Too Late for Regret novel Chapter 95

Serious Accusations

Chapter 95

Ana’s POV

It was hard to stay silent. I had so many things I wanted to say to her and her mother, but I kept my mouth shut. I trusted Rodney to effectively deal with all three of them.

“I have no further questions for this witness, at this time,” Rodney stated before coming back to sit next to

1. me.

Her attorney tried everything in his power to rectify the situation. He was actively trying to defend her actions, but she had already admitted to the accusations against her. Her own words had trapped her, and there wasn’t much she could do to negate them.

The judge reminded the jury of their role before sending them out to deliberate. What should have been a quick deliberation was over an hour before the judge sent one of the bailiffs to go check on them. When he returned, the judge motioned for both attorneys to come up and speak to them. After speaking for a short time, they returned to their desks.

“The jury is still deliberating, so I’m going to dismiss everyone for lunch. We will resume the trial at two p.m. this afternoon,” the judge announced.

“One of the jurors is the holdup. He is refusing to agree with the other eleven jurors, who were all ruling guilty on slander and falsifying documents for malicious intent,” Rodney quietly told me.

I already knew which one it was going to be, but we needed to act fast. We needed to get Sasha’s phone number. I turned to Roger and called out to him before he left. I needed her number as the juror’s information was protected. Joyce and Sasha exited as quickly as they could, as Regina was handcuffed and led to the cells. The judge requested it, as she had committed perjury. The jury wasn’t present when she was arrested, so it wouldn’t affect the outcome of their deliberations.

Roger sent me her contact information, and Charlie was already getting their tech guy on it. We just needed to see what, if any, texts or calls were made before Rodney approached the judge to file a formal complaint. I also wanted to print out the text exchange before Sasha realized that we were onto her. She was so bold, exiting the courtroom. She smiled and spoke to the reporters as they followed her into the hallwa

She saw us coming and said, “I’m positive that justice will be on our side today. No matter what tricks Mrs. Billingsley has up her sleeves. The mighty can still fall.”

We walked past and ignored the reporters who wanted me to respond to her comment. Counting Charlie, I had four men protecting me. I stood at the center of their group and moved with them. Refusing to speak to any of the reporters who tried to stop us. I followed the first guy into the SUV. He went to the third row, and I then entered behind him. Crossing to the far seat, for Charlie to get in behind me. Drew shut the door and stood there as Jon ran around to get in the driver’s seat. Drew was the last one in before we left.

Charlie called Mark to order pizza for everyone for lunch. We weren’t going to have time to go out to get anything. Colby, the tech at Charlie’s company, already had some results by the time we arrived. Rodney had followed us there, as he needed to know if anything suspicious was going on, so he could file paperwork. He had noticed the interaction between Sasha and the juror who sat in the front row, closest to their table. He

Serious Accusations

had changed seats with someone else, just to sit there.

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He had made it obvious, as he glanced over at Sasha several times. She didn’t look at him a lot, but she smiled right at him the few times she did. She was keeping him on the line until she got through the trial. Then she would cut him loose. I can’t believe that she thinks that she could get away with it. She should have just told him not to make things obvious. Regina’s case was simple. She had lied on the stand.

Regina had literally handed the verdict to them, and it was blatantly obvious. I’m sure the judge was already suspicious of how long deliberation had been taking. I guess the juror wasn’t aware that there were cameras in the courtroom either. The jury had been chosen a week ago. Sasha had been careful, as he had actually approached her on social media. She was giving her pitiful version of the story, and he fell for it hook, line, and sinker. The evidence was clear, as it was still showing on her social media. That was how she got his

number. After that, they switched to texts and phone calls.

I can’t believe she thought no one would notice what she was doing. Rodney had expected them to try something bold, but neither of us expected jury tampering. If anyone found out, it would make her look even guiltier than she already was. They could have stopped this after being warned, but they continued to pursue me. Posting about my ‘theft‘ of designs almost daily on their social media accounts.

It worked out for them. People were up in arms about me taking those designs away from Roger’s company. They said that the company was crashing because I was a jealous shrew, because I lost Roger to Sasha. Joyce was also very vocal about my closeness to her husband, which was the second reason I helped Roger.

Scott Cook had been one of the only people in that household who treated me well.

