Too Late for Regret novel Chapter 119

I Have No Defense

Chapter 119

Sasha’s POV

I watched the video as Joshua walked me to the door, in only his jeans. It was obvious what had transpired between us. How did I not catch that? I knew how much he liked me. I should have suspected what he would do. He always acted as if I were a celebrity when we spoke.

Joshua kissed me goodbye, and I told him how much I loved him and appreciated his help. That was the last thing the jury saw before the video ended. How could this i***t be the one who took me down? How was that even freaking possible? I wanted to scream out at how ! just got exposed. This was not how things were supposed to go. He was a fool to think that after just ten texts, I was instantly in love with him. He was too easy to lead.

I could feel Joyce’s stare. She was furious. Well, she should have expected it. I’ll be damned if I was planning on getting any kind of time out of this. It was all supposed to be placed at her feet. That is why I planted that idea in Joshua’s head, for him to use in deliberation against Joyce. I had always planned to get out of this; she should have made plans, too.

I got caught trying to escape. I know Jerrod won’t be waiting on me in Miami any longer. He refused to pick me up here. He wanted me to meet him in Miami, and then he would take me back home. It was meticulously planned out. I was to get on his private jet to go back to Paris. He would only wait about thirty minutes. If I didn’t reach out to tell him that I was running behind, he would leave me, without a second glance. Especially if he thought that the police were involved. He only came to get his son.

“I have no further questions, your honor. Your witness,” Rodney stated as he went to sit

down.

Good. William needs to defend me now. He needs to figure out a way to make this look better. I can’t go out like this.

But William didn’t stand up longer than to say, “I have no questions for this witness.”

“What the hell? Are you not going to defend me at all?” I snapped out

“Defend what, exactly? We all saw the video. What’s left to defend, Sasha? You intentionally seduced him to get him to do what you wanted. We all heard it play out. What could I possibly ask that would make you look good? To make them forget what they just saw. You’re blaming me when your own actions got you here. You were the one who hid evidence from me. I needed to know how to defend you, yet you refused to provide me with the necessary information. So, please, enlighten me. How do you suggest I go about defending

174

I Have No Defense

+25 Points

you? Because from where I stand, there is no defense. You’re guilty of jury tampering, which is a federal offense. Can you even hear yourself?” William snapped back.

“You’re just scared to cross the Caldwell’s, at least admit that. It’s why you’ve been so weak with your arguments this whole time. You haven’t tried to defend us. If you’re scared, then admit you’re scared. Stop trying to act like you had such a hard time. You’ve been completely worthless this whole trial. I’m this close to firing you right now. I hope the whole city finds out what a terrible attorney you are. I’m serious, William. You haven’t cared about any of us the entire time. You initially acted as if you had our best interests at heart. You acted like you wanted to take on the Caldwell’s, then you just stopped all of a sudden. I feel like we’re on our own. Hell, I could make a more effective defense than you,” I replied.

“Losing your case is not a reason to try to fire your attorney. Attorney Blake did his best, and I am willing to stand behind him in this matter. I know you want that mistrial, Mrs. Cook, but it’s not going to happen. He did ask you both to tell him the truth. The fact that you didn’t fill him in on everything, well, that’s on you. Not on him. How can he defend either of you when you have him flying blind? You have to know what’s coming to be able to properly defend someone. You failed him, not the other way around. We will continue to proceed. You’ve wasted enough of the court’s time. I won’t continue to allow you to do so. We will end this today. I won’t allow you to continue to make any more slanderous statements against my fellow judges. I’m sure you’re planning on doing to me, as well. I’m not going to allow you to do it to anyone else,” the judge announced.

“None of this would have happened if we had known who she was. She knew that we would be mad and try to retaliate. She only has herself to blame for all of this,” I replied coldly.

“Are you actually trying to blame the victim now? Are you actually admitting that if you had known who Ana was, none of this would have happened? Because that’s not a defense. That’s actually an admission of guilt. Yet, you still plan on trying to waste the court’s time, don’t you? Well, I won’t allow it. You are the last to go on the stand. Please rise and be sworn in. This trial ends today, unless the jury can’t come to a verdict,” the judge advised.

I’m not going to let her obvious dislike of me get to me. I saw Ana’s attorney rolling his eyes. Is he trying to imply that I won’t tell the truth? I will be telling the truth, my truth.

“Can you state your name and occupation, for the record?” he asked.

“Sasha Cook, Director of Design for Cook’s Custom Jewelry,” I answered.

“You are no longer employed there,” he responded.

“I was never told I was replaced. I have business cards that say I’m the Director of Design,” I calmly stated.

I Have No Defense

+25 Points

“Mrs. Cook, I could get business cards printed that said I’m the President of the United States, but that doesn’t make it true. Did you come up with this farce in order to steal Ana’s designs and market them as your own?” he asked with a smile.

“I haven’t admitted that the designs are hers. As far as the company and I are concerned, those designs belong to us,” I replied.

“You can’t speak from your perspective, Mrs. Cook. I will remind you that you were sworn in again. You’re supposed to tell the truth, not your opinion of the truth,” he replied.

“I only defended the company I worked for. That was my job: to protect the company’s designs. I’m not just going to stand by and let a no–name designer just take something that legally belongs to Cook’s Custom Jewelry. Just because Roger’s too scared to cross her, doesn’t mean that I am. We own those designs, fair and square. She designed them while at work; therefore, they belong to the company. No matter what her title was, that’s the only acceptable answer. So what if she designed them? They aren’t her designs anymore. The copyright on them is meaningless,” I replied.

“I’m afraid just calling something to be yours isn’t the same as it actually belonging to you. The designs will not be coming to you, regardless of the convoluted ideas you come up with. Ana designed them. That’s already been established. I can call the designer who handed Ana’s first drafts over to you to the stand. So she can tell everyone about how you insisted that she give them to you, despite knowing they belonged to Ana,” he rebutted.

“Why are you always attacking me? I’ve done nothing to you. All you’ve done is harangue and belittle me. I don’t deserve it. This is all her fault for making everyone think that she was alone. How can she blame us for wanting to get her back after humiliating us like she has? She didn’t allow his family to get into the auction. She also took our home away from us while we were on our honeymoon. Am I just supposed to accept it? Let it go? Why should I? She started this, and she earned everything that’s come from it. We only tried to give her a taste of what she had done to us. Like I said, if we had known who she was, none of this would have happened,” I replied.

“You’re acting like a victim. Someone who has no defense against the wealthy. But wasn’t that exactly what you and Joyce were trying to do to Ana? Bully an innocent woman out of her designs? Force her to give them up, as you three aggressively slandered her. By your own words, you just admitted you decided to target Ana Caldwell because you thought she was an orphan. You thought she had no one to defend her? You believed she was too poor to put up a real fight against you? Two women who were richer than she was. Didn’t you both do to her what you’re now claiming was done to you? Except Ana really did get slandered and bullied. She never bullied you back. She just asked you to stop, yet you refused. We all saw it this morning as we watched those videos. So explain to me how this is her fault? She’s just trying to clear her good name. How is proving the allegations against her, and her company,

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