Too Late for Regret novel Chapter 116

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You Were Warned

Chapter 116

Joyce’s POV

I hate Sasha. I knew she was going to be angry at my exposing her like that. She said we had to stick together, but that was for her benefit, than ours. Her hollow promises didn’t help Regina, did they? Sasha’s going to get what she deserves out of this. She has to. I can accept my punishment, but hers continues to grow. That’s the only thing that gives me any joy at the

moment.

“Don’t talk about my baby. His father will come to pick him up once he’s born. When I get out, I will raise him from them on. You don’t know what you’re talking about. I can’t really blame your husband for leaving you. You’re nothing but a vicious b***h. I honestly can’t believe he stayed with you as long as he did. He’s a handsome man, Joyce. Maybe I should have taken him for a test drive, too,” Sasha replied mockingly.

How dare she even suggest doing such a thing? That’s a completely disgusting remark, but one I knew she meant. She left to go meet up with Dixon just last night. That’s Roger’s best friend. She’s a seductress. One willing to do anything to get what she wants. I’m not going to let her get away with that. She smiled at me in provocation. Daring me to do something, before glancing over at Scott with a smile. I saw red and acted without thinking.

I hadn’t even realized I’d left the stand and was running towards Sasha. The bailiffs grabbed me before I could get to the table. I wanted to slap that smirk right off of her face. How could I have been so wrong about a person? The smile on her face grew as she watched me trying to calm down. She’d done that deliberately, trying to make me look bad in front of the jury. It worked; they were looking at me in shock. How much of my evidence are they willing to overlook, seeing me act out like that?

Truthfully, I have never in my life put my hands on someone else. I might have worked up the person who did, but I was not a violent person. Sasha knows just how much I love my husband and intentionally did this. I can’t believe I handed it to her like that. She made me look like a raging lunatic, and that won’t help the situation at all. I nodded towards the bailiff and walked back over to the stand. I needed to do some swift damage control. I’m not going to let my impulsive actions make the jury disregard evidence.

“I’m sorry, your honor. I didn’t mean to lose control like that. I apologize to both you and the jury for my actions. I can only excuse my behavior by not being able to take what she said about sleeping with my husband. She was trying to infuriate me, and I took the bait. I have no other excuse than it hurt my heart to hear her say that, as we are going through a divorce. I didn’t realize just how bad my actions looked in the videos. I hadn’t watched them before this

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morning. It’s no wonder, Scott, my husband of over thirty years, is so disappointed in me. I apologize, and promise it won’t happen again,” I calmly stated to the room.

“You were indeed provoked, but you can’t assault people in my courtroom, Mrs. Cook. As a wife, I can understand the overwhelming emotions you must have been feeling. I saw her taunting you; it was clearly intentional on her part. Can you explain why you took her words so seriously?” the judge asked.

Wait, is the judge trying to help me? She’s clearly extending an olive branch to me. Sasha was the one who kept pressuring us to continue attacking Ana. I didn’t want my evidence to fade away into obscurity, all because I lost my temper. I was going to take the assist. I can’t let Sasha get away with anything else. I was glad to see that the mocking smile she just had on

her face was now gone.

“I wasn’t trying to impugn her character, your honor. But just last night, she went to meet up with Roger’s best friend, Dixon Chandler. I highly doubt their meetup was to play cards. She had never met with him alone before, other than at work. So why was she willing to meet him all of a sudden? The night before he was to take the stand? I’ve learned more about her in the last month than I ever wanted to know. I also know that the man on the jury who was going to help her had also met with her before the trial began. I don’t believe it was just money that she gave him. I’ve seen how she operates. I know she’s willing to use anything at her disposal to get what she wants,” I answered.

“That’s a lie. You have no evidence to suggest that it even happened. How can you allow her to slander me like that?” Sasha screeched out. She then turned towards the reporters at the back of the room with tears running down her face. “This is what I meant about not being able to get a fair trial. This judge is also biased against me. There’s no reason to even bring that subject up, other than trying to destroy my character. It’s a shameless tactic. How can

you

sit up

there and allow it? What kind of judge are you?”

