Chapter 20
As the federal marshals stepped forward, clicking the heavy chains into place to haul Isabella away, she turned her head in a desperate, last-ditch plea, locking eyes with Caroline across the aisle.
"Caroline! Please! I'm your sister!" Isabella screamed, tears streaming down her hollow cheeks as the guards grabbed her arms. "Forgive me! Don't let them take me away forever! Please!"
Caroline did not flinch. She did not yell back, nor did she smile in triumph. She simply looked at her sister with absolute, chilling indifference—the same cold emptiness Isabella had tried to drown her in beneath the Pacific waves.
"You had your wedding, Isabella," Caroline said quietly, her voice carrying across the silent courtroom. "Now, live with the vows you made."
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The marshals hauled Isabella kicking and screaming through the double doors, the heavy oak slamming shut behind her with a dull, final thud. The trial was over.
Caroline exhaled slowly, feeling a massive weight lift from her shoulders. She turned to Elias, who stood silently beside her, offering a reassuring nod.
