Ten Years of Mourning, One Video Call, and a Husband Who Never Left Chapter 08

Ten Years of Mourning, One Video Call, and a Husband Who Never Left Chapter 08

On the day of the official trial, Graham and I appeared in court as witnesses.

When Jason was brought in, I almost didn’t recognize him.

He had lost a shocking amount of weight. His eyes were sunken, and his face was covered in stubble.

In hopes of getting reduced sentences, he and Natalie exposed each other’s secrets and tore each other apart, putting every ugly side of themselves on full display.

Natalie testified in court that every plan to harm Graham had been Jason’s idea and that she had been coerced.

Jason was so furious he nearly jumped out of his seat.

“You’re lying!”

“You seduced me first!”

“You said you wanted to be with me. You were the one who said that if we didn’t get rid of Graham, we’d never be able to be together openly!”

“I seduced you?”

“Jason, have you no shame?”

“You were the one who secretly confessed to me and said you couldn’t forget me from the first moment you saw me!”

“You said Graham wasn’t good enough for me, and that only you could…”

“Order!”

The judge could not listen any longer and called the courtroom back to order.

But Jason and Natalie had completely turned on each other, and no one could stop them.

In front of everyone, Jason exposed Natalie’s vicious intentions, saying that she had deliberately seduced him even before she married Graham.

He claimed that she had even secretly drugged Graham in an attempt to kill him, and that after the attempt failed, she still refused to give up.

Step by step, she had pushed him into planning the cliff accident.

According to him, Natalie had actively participated in every evil act and every part of the plan. She was not the innocent accomplice she claimed to be.

He insisted that he was the one whose judgment had been clouded and who had ultimately been led astray.

Natalie, blinded by rage, ripped away Jason’s last layer of pretense.

“That’s because you said you hated your brother!”

“You said your parents were biased and gave Graham all the best things first. You said you hated him, and that’s why I helped you!”

The two of them went back and forth, exposing each other without restraint. The deep affection they once showed each other was nowhere to be seen.

I stood on the witness stand, my heart unusually calm.

It felt as if I were watching a play that had nothing to do with me.

When it was my turn to testify, I placed the transfer records from the past five years, Jason’s fake marriage certificate, and the evidence of his staged death on the table one by one.

The prosecutor took them and presented each piece of evidence in court.

Graham also testified about the details of the attempt on his life back then. The evidence was solid, and the facts were clear. There was no room left for doubt or appeal.

In the end, the judge delivered the verdict in court.

“Jason Warren is found guilty of attempted murder, bigamy, fraud, and multiple related offenses. On all counts, he is sentenced to fifteen years in prison.”

“Natalie Warren, as an accomplice who participated in the attempted murder and helped carry out the fraud, is sentenced to twelve years in prison.”

The gavel came down.

When Jason was taken away, he looked toward me and opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, no words came out.

Natalie collapsed onto the floor and was dragged away by two bailiffs.

And the tension I had carried for five years finally released completely.

After the two of them went to prison, their six-year-old child had no one to care for him.

Graham’s stance was firm. He made it clear that he would not take the child in, so the boy was placed in the care of Jason’s parents.

Afterward, Jason’s parents contacted me many times, offering me generous compensation, whether in money or anything else I wanted.

I refused all of it.

I only took back, through legal means, the wages I deserved for five years of work and household labor.

I didn’t want their compensation.

I didn’t want their apologies.

I didn’t want anything from them.

All I wanted was to have nothing more to do with the Warren family.

Once I cast off the chains of that family, I returned to the research institute and picked up what I had abandoned five years ago.

At first, the formulas, data, and lab reports felt painfully unfamiliar, almost like a foreign language.

But little by little, as I worked with the familiar lab equipment again, it felt as if new life had been breathed into me.

One year later, the dream of studying and researching abroad that I had once been forced to put aside finally came true.

I was accepted into an international research program and earned the chance to participate in a major overseas project.

On the day I left, Graham came to see me off at the airport.

“Congratulations,” he said. “Your dream may have been delayed, but it was never over.”

I smiled. “Thank you, Graham.”

“If you ever need anything, reach out anytime.”

I nodded, then turned and walked into security.

I did not look back.

Behind prison walls, Jason and Natalie spent every day staring at cold iron bars.

They spent the rest of their lives trapped in endless regret and resentment toward each other, paying the lifelong price for the selfishness and cruelty of their past.

For the rest of my life, I would live only for myself.