Too Late for Regret novel Chapter 107

Off the Rails

Chapter 107

Joyce’s POV

Her attorney was about to ruin everything. I want to cry out, to do anything in order to make them stop this trial. But I don’t want to be held in contempt. It’s killing me to stay quiet, but the judge is pissed. He’s going to throw the book at Sasha for her disrespect. It’s unbelievable how she thinks she could get away with it. She was warned. She should be scared as he waved off the Bailiff who was coming to deal with her. It’s impossible that she didn’t see it. Just because he hasn’t said anything else to her after that last warning to stay quiet doesn’t mean he is giving her a pass. She ignored his instructions.

She’s making me look bad before I even get to take the stand. This isn’t fair. I should have gone second. My charges were much less. severe than hers were. I hated that I was so happy to replace Ana. I was completely ashamed that I willingly accepted this woman into my family. She’s like a viper, and I hate that I fell for her words. I’m dreading what other surprises Ana has in store. I had been the most hateful to her. Inciting others against her. I knew charges had been added to me since the trial began.

Regina had admitted under oath that I had been the one to insist that she get that fake deed. I knew that was coming, as William, our attorney, advised me of the new charges last night. He also stated that another charge had been filed, namely, filing a false police report. I haven’t even hit the stand yet, and my charges were already increasing. I glanced over at Ana, and she had a small smile on her face. I knew that things would only get worse.

It seems like they are going to move forward quickly from now on, to get this over and done. I’m not even listening to what Dixon is saying. Does it even matter what he says? We’re losing this whole trial, and we both know it. Sasha is holding her stomach again, but she’s actually trying to comfort herself this time. Before, she was just doing it for show. She was trying to gain sympathy for herself. She’s going to try to pin this whole thing on me. If she thinks that I’ll let her go, she’s mistaken.

I don’t care if she’s pregnant. She pushed this whole thing, trying to get those designs. Because I listened to her, I’ve lost everything. My pride, my husband, and now my children. I finally know just how devious Sasha is now. She’s the one who encouraged me to go forward with all this in the first place to get Ana back. She did that to try to stay in the background. She wanted Ana arrested to make her look guilty before she made her claims about the designs. She thought it would prompt Ana to give up sooner, thereby avoiding the humiliation of public opinion.

I was angry, and I let her take advantage of me. I can see that now. I’m a manipulator too. I

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hate that it’s come down to this, but I won’t just let Sasha get away with this. My only daughter has been arrested and taken to prison. If Sasha thinks that she is going to lie her way out of this, she’s got another thing coming. I hear her rapid breathing, she’s either about to have a panic attack or she’s faking one. Probably thinking she can get away from the courthouse to go to the hospital. Not going to happen.

I tapped William on the arm and said, “Sasha’s faking a panic attack.”

I knew I was right the moment she stopped panting to glare at me. I glared back. I’m done. with her. William glared at her and leaned over to say, “You won’t be going anywhere. They would take you to the hospital during lunch break, and you’ll be right back here this afternoon. You need to stop. If anyone was caught unaware by all this, it was me. You two wouldn’t know the truth if it ran up and bit you.”

We all stopped speaking when Dixon started speaking again. “You could be right about that. I spent many years around the Cook family. I’ve been friends with Roger since grade school. I could have allowed their opinion to cloud my judgment. But Ana’s not that impressive. How could any of us have known that she was the real leader of the company? I certainly didn’t. Roger liked for us to believe that he had been responsible for the company’s success from the ground up. Who could have known?” Dixon replied.

“No further questions, your honor. I’ll be sure to call someone who will answer a direct question as my next witness. I would like to request that Mr. Chandler’s statement be on record. Your witness, Counselor,” her attorney said as he headed towards his table.

“No questions, your honor,” William said after standing.

“What do you mean, no questions?” Sasha hissed.

“What could I even ask him? He can’t prove she was an hourly employee, and he can’t prove that she was the co–owner of the company. If she were the co–owner, your arguments are about to fall by the wayside. I’m telling you both that he’s about to call Roger to the stand. I know that because I would be doing just that if it were me. So, it all comes down to what he says. We’ll know soon if either of you will be able to avoid prison time. I wouldn’t bet on you getting to run free if I were you. I hoped you called your ex or your parents, because they will probably need to come and get the child when you go into labor. Otherwise, your child could go into foster care,” William replied.