“We’re trying to get to the evidence. We will be hearing from Mr. Greggs very soon. If needed, I can call Mr. Chandler up so we can question him about what happened last night. If you did try to collude with him, it will come out. I doubt he’s willing to go to jail for you. So think carefully before saying that you are being slandered. I knew there was a reason for her to react so strongly to your comment. I would be very careful with my words if I were you, Mrs. Cook. The perjury charge isn’t all–encompassing. It’s based on each time you do it. So if you think you’re just going to get a one–year sentence for all you’ve done, think again. You’re facing multiple counts of perjury, and my assistant is keeping track of all of them. You’re treating this trial, the jury, and even me as a joke. I’ll hasten to remind you that the joke is actually on you. The evidence speaks for itself. The jury will be asked to make their judgement based on evidence, not on emotions, or who they ‘like‘ the most,” the judge admonished.

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“You’re just taking her side because you don’t like me,” Sasha snapped out.

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“I base my judgments solely upon evidence, Mrs. Cook. This isn’t a popularity contest. It isn’t high school where you can just get your friends to back you up. This is a court of law. We don’t take sides here, I think you’re forgetting that your former mother–in–law is sitting right next to me. I could see your face this entire time. I saw your expressions changing. Shock, anger, fear, and then calculating. You were trying to find a way out, and actually, I’m impressed by how quickly you came up with something. I saw you smile at her. Your intent was to push her to act. To try to make her look bad. The jury might have missed you doing that, but I didn’t. You are still trying to portray yourself as the victim, but you’re anything but a victim,” the judge advised.

She was spot on. I think she’s even more observant than the first judge was. Or maybe it was because she knew who Sasha was and was watching her closely. Maybe a little of both. Sasha has gone her whole life with people bending over backwards for her. Her parents, her friends, and the boys who chased after her in high school, just like my son. They fell for the version she gave them. Sweet and kind, when she was anything but.

Sasha had folded her arms across her chest and was glaring at the judge, but kept her mouth shut. The judge knew exactly who she was dealing with, and Sasha hated that she couldn’t trick her. I can see the panic in Sasha’s eyes. I already knew she was going to be thinking of a way around this. However, I doubt the judge will let her go.

“Mrs. Cook, I know when you came forward with the new evidence, you said you wanted an opportunity to speak. Here’s your chance,” Ana’s attorney reminded.

I wanted to apologize to Ana. I was angry and I acted out when I should’ve stayed out of it. If I could go back and change anything, it would be that. I was wrong to have judged you. I was wrong when I said that losing one employee wouldn’t hurt Roger’s business; it did. I just didn’t realize that you were the glue holding his business together. I also wanted to apologize to my husband, Scott. I’m sorry, I never meant to disappoint you. I thought I was working in Roger’s best interest, and I let jealousy get the best of me. I’m sorry to you as well, Roger. You will never know how truly sorry I am for what I’ve done. I almost ruined everything, and that was never my intention. At the time, I honestly thought I was acting in your best interests. I was wrong,” I stated.

I knew my admission of guilt would condemn me just as much as it would Sasha. I’m willing to accept my punishment. I also know that from the look on Ana’s face, she wasn’t going to accept my apology. I knew it wasn’t enough, not after everything I’ve done, but I had meant what I said. What I had done to her wasn’t worth the cost I’m about to pay. But I knew that I probably wouldn’t have the opportunity to get near Ana again to tell her. I wanted her to know that I knew I was in the wrong here. I won’t defend my actions anymore.

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You Were Wamed

“You may step down, Mrs. Cook,” the judge advised.

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I had just taken my seat when Ana’s attorney stated that instead of playing the statement that Joshua Greggs had made, he wanted to question him live from jail. In case anything needed clarification during the testimony. William was now sitting between Sasha and me. She was giving me the stink eye. I knew she was probably going to try something when William got up to redirect, and I was going to let her. It wouldn’t go too far. The bailiffs were standing right behind us. They would stop her, just like they stopped me.

“You don’t need to do this. How can you trust what he’s going to say?” Sasha finally snapped out while we were waiting.

“You don’t need to speak again until you’re on the stand. We have proof here, already been admitted into evidence. We will get to it when the time comes. Do not interrupt his testimony. The criminal contempt charges are escalating. Each time you decide to disrespect the instructions that you’ve been given. You’re deliberately defying the court’s authority. Even if I didn’t correct you each time, just know that each outburst was duly noted. The perjury charges are also increasing with each incident. You were warned, Mrs. Cook, several times. Just because you decided to ignore my instructions doesn’t mean that you get a free pass on the charges that accompany them,” the judge replied sternly.

KatVonBeck

#Vote# I am still writing the second chapter. Dad is better but not out of the woods. Thank you the support. I will try to have the second chapter up by 10 pm CST.

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