I sat behind Sarah.
Alina Price sat two rows back under the protection of federal agents. Diane Porter and Jenna Wilkes were not present, but their statements were. Their words waited inside folders.
Ryan did not look at them.
He looked at me.
For once, I looked back without feeling pulled toward the woman I had been.
The hearing unfolded in careful language. Forged credentials. Financial fraud. Identity fraud. Witness intimidation. Assault-related charges pending against Linda. Additional investigations ongoing.
Ryan’s attorney argued that this was a family dispute inflated by my military position.
Sarah’s jaw tightened, but she remained silent. This was not her arena yet.
Then prosecutors played the bedroom footage.
The courtroom air changed.
There was no dramatic music. No theatrical gasp. Just a grainy image of a dark room, the outline of a sleeping woman, Linda entering with clippers in her hand.
My stomach clenched, but I did not look away.
