#Chapter 151: Moving Forward

ELENA The trial was over. It should have felt like relief. The weeks of testimony, the brutal questions, the endless speculation about Maggie’s motives—Goddess, the weight of it all should have lifted. But it hadn’t. Not really. Instead, I felt heavy. I sat at the corner of the hotel bar, one heel hooked on the footrest, the other leg crossed over my knee. A half-empty glass of whiskey sat on the napkin in front of me, its amber swirl catching the dim gold of the pendant light above. My throat still burned from the last sip. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. The hunger gnawed at me, but I couldn’t bring myself to do anything about it. Maggie was guilty. The words echoed, stark and brutal, as if spoken in that low, precise voice of the lead judge again. Guilty. They’d spared her the death sentence. The prosecution had agreed to drop capital punishment in exchange for her cooperation. She’d live—but the sentencing was still weeks away. We didn’t know yet if she’d spend t