Chapter 44 Acquittal and Embracing Friends

Alicia’s POV

The recess was almost over.

In a few minutes, the judge would walk back in. He would read a few sentences aloud, and that would be it.

My fate would be sealed in a voice colder than any painting I had ever put on canvas.

I stayed hunched forward on the bench, my knees pressed together so tightly they ached. Kayla sat beside me, his hand moving in slow, steady circles over my back.

She kept whispering, “Don’t worry. We are in this together.”

I barely nodded. The words floated around me, real and unreal at the same time.

A few rows ahead, my attorney, Mr. Hayes lounged like he was waiting for the next round at a dinner party. Legs crossed, arm stretched lazily over the back of the bench, head tilted in easy patience.

I blinked at him, part of me baffled, part of me angry.

How could he sit there like that while the ground was threatening to give way beneath my feet?

“Mr. Hayes,” I rasped, forcing my voice out past the dry scrape in my throat.