Too Late for Regret novel Chapter 96

Regina’s Sentence

Chapter 96

Sasha’s POV

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Wait, did he say Mrs. Cook? Is he speaking about me, or Joyce right now? I really couldn’t tell. Now I’m hoping it was Ms. Cook that he said? It couldn’t be me. I covered my trail. I deleted everything after lunch, just in case. No text chain, no social media comments, or DM’s. Nothing could attach me to my helpful friend. I

leaned back in my chair and forced myself to relax.

It had to be Joyce that he was speaking about. She’s absolutely ruthless. She even has her own daughter in serious trouble. Joyce was the one who told Regina to have her friend create a fake deed. She was a real piece of work that one. She never gives up her plotting, I’ll give her that. I’ve learned a great deal by being around her. I’ve learned a lot from being around her. If she tries to turn on me, I will bury her. I honestly think

she would make a deal with the devil if it would benefit her.

the wall

The jury was led back into the room, but my friend, Joshua Greggs, was no longer among them. That was my first inkling that I was the one the judge was referring to. My breathe caught at seeing that. I had to force myself not to look around. I just stared forward at the wall. Ignoring the empty chair on the jury, shining like a beacon. My heart started to race. What’s about to happen? He just mentioned additional charges. That’s

going to make me look even worse.

“Before we get to that. We need to complete the current trial and the verdict for Ms. Regina Cook. Have you

all to come to a decision?” the judge asked.

The older middle–aged lady from earlier stood and stated, “We have your honor.”

“And you are all in agreement on it?” the judge asked.

“We are, your honor,” she replied.

“What is the verdict?” the judge responded.

“On the count of slandering Ms. Billingsley, we find the defendant guilty as charged. On the count of intentional fraud by falsifying documents with intent to deceive others, we find the defendant guilty as

charged,” she announced to the room.

Regina was shocked before looking at her mother and crying out, “You told me I couldn’t get in trouble for getting that deed for you. You swore I wouldn’t be punished. You’re the one who decided to hurt her by doing this; I just helped you out. I shouldn’t have to pay for what you told me to do. This isn’t right. Dad, please help

me.”

Regina was mean–spirited, but she learned it from her mother. I actually felt bad for her, but I couldn’t help her. I tried to, I guess my plant on the jury overplayed his hand. It was obvious to the whole room who had

conned her into doing the dirty work.

“Ms. Cook, you need to be very thankful to Mrs. Billingsley. Her attorney actually spoke up for you on her behalf. You are hereby ordered to pay $100,000 to Ana Billingsley for the slanderous comments you made

against her and for falsifying documents. I’m also including a one–year jail sentence for perjury and contempt. of court. You were warned from the beginning, yet still lied under oath. Despite blaming your mother for this, you knew what you were doing was wrong. Yet you continued to harass Mr. Jones to make up the falsified

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Regina’s Sentence

deed. That was done with obvious malicious intent,” the judge passed down his sentence.

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Regina leapt up and cried out, “No! I don’t want to go to prison. Why didn’t I just get probation? That was all I

was supposed to get. Why am I being punished like this? What about Tommy? He was actually the one who

filled out the deed. How come he’s getting away with it?”

“Mr. Jones agreed to testify against you for a reduced sentence. His trial was already completed several days

ago in another courtroom. He admitted to his wrongdoing. He was also ashamed about his part in this. He

received two years‘ probation. If no other charges are brought against him within those two years, his crime

will be expunged from his criminal record. He was held accountable for his actions. Since that information is

available as public record, I don’t mind relaying that to you. I’m quite sure you would try to use it to try to ask

for a mistrial. I would also like to mention that the two alternate jurors have been present in the courtroom

throughout the entire time frame. This kept us from having to restart this trial. Since you three have been so

very vocal on your social media pages and TV, I ensured that we had two additional jurors in case we

determined that someone already had bias. Which brings us to our next case, the judge said while looking

directly at me.

Regina kept crying out, so the judge motioned for her to be removed from the courtroom. Ana’s attorney then stood up and said, “Your honor, at this time we call Mrs. Sasha Cook to the stand.”

I was so scared that my knees almost gave out when I stood up. Nothing was going as planned. I walked up to be sworn in, but the judge stopped them, “Hold on just a moment. We have another alternate juror who just arrived. I don’t want Mrs. Cook trying to use this to attempt a mistrial. I would like them to be present before

she’s sworn in.”

