Chapter 8
The trial began six months later.
It was the trial of the century.
Every news network in the country covered it gavel to gavel.
People camped outside the courthouse for seats.
The prosecution’s case was overwhelming.
They called seventy-two witnesses.
Presented over nine hundred pieces of evidence.
They told the story of Harrison Voss’s greed.
His cruelty.
His decades-long pattern of corruption.
They showed the journals.
The bank records.
The payments.
The photographs.
They called Mrs. Henderson.
She testified for three days.
Calm.
Clear.
Unshakable.
The jury cried.
Even the judge wiped away tears.
They called the doctor who had falsified the death certificates.
He was already serving time for perjury and fraud in exchange for his testimony.
He told the jury about Harrison’s threats.
About the fear.
About the choice he had made and regretted every day since.
They called foster parent after foster parent.
Each one admitting they had been paid.
Each one describing the instructions they had been given.
Keep them ordinary.
Keep them unnoticed.
Never let them stand out.
And then it was the defense’s turn.
Harrison and Victoria had separate lawyers.
Each was trying to blame the other.
Harrison’s lawyer claimed Victoria had masterminded the whole thing.
That Harrison had been a doting father who only wanted to protect his daughter from the consequences of her actions.
Victoria’s lawyer claimed Harrison had forced her.
That she had been a terrified young woman trapped by her father’s power and influence.
That she had loved Arthur.
That she had wanted to tell him the truth a thousand times but had been too scared.
Neither strategy worked.
The jury did not buy either of them.
And then the prosecution dropped their bombshell.
Leo’s medical condition.
They presented the evidence.
The medical records from birth showing the gene marker had been detected.
The notes Harrison had written in his journal about the condition.
About how it was “useful.”
About how it would keep the children “manageable.”
The testimony from Leo’s doctors about the years of undiagnosed seizures.
The potential permanent damage.
The jury was horrified.
If there had been any doubt before, it was gone now.
Harrison Voss was not just a greedy businessman.
He was a monster.
And Victoria was no better.
The final witness was Maya.
She was thirteen now.
Tall for her age.
Composed.
Beautiful.
She walked to the stand.
Raised her right hand.
Swore to tell the truth.
The prosecutor stood up.
“Maya… can you tell us about growing up in the foster system?”
Maya looked at the jury.
Then at Victoria.
Then at Harrison.
Her eyes were cold.
“It was hard,” she said. Her voice was clear and steady. “We moved a lot. Sometimes every few months. I learned to pack a bag in five minutes. I learned not to get attached to people. Or things. Because nothing ever stayed.”
“Did you ever wonder why you were given up?”
“Every day,” Maya said. “I made up stories. That my parents were spies. That they were in the witness protection program. That they were famous and couldn’t tell anyone. Anything but the truth. That they just didn’t want me.”
She paused.
Swallowed.
“I used to look at other kids with their moms and dads. At the park. At school. At restaurants. And I would wonder what was wrong with me. Why nobody wanted me. Why nobody loved me enough to keep me.”
Victoria was crying now.
Real tears.
For the first time in the trial.
Maya saw her.
And did not look away.
“And then we found out the truth,” Maya continued. “That our father had wanted us. That he had grieved for us. That he had spent twelve years missing us. And that the reason we were taken… was because of them.”
She pointed directly at Harrison and Victoria.
“They stole us,” she said. “They stole our birthdays. Our Christmases. Our first steps. Our first words. They stole our father. They stole our mother’s memory. And when my brother got sick… they let him suffer. For years. They watched him have seizures and did nothing. Because they didn’t care if he lived or died. As long as he stayed out of their way.”
Her voice cracked.
Just slightly.
But everyone in the courtroom heard it.
“I will never get those years back,” she said. “Leo will never get those years back. My dad will never get those years back. No amount of time in prison will give us that. But maybe… if you send them away for a very long time… no other family will ever have to go through what we went through. Maybe that is enough.”
She stopped.
Looked at the jury.
“Thank you.”
The courtroom was silent.
Then the judge called a recess.
The jury deliberated for eleven hours.
It should have taken eleven minutes.
But they wanted to be thorough.
They wanted to make sure every single charge was addressed.
Every crime accounted for.
When they returned, the courtroom was packed.
Arthur held Maya’s hand.
Leo sat on his other side, coloring quietly.
He did not really understand what was happening.
He just knew the bad people were going away.
The foreman of the jury stood up.
Held the verdict form.
And began to read.
“On the charge of conspiracy to commit kidnapping… we the jury find the defendant, Harrison Voss… guilty.”
“On the charge of fraud… guilty.”
“On the charge of witness tampering… guilty.”
“On the charge of child endangerment… guilty.”
Charge after charge.
All guilty.
Every single one.
Against Harrison.
Against Victoria.
Harrison showed no emotion.
He sat perfectly still.
Staring straight ahead.
Victoria collapsed into sobs.
Her lawyer had to hold her up.
Sentencing was set for two weeks later.
Harrison Voss received seven consecutive life sentences plus one hundred and forty years.
No possibility of parole.
The judge called his crimes “the most evil, calculated, and heartless acts I have ever encountered in thirty years on the bench.”
Victoria received forty years.
Twenty-five for the conspiracy and fraud.
Fifteen consecutive for child endangerment.
She would be eligible for parole when she was seventy-three.
As the guards led them away, Victoria looked back.
Her eyes met Arthur’s.
For a moment, he thought she would say something.
Apologize.
Beg.
But she didn’t.
She just looked at him.
And then she was gone.
It was over.
Really over.
Arthur walked out of the courthouse with his children.
The sun was shining.
Reporters shouted questions.
But Arthur did not hear them.
He only heard Maya’s laugh as she ran down the steps.
He only felt Leo’s hand in his.
He only knew one thing.
May you like
His family was together.
And nothing would ever tear them apart again.
