I Craved Crawfish, but He Fed It All to My Sister Chapter 09

I Craved Crawfish, but He Fed It All to My Sister Chapter 09

The divorce hearing fell on a day of heavy rain.

Derek didn’t contest the assets. He didn’t object to the divorce.

He admitted in open court that he had committed violence against me and voluntarily accepted the ongoing criminal investigation.

The judge asked if he had anything else to say.

He was silent for a long time. “Yes.”

Derek looked at me. “Sloane never framed Maren.”

“Every act of harm was inflicted by me without investigating the facts.”

“She is right not to forgive me.”

I didn’t respond.

When I walked out of the courthouse, Evan held an umbrella over me.

Derek stood at the bottom of the steps. He didn’t come closer.

The protection order was still in effect.

He watched me from more than a dozen feet away, the rain soaking through his shoulders.

“Sloane.”

I stopped. He was still holding that old ring box.

“I won’t bother you again. I’ll have my lawyer seal this ring away.”

“It belonged to you from the start. It doesn’t belong to me anymore.”

Derek’s hand slowly fell.

I turned and walked into the rain. His broken voice followed from behind.

“You’re the only person I’ve ever loved in my life.”

I didn’t look back.

“Love doesn’t erase the damage.”

“Derek, I can’t spend the rest of my life waiting for you to figure out who matters most.”

The divorce was finalized soon after.

This time, I didn’t need his consent.

Maren’s criminal trial opened next.

The men involved in the assault testified that she had paid them and used the hidden recordings as leverage

to order the attack.

The cloud footage, the watch recording, the transaction records, the forged medical documents, and the handwriting analysis formed a complete chain of evidence.

She cried in court. “I just loved Derek too much. I thought she was going to take him from me.”

I looked at her from the gallery.

“He was never yours. And I had no obligation to hand anyone over to you.”

“You didn’t destroy my baby out of love.”

“You did it because you’ve spent your whole life taking.”

Maren was ultimately held criminally responsible for solicitation, aggravated assault, forging medical

records, and other offenses.

Derek was also sentenced for unlawful confinement, violent assault, and other violations, and ordered to pay

civil compensation.

The scandal hammered the Sterling family’s company. The stock price cratered.

He sold off shares and properties to cover the damages and legal obligations.

That wasn’t some grand act of redemption. It was just him finally facing what he’d done.

After sentencing, I never saw either of them again.

On the drive back to the rehab center, Evan asked, “Does it still hurt?”

I looked out the window.

“Yes,”

He didn’t tell me to forget.

He just drove a little more carefully.