The door that the judge and jury accessed was opened by the bailiff. An older man entered the room and quickly took the remaining chair in the jury box, nearest the door through which he had just come. The judge then had me swear in, but my throat was so dry, it was hard for me to speak.

I was already worried, but the smile her attorney gave me really got my heart racing. I deliberately started to rub my pregnant stomach, trying to garner some sympathy from the jury. The man who was supposed to help me was gone. I don’t know if they realized that he was helping me, or if the powerful Caldwell family had requested he be replaced, thinking he was holding everything up.

It was something they could do. It was a well–known fact that they were powerful enough to accomplish anything. They were the reason my passport had been taken away. I couldn’t go back to Paris now, if I wanted to. I begged my ex to bring his private jet here so he could come and get me, but he laughed before hanging up the phone. I’m on my own now, but he’s not off the hook. I’ll be back, and I’m going to make sure that he pays every bit of child support I can squeeze from him.

“Mrs. Cook?” I heard her attorney say.

“Yes?” I answered. The people in the gallery we laughing quietly, and I knew it was at my expense.

“Can you please tell the court why you moved from Paris to the United States?” he asked.

“Well, I ran into Roger one day in Paris, a few months ago. He had once confessed to me that he wanted to date, but I was focused on my career at the time. I went to París to pursue a career as a designer. It has always been my dream to become a famous designer. So I had to reject him, so I could follow my passion. But Roger never forgot about me. When we met again, he was as kind and wonderful to me as he always had been. It was as if no time had passed between us. He took me to dinner after we reunited. He begged me to come back home with him. He told me that I could work for him and become his Director of Design. He

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Regma’s Sentence

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wanted my new design ideas. I never knew that it would cost Ana her job for stealing my designs. That was never my intent,” I replied.

I knew how to work people. This wasn’t going to be very hard. I knew that Roger was here, but I was going to dance around the truth. Roger’s reputation was ruined. Who are they going to believe? Roger, who has a horrible reputation that he entirely deserved, or me. I was going to make sure he was the one who looked bad here. I’m not going to jail for any reason. I knew that a few tears and an innocent appearance would go a long way to making me look innocent. I knew I was being recorded by those reporters. I wasn’t going to give them anything they could use against me.

“So, you knew about Ana before you married Roger?” he asked.

“I found out about her, after we were married, not before. I didn’t know that he was going to give me her job until after the fact. Roger was the one who was engaged, not me. He proposed, and I accepted. How could I have possibly known anything about her? I lived in Paris and had no idea what was happening here. I believed that Roger asked me to marry him because he loved me; there was no other reason than that,” I

softly replied, rubbing my pregnant stomach again.

“So, no one told you about his fiancée? Not his friends, not his family, no one told you that he was to be married just three weeks after you two were wed?” he asked.

“No, I found out about his engagement after we were married. I felt so terrible about it. My heart went out to her, but my baby needed his father,” I replied, stroking my swollen belly. I was taking every opportunity to make not just Ana, but Roger, look bad. It could only help me in the long run.

“Your honor, I would like to bring out exhibit A,” he requested.

I was finally relaxing; there wasn’t much he could do to me. Roger had proof, but he would be humiliated if he admitted he didn’t want to stop us from taking her designs. If her attorney came at me hard, he would be the one to look bad. Because harassing a woman who is five months pregnant would make him look like a jerk.

I was the picture of innocence. Holding my belly with both hands on my stomach like I was trying to protect my baby from her attorney. I made sure to work up some tears as the monitor came to life. I didn’t even look at it at first. What could they possibly have that would work in their favor? Then I heard Joyce’s voice, loud and clear. Holy s**t, how did they get that video? My eyes flew to Joyce’s, and she looked just as shocked as

1. me.

Joyce’s voice rang through the courtroom, “I’ve already told you, Roger, Sasha is carrying your child. You need to just cut Elizabeth loose. She’s an embarrassment to our family. No breeding or manners with that one. She has no one to support her. You don’t need an excuse, son. She might have helped you get your business off the ground, but what if she tries to get you back for marrying Sasha? You need to ensure that there is nothing she can do to you. You need to have your attorney fill out an iron–clad contract to get her designs and your house in your name. If you catch her unaware, and get her to sign everything. There’s nothing she can do

to stop you.”

KatVonBeck

#Vote# Thank you, Myndy M, for all the help. Two chapters tonight!!

Sasha’s Turn on the Stand