Chapter 5 - The Verdict
The jury returned in record time. As the foreman stood up, the room seemed to shrink. "We find the defendant, Grant Holloway, guilty on all counts of child abuse, assault, and emotional battery."
Grant didn't look at me as he was cuffed. He looked at the floor, his face a mask of defeated fury. He had lost everything: his status, his freedom, and the control he had fought so hard to maintain.
As I walked out of the courthouse, I was swarmed by reporters, but I ignored them. I grabbed Chloe’s hand and didn't let go until we were in the car. We drove until the city lights faded into the distance. We stopped at a small, secluded lake, a place we had visited once before, long ago.
"Is he gone?" Chloe asked.
"He is," I replied. "And he can never touch you again."
She let out a long, shuddering breath. "I don't have to be careful anymore, do I?"
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"No," I said, tears finally spilling over. "You never have to be careful again. You can fall, you can make mistakes, and you can just be a little girl. That’s what being a daughter is."
We sat there for a long time, watching the sun set over the water. The trauma would remain, a scar on our hearts, but the fear—the paralyzing, suffocating fear—was finally gone.
