Chapter 7 - The Trial Derek Could Not Control
Derek’s trial began eleven months later.
By then, my ribs had healed.
The concussion symptoms had mostly faded.
The fear remained in unexpected places.
Footsteps behind me.
A door closing too quickly.
Flowers delivered without a name.
Therapy taught me not to confuse recovery with forgetting.
The prosecution presented Alison’s case first.
Mason described moving her body.
Phone records placed Derek near the quarry.
The silver necklace connected the storage unit to her.
Then the financial evidence showed years of payments used to maintain silence.
Derek’s attorneys attacked Mason as a liar.
Mason agreed.
“I lied for Derek for nine years.”
“Now I am telling the truth because the evidence already caught me.”
My father testified next.
He admitted introducing me to Derek despite knowing about Alison’s disappearance.
When asked why, he looked toward me.
“Money.”
The word echoed through the courtroom.
Mother began crying.
I felt nothing.
Then I took the stand.
Derek watched me as though he could still command my body from across the room.
I described the first time he hit me.
The first apology.
The first bouquet.
The way violence became routine through repetition.
His attorney asked why I stayed.
“Because leaving abuse is dangerous.”
“Because he controlled money.”
“Because my parents told me marriage was my burden.”
“Because shame works until someone stops carrying it.”
The final evidence was the hospital photograph.
My bruised throat.
My fractured ribs.
The forged financial transfers.
The video of Derek dragging me inside.
His fall story disappeared completely.
The jury convicted him of Alison’s murder, domestic assault, fraud, conspiracy, and obstruction.
He received life in prison.
Before sentencing, he turned toward me.
“I loved you.”
I answered quietly.
“You loved access.”
“To my work.”
“My silence.”
“My name.”
“That was never love.”
The judge imposed the sentence.
May you like
Derek was led away.
For the first time in six years, I watched a door close behind him without fearing what happened next.
