sent her to Sable Ridge because I truly wanted to toughen her up and give her the chance to accomplish something under difficult conditions.”

“As for finding a donor match for Sera…”

“Sera is her sister too. Isn’t it only natural for lona to save her own sister? How does that make us

criminals?”

Seraphine huddled in her chair, weeping, her pale face streaked with tears.

“Your Honor, I really didn’t know anything.”

“I’ve suffered from a blood disorder for years. All I knew was that my brother and Mom were trying to find me

a donor match.”

“I had no idea they would do any of this to lona… I’m a victim too.”

Between the three of them, they had turned a premeditated kidnapping and forced stem-cell harvesting from

a living donor into a story of “good intentions” and “innocent suffering.”

Then it was my turn to speak.

I stood.

“Your Honor, I request permission to present evidence.”

The large screen lit up.

The first piece of evidence was an audio recording from the tarmac, along with surveillance audio from

inside the helicopter.

Gideon’s recorded voice rang clearly through every corner of the courtroom: “Once the stem cells are

harvested, you can retire for good.”

The second piece of evidence consisted of Octavia’s internal emails to medical specialists and messages showing how she had used her connections to cut off my access to treatment.

One screenshot showed her writing coldly, [Cut off her medication. She’ll come crawling back and sign.]

The third piece of evidence was the most devastating.

It was a comparative report covering ten years of my annual physicals.

I looked at Octavia and read each word clearly.

“Ever since I started college, a copy of every annual physical report has been sent directly to Seraphine’s

private healer.”

“Even my assignment to Sable Ridge happened because Dr. Octavia abused her position and deliberately arranged for me to be assigned here, so that if Seraphine’s condition flared up, they could transplant my hematopoietic stem cells into her.”

“This was a crime ten years in the making, hidden behind the excuse of family.”

I pointed at Gideon and Octavia.

“What you called ‘toughening me up’ was really about keeping me isolated at Sable Ridge and cutting me off from outside medical care.”

“What you called favoritism was about protecting Seraphine’s mate bond with Julian and Ashborne’s alliance with Veyr Pack. You put a research-misconduct finding on my record so I could never get my career back on track and would have no choice but to depend on Ashborne Pack.”

“And what you called a spur-of-the-moment decision was a deliberate attempt to harm me: you colluded with

an underground clinic in rogue territory and planned to forcibly harvest my stem cells!”

The courtroom fell deathly silent.

Gideon’s composure finally cracked as he stared at the medical comparison data on the screen.

Octavia’s sobbing stopped dead, and the color drained from her face.

Seraphine clutched at her clothes so tightly her nails nearly dug into her skin.

Faced with overwhelming evidence, all their slick excuses suddenly sounded ridiculous and hollow.

The judge brought down the gavel.