Too Late for Regret novel Chapter 125

Chapter 125

Analise’s POV

I’ve never seen Tiffany look this bad in my life. Being in jail has not benefited her. Her skin is sallow, and her hair looks listless and greasy. My view was then blocked by Naomi and Hudson, who immediately began begging me to let Tiffany go. Like I owed them a favor or something.

“Sure, I’ll let her go, just like she let me go,” I replied. Her father moved forward to say something, but

Charlier stopped him.

Charlie was right about what he said last night. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. Waiting for her to harm me or my children. I won’t be allowing her to come near our babies. It’s best to deal with her now. Not going to lie, I was looking forward to her being sentenced today. I wanted her to be carted off to jail. I briefly considered having the guard on their payroll picked up and arrested, but changed my mind.

How could I explain how I knew? Wild guess? I’d then have to admit that Charlie had a plant in the jail gathering evidence. He could end up in trouble, and I wouldn’t do that to him. He’s doing all this to protect me and our baby. I knew as well as he did that she needed more than a slap on the wrist. She needed to be caught coming after me, that way she could rot in prison even longer. If she thought jail was bad, I’m sure prison is going to be much, much worse.

I saw that Holden was already sitting at the far end of the front row, with my brother Seth. My parents were in the middle, with Jon, Drew, and Mark right behind Charlie and me. I saw Tiffany trying to look seductive, batting her eyes at Charlie. His scoff revealed his disgust at her trying to flirt with him. He kept his body between me and Tiffany, as he was not going to give her any opportunity to get her hands on me. I had on a pencil skirt from our new maternity line. It had buttons inside the waistband that allowed you to adjust it

for continued wear during pregnancy.

I had a light sweater on, one that was a bit large for me, so you couldn’t tell that I was pregnant. I just needed to get through this, and I would be done. Today was going to be hard, as we had to start back over, from the beginning. Her attorney was looking to win this, which I had no idea how he thought he could. He must be going by the time limit of her actions, but that isn’t going to matter here. Rodney got a kick out of how much of a dramatic opening statement his opposing counsel made. He was determined to provide

Tiffany with as much defence as possible.

It didn’t matter what he had prepared for. Rodney had never got to the crux of our case. The threats couldn’t be erased either. They were simple assaults each time she told me what she was going to do to me, and I had hundreds of them to show the court. I guess he assumed that was going to be it, and he would argue it down. I had to review all the evidence again. But this time around, I wasn’t frightened. Tiffany’s hold on me had lessened. Charlie helped boost my confidence, which was driving Tiffany crazy.

She hated the fact that I walked up with my head held high. I faced the room bravely and didn’t look down.

1/4

The New Charges.

+25 Points

What she did had indeed taken a toll on me, but it didn’t define me. I was the one who now had the upper hand. I was the one with a handsome husband who doted on me. I was the one who was going to change the outcome for numerous children who had suffered like I had. She hadn’t beaten me. She hurt me, that’s true. She’s still the same sad, pathetic person that she’s always been. I’ve changed for the better, and that’s what hurts her the most at the moment. I’ll make sure she knows that she’s lost everything before she

goes to prison.

I’m not hiding anymore. I want to see the moment she accepts the fact that she’s lost. That everything she did to me to hold me down had failed. That I’m going to grow my business to the stratosphere, and all she can do is watch. She’s going to hate every minute of it.

She didn’t hold back, showing me just how much she hates me. The judge cleared her throat and let Rodney begin. It was easier this time around. My newfound confidence was apparent. Her parents, who thought things might go their way, we getting more and more upset as I spoke about what happened. I didn’t shy away or hold myself back. I was speaking the truth, and I had the documentation to back it up. The jury gasped at seeing my injuries. Her attorney had no questions. What could he possibly ask? We had a great deal of evidence, with doctors‘ reports to corroborate it all.

When we got to the threatening texts, that’s when her attorney stood up to speak. “Your honor, while I do admit that many of these texts are alarming in their wording, I object to them being used against my client. Ms. Vaughn was under twenty years of age when she wrote those texts. She was too young to fully understand the implications of what she was doing. She was upset and acting out when they were written. I would like to request that the court dismiss the charges concerning her texts in this case. Ms. Vaughn had been in jail for three months and had realized her mistake in sending them. I would also like to add that the statute of limitations has expired at the five–year mark. They shouldn’t be held against her at this

time,” he argued.

“Your honor, you know as well as I do that these were credible threats that were made to my client. Despite the passage of time, these threats don’t fall under the five–year limit that my esteemed opposing counsel wishes them to. The texts in question included a felony level threat of upcoming violence, a credible threat, as Ms. Vaughn made good on those very threats. She showed intent and instilled a great deal of fear in my client. Half of those threats came in on a Friday, for the upcoming school week. That way, my client had to suffer the entire weekend, worried about what Ms. Vaughn was going to do to her. Over the course of two years is a great deal of time to worry. Which leads me to my next point,” Rodeny

replied.

“Attorney Briggs is correct, Attorney Lloyd. Despite the length of time, Ms. Vaughn did make good on the

threats she sent to Ana Caldwell. Therefore, the statute of limitations doesn’t apply in this situation,” the judge ruled.

“Your honor, I want to bring up the main part of our claim against Ms. Vaughn. We are suing for emotional distress and physical harm. My client suffered not just assaults, but also suffering and mental anguish as Ms. Vaughn focused on punishing my client for some perceived wrong. Ana Caldwell never did anything to Tiffany Vaughn, yet she intentionally continued to hurt her over the course of two long years. Causing my

The New Charges

$25 Points

client to deal with a multitude of other issues. We have her diagnosis of anxiety and depression, as well as insomnia. She wouldn’t be able to sleep the night before she knew she was to be assaulted. This, in turn, increased her anxiety and depression. But the main issue that we also want to recover damages for was my client’s weight gain, over the years,” Rodney stated.

I saw her attorney’s head lift as Rodney listed what I had suffered from. I can see the realization of exactly where Rodeny was going with this. Why it had been so important to not just note what happened to me in photographs, but why I kept the text threats. I had researched it and knew that one day what happened to me would finally come out. My weight gain lay solely on her shoulders. She was my biggest bully, even if she didn’t always deliver the blows herself. She instructed others to do so, and I was able to pin the bulk

of it directly on her.

Her warnings she made to me about what was to come had proven she had been behind everything this entire time. I had a diagnosis of PTSD because of everything she put me through. Even though I was better now, I doubt I’d even be truly able to forget what she had done to me. Her attorney realized the seriousness of our claim the moment Rodney started laying the groundwork for our claim.

He was blindsided as he had been looking for a way to evade the charges on file. These were new, and it

was obvious that he had not even considered the possibility of additional charges being made. I could see why, as there was a great deal of evidence to go through. He had been investigating everything for the last few weeks since he was hired. He had come up with a good defense, but there was no way for him to get

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