I knew that Roger was weak, and his mother took advantage of it. Scott was unaware of any of their plans. They never made them with him around. The only thing that I truly felt guilty about was selling all my shares

to him. I took some of my anger out on him in an attempt to hurt Joyce. I should have just gone after Joyce.

So I was correcting that mistake now. I was pleased that he had offered to testify on my behalf. That

solidified the fact that I had done the right thing. If needed, I would help Scott by giving him a few designs to

ensure that Roger’s company stays afloat.

“Jon, take Colby to the blind spot with the untraceable phone. We need to send the information now so he can have someone looking into it while we’re still at lunch. That way, we can keep moving forward this

afternoon. I’m not going to let Sasha get away with continuing to manipulate the jurors. Hopefully, we will be

able to get one of the backup jurors to replace him. Thankfully, there were two additional ones seated on the

jury. They didn’t get to deliberate, but they can when one of them is chosen to replace the ringer. Sasha and

her little friend will both be brought up on charges for this,” Charlie instructed.

“Blind spot? What are you talking about?” I asked.

“In the city, you’re always near a cell tower, and can be traced. The phone we’re going to use has a removable battery. It’s virtually untraceable. Sometimes we need to drop a suggestion to someone without it coming back on us. So, Colby will block his and Jon’s cell phones while they use the untraceable one. I don’t have this judge’s information, but Colby was able to find it. They will send what’s needed, and then remove the battery again. The judge will have to investigate this matter, as it constitutes a serious breach of ethics and provides undeniable proof that he collided with her. They have people who will be able to verify what happened, and hopefully, once we get back to court. They’ll be ready to act,” Charlie replied.

Colby and Jon snagged a pizza when they left and were back an hour later. Colby nodded at Charlie that it was done, and we left. Rodney had left earlier, as he wanted to go to his office to make a formal complaint at

Serious Accusations

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around the same time. He was citing the fact that he had seen Sasha and this man smiling at each other. He wanted to know if the man in question was the same one who was the ‘holdout‘ on the jury.

He wanted the complaint to come from two different directions. That way, it didn’t look like we had been. responsible for both. Although they would already suspect as much. We arrived thirty minutes early and managed to miss the media circus on the way back into the courthouse. I sat with Charlie and the guys. I was glad that my parents had returned early. My father never missed a trick in business, and I was very glad of it.

“That woman Roger married must think we’re all stupid. She’s up to something, and I’ve called a friend to look into it. They’re on it now. I can’t believe she would try something so obvious in a court of law. It’s like she thinks she’s above the law. Don’t worry, honey. We will ensure that you receive a fair trial. Ms. Cook admitted to what she did on the stand. It’s cut and dried, and shouldn’t have taken over fifteen minutes for the jury to come to a decision. Something fishy is going on, but I’m not going to stand for it,” my father assured me.

I was glad that he noticed it, but we had already covered it. I’m just glad no one else was in the room to overhear him. I don’t want anyone to try to accuse him of getting special favors. Especially when Sasha was trying her hardest to make me look guilty because of who my parents were. She implied every day that I would get away with my ‘theft‘ because I was wealthy.

About ten minutes later, the room started to fill up again. A few bold reporters approached us, wanting to get something on record from me. But one look at my husband, and my parents sent them right back to the back

row to set up for the afternoon.

I was worried. I didn’t know how this was going to play out. Had they taken the evidence they were sent

seriously? Or were they going to ignore it? It could go either way. I know that my father had reached out

separately. If he had, then surely something would have to happen. I just don’t know how long it would take

for them to get to the bottom of it. They had to go through the legal route to obtain the same information,

and honestly, I didn’t know how long that would actually take.

Rodney entered the courtroom through the back, the one the jury and the judge also used. Attorney Blake,

who was working with Regina, Joyce, and Sasha, was right behind him. I got up to meet Rodney at our table.

His face didn’t show any expression, and I didn’t know if the judge was working on the things we sent him or

not.

Joyce and Sasha entered and spoke to the reporters. Both were still confident that they would win, despite

what Regina had said under oath. They hurried to the front when the judge entered. Regina was brought in

shortly after and escorted to their table. They both leaned over to speak to Regina when the judge cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention.

“Some serious accusations have been brought to my attention. Additional charges will be added to the long

list you already have, Mrs. Cook. Luckily, we caught the issue in time, and I will deal with it now,” the judge

announced.

Regina’s Sentence

Regina’s Sentence