He’s angry that we kept lying to him. He was clearly angry and barely holding back. He wasn’t yelling, but he wasn’t being quiet with what he said either, and it was humiliating, as I know everyone around us heard what he’d just said. He warned us last night. He told us both that if something else came up. Something that we hadn’t advised him of at the time. That he wouldn’t be able to come up with a proper defense or argument for us.

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He had looked at us both, and neither of us faltered. We stood firm and refused to admit to any wrongdoing. Perhaps that was naive on our part, but we both felt that he would defend us more if he believed we were innocent of the charges. Seeing him now, my heart sinks. I’m going last in this trial, and I feel like I’m on a sinking ship. He’s not going to even try to stop Ana’s attorney

Yet Ana just sits there, calm and serene. She’s fully capable of stopping this, but she’s not lifting a finger to do so. My fear of what’s to come quickly turns to anger. I wanted to hurt her. The same way she’s hurting me, but I know I wouldn’t be able to get near her. I wish I could go back in time by two months to stop all this from happening. Then my life wouldn’t be destroyed.

“I call Roger Cook to the stand,” her attorney called out.

This is it. He’d better agree with us or all is lost. I see his face clearly now that he is seated on the stand after being sworn in. He’s not meeting my eyes. Oh s**t, he’s not going to help us, I can tell it. My stomach drops. Is he that angry with us? We were honestly trying to help him by doing what we did. Yet his eyes keep drifting over to that b***h. He feels guilty for what we’ve done. Is he truly willing to send me to prison over something so small? That can’t be right.

“Can you state your name and occupation for the court?” her attorney asked.

“Roger Cook, owner of Cook’s Custom Jewelry,” he replied.

“Do

you know the plaintiff, Ana Billingsley?” her attorney asked.

“I know her well. She was a talented designer, even back in college. One of my former professors suggested I try to talk her into working for me, as I tried to start my company,” Roger answered.

“So you’ve known her for years? What was your working relationship?” her attorney asked. This was it. How he answers will determine how this plays out.

“Ana believed in me from the moment we met. She saw my vision and worked diligently to bring it to fruition. She was the only one who was willing to help me make my dream a reality. She put in half a million dollars to get us up and running. She added money as needed, as well as created the best designs we had to offer. She worked harder than anyone,” Roger admitted.

“So the video I showed earlier was accurate?” he attorney asked.

“Yes, unfortunately, it was. I had told Ana my dream. I just didn’t tell her why I came up with it. Sasha had been my first crush, but I wasn’t wealthy enough to give her what she truly wanted. So she left to go find someone who could. I was the figurehead, and I liked how I felt

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as my company grew. I had the respect and admiration of everyone. People were always complimenting me, but I never admitted to them how I achieved my success. I just accepted their praise,” Roger answered.

His eyes never left Ana’s face. I knew we were done for; he was ruining everything. My hands clenched, and I knew what was coming. His guilt was going to tear our careful crafted plans apart. Doesn’t he ever realize what’s at stake here?

“And how did you achieve your success?” Her attorney went right for the jugular.

Ana pulled in the investors. She created about 90% of all our designs. She allowed me, 1 mean the company, to use them. She worked harder than anyone else to make my dream a reality. I offered her the chance to ask me for anything as a gesture of appreciation for all her hard work. She asked me to propose. I didn’t realize it at the time, but she did what she did for me out of love. I didn’t want to marry her because in my mind, she wasn’t worthy enough to be my wife. I had heard that very comment at least a hundred times from my mother and sister throughout the engagement. I started to believe it. My mother knew that Ana was a co–owner with me. She knew that Ana had built the company up. Instead of appreciating her for doing that, she hated her for using the request to extort me,” Roger answered.

“So your mother was aware that Ana was the co–owner of the company, and still lied about her?” her attorney asked.

“My mother, sister, and Sasha were all aware that Ana was co–owner with me,” Roger answered.

Gasps rang out, including one from William, who was seated right next to me. His gasp wasn’t loud, but he was just as shocked as everyone else in the room. I stared at my son, wondering why he would do this to me. Why would he admit that in front of everyone? I could hear the reporters in the back asking if the cameramen had “Got that?“. I knew they would have this blasted everywhere by tonight. How did this whole thing go so wrong?

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