Chapter 205
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I could see the jury trying to maintain a neutral expression And given that divorcing Irvin depended on their “verdict, I knew I had to win them over.
Thus, I faced them as I continued my story. “Actually, he did come to see me once, but it wasn’t to care for me. No , it was because he wanted to drag me out of bed to apologize to Julianne.
“According to him, it was my fault she had caught a cold, so I needed to apologize to her because she was too weak
to come to me.
“Imagine that. My injuries were severe, and I was bedridden. Yet, he insisted I leave the hospital just to apologize to Julianne. He didn’t care that I had called the police on him. He also didn’t believe I was injured, despite reading my medical chart and seeing the state I was in.
“Instead, he thought I was faking it. He even threatened the hospital I was in and accused them of forging my medical chart. Unbelievable, right? He threatened the people responsible for saving me.”
Some jurors were openly looking at Irvin judgmentally now but it was too soon to celebrate. Now that I had their attention, it was time to pick up the pace.
Keeping a straight face and neutral tone, I continued, “Let’s fast–forward to when I was discharged from the hospital. My body was covered in surgical wounds because they had to insert steel rods and pins to hold it together.
“I was still so physically weak that I couldn’t take a few steps without gasping for breath. And guess what Irvin did then? He wanted me to donate blood, and not just to anyone–to Julianne. I’m sure you don’t need three guesses to figure out how that ended.
“There was another incident a few days ago too. Julianne had been kidnapped. Yes, you heard that right. She had been kidnapped yet again, but that’s not the main point. The main point is that her kidnappers demanded Irvin exchange me for her.”
Several members of the jury raised their eyebrows in disbelief when I mentioned that Julianne had been kidnapped for the second time. Then, they swiftly furrowed their brows in concern upon hearing the kidnappers‘
demands.
Seeing this, I powered on. I now had hope I could win them over to my side.
“I’ll spare you the suspense. Once again, he did as they asked without hesitation. He sacrificed my life for this so- called sister of his and almost got me killed. I almost died on that remote mountain because of him.”
I paused to allow what I said to sink in. The jurors were visibly aghast by what they heard.
Dropping my poker face, I allowed emotion to seep into my tone when I spoke again.
“Honorable Judge Trudy and esteemed members of the jury, I would like you to ponder what I’m going to say next. Tell me, is this what true love is? Is this what it means to really love someone? If your answer is yes, then does it mean I have to put up with it even if it kills me?” I asked with my arms outstretched.
Then , gesturing to Irvin, I continued, “Does it mean I should stay married to this man despite knowing I will one day wind up dead because of him? Do I really have to die before I can be freed from my marriage to him?”
I sounded heartbroken and desperate as I cried out the last question.
Close–up photos of my injuries were flashed up for the judge and jury to see at this moment. So many emotions flashed across everyone’s faces so quickly that I couldn’t describe them.
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To amplify the effect of the imagery , I unbuttoned my cuff and rolled up my sleeve, Holding out my arm , I walked Closer to them so they could see it up close.
have scars like these all over my body. They’re remnants from the life–saving surgery that was done to me after the cliff incident. The pain lingers to this day, and it’s bad enough to affect my sleep every night,” I said in a pained tone.
Then , sounding distraught, I added, “He had treated me so poorly because of his misconstrued self–assumptions. Yet, he claims to love me. So, should I still forgive all he has done and stay with him because of this? ”
Judge Trudy and the jury were speechless.
They now realized what kind of husband Irvin was and what kind of marriage I was trapped in. Forget about me staying in it–even they, as outsiders, couldn’t bear to hear about it.
Everyone turned their gaze to Irvin when they recovered from their shock.
Initially, he had appeared genuinely remorseful. Plus, he looked so haggard. Hence, they thought our marriage had indeed broken down because of a simple misunderstanding. Who would have thought he was actually a scumbag!
No, scumbag wasn’t enough to describe Irvin. He was simply inhuman.
All his claims about truly loving me and not being able to live without me now seemed fake. It would be impossible for him to do all those things if he wholeheartedly believed these things.
What husband in their right mind would abandon his wife without a second thought, time and time again?
What husband couldn’t even spare time to sign a few consent forms when his wife needed emergency life–saving treatment?
Most of all, what husband would trade his wife to save someone else’s life?
These acts on their own were already unacceptable, let alone all of them combined.
When Irvin saw the photos of me being fished out of the water by the police, his face drained of blood. He looked as though his life had been sucked out of him.
If this was his reaction when it was only the first sequence of photos, one could imagine what his reaction was like by the time we reached the close–up photos of my injuries.
People tended to choose things that benefitted them on instinct. So, while Irvin did spend the last few days investigating and confirming everything he had done to me, he didn’t dig too deeply. This was because he was afraid of knowing the truth.
Irvin was afraid he wouldn’t be able to accept what he had done to me if he knew the full extent of it, let alone seek my forgiveness. Thus, he only knew I had been hospitalized due to a fall from a cliff, but he didn’t know how bad my injuries had been.
He stared at the photo of me covered in tubes post–emergency surgery. His heart ached so terribly the breathe. The pain was so intense that Irvin could barely stand.
‘ couldn’t
He knew that I had always been highly averse to pain. Hence, he was paralyzed by shock as he couldn’t fathom how I had managed to endure it. He didn’t dare imagine how excruciating the pain must have been, and he was too terrified to even try.
Irvin teetered on his feet, on the verge of collapsing. He wished he was dead right then and there. However, even if
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he was, it wouldn’t… He shouldn’t have…
He found it harder and harder to breathe, and eventually, he fell to the floor with a loud thud.
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