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Thinking she'd fled like Leo, they went to her place and found the two of them in a horrific state.
They were too terrified to talk.
The official story became a "domestic dispute." They "mutually reconciled."
Naomi miscarried. Leo's kick had done it. Her protective "pregnancy" card was gone.
Both were taken back into custody to await trial.
The day of the hearing, my mother and grandparents waited outside the courthouse.
Mom saw me and pulled a knife, holding it to her own throat.
"If you won't let your cousin go, I'll die right here. I'll make sure the whole world knows you drove your own mother to suicide!"
Zachary moved to shield me, afraid she'd do something drastic.
Grandma chimed in. "That's right! Ungrateful children belong in hell!"
Grandpa glared.
"Think carefully. Your cousin won't get much time. You really want your mother's blood on your hands?"
I looked at her, my feelings frozen solid.
"Mom. This is the last time I call you that. Just how much do you owe the Lees? Dad tried to save you. He married you. You worked him to death to pay your brother's gambling debts."
"I tried to save you. I gave you my inheritance for Leo's school. I agreed to sell our house for his degree. I got him a job. After all that, you still feel indebted. No one can save you."
"You just love the praise they give you after you sacrifice everything. You crave a scrap of their affection."
"But didn't I love you? Didn't Dad love you?"
"Look. Your neck is bleeding. Do the two people beside you look even a little bit worried?"
I walked past her, into the courthouse. She didn't love me. How could I love her?
In the defendant's dock stood Leo and Naomi. Prison hadn't been kind. They were hollow-eyed, gaunt.
They saw me. Their chests heaved. With fear.
Naomi started babbling.
"Please… I didn't mean it! I thought you were a thief! It was a mistake!"
"It was Leo! He showed me a fake deed! It's not my fault!"
Pathetic. Even now, she believed she'd done nothing wrong.
Even if I had been a thief, did that give her the right?
Just like those other women. If they did wrong, the law should punish them. Not you. Leo joined in.
"Lily… I'm your cousin. The only grandson. The Lee family line. Let me go. I'll protect you, make it up to you! It was all Naomi! Everything!"
Their blame game meant nothing against the evidence.
Security footage of them repeatedly entering my building.
My medical records.
The police bodycam footage.
Naomi's face went sheet-white. She collapsed.
She knew it was over.
The verdict was swift. Naomi: guilty of aggravated assault, attempted murder, multiple counts. Fourteen years.
Leo only got six months. The evidence couldn't definitively prove he intended to kill me.
Even the wall… he'd just "suggested" it to Naomi.
It was fine. This wasn't over.
I'd be waiting for him when he got out.
I left the courtroom. My "suicidal" mother was being slapped and berated by my grandparents.
Grandma twisted her arm. She winced in pain.
She looked at me, hoping, like always, that I'd rush in to save her.
