Heartless People |Book 3|

Chapter 3

"Good morning, please be seated," she said, sounding almost bored. "Okay we're on the record, case number 67F82C5 State of Illinois vs. Lisa Manoban. All parties are here and present, is there anything else we need to take up before we call the jury in?"

DiMarco, who was still standing, shook his head. "Not at this time, Your Honor."

"We're ready to begin as well," the prosecutor said.

He looked like a grease ball, with his slicked back hair and alligator shoes. I knew Victoria and my mother were making some sort of face at him, and I wished I could look back at them to see it.

"Okay, bring them in," Judge Weston said.

I wasn't sure who thought these people were a jury of my peers. It looked as if someone had picked them up at last call in some bar...or at a Wal-Mart at three in the morning.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, I hope you all have no problems being here. I just need to ask you one question. Did any of you read, listen or hear about anything regarding this case?"

"No." All of them shook their heads and they were all lying...maybe they were my peers after all.

"Okay then." She nodded over to the prosecutor, and DiMarco, along with his lawyers, all sat down.

"Once again, good morning ladies and gentlemen." He pressed a button on his laptop and a photo of Jen in her wedding dress, smiling brightly and looking happy, appeared on the projector screen. It made me want to laugh because at that time in our relationship she'd wanted to kill me. But the photo captured her beautifully beyond the lie.

"I want you to take a good look at Ms. Manoban, that woman sitting there, one of the daughter to the infamous billionaire Manoban family, and remember that she is not one of you. You see, Ms. Manoban hasn't worked a day in her life. She's never had to worry about bills or food or even safety. Everything has always just been handed...no, thrown at her. Women especially.

"Go back only two and half years ago to her life without her wife, Jennie Kim. Party after party, girl after girl, almighty freedom. Lisa Manoban did whatever she wanted, whomever she wanted. No woman lasted on her arm for more than a month before she threw her away. Then poof, she's married to the beautiful Ms. Jennie Kim, and you'd think that would be enough. You'd think she would be happy. But a person like her can never be tied down without repercussions. Past girlfriends of her are either dead or their lives have been so altered that they cannot function as they once normally did; she breaks them and then throws them away."

For the love of Christ, someone needed to put one between his eyes.

"Does this sound like a person ready to be married? A person ready to start a family? No. Lisa Manoban did what all the Manoban men do; they get married while young, a tradition.

"The evidence today will show that Ms. Manoban wanted to return to her previous life. She wanted the parties, the girls, the fun, and she would do anything to get it. She couldn't live the immoral life she wanted to with the devoutly religious and beloved Jennie. When she became pregnant with their first child, Lisa panicked and tried to get rid of it because she felt trapped. Jennie was hospitalized with a stab wound to the stomach, and she'd claimed that she fell down the stairs with a knife."

FUCK YOU. How dare you? I screamed in my thoughts.

The pain of losing our first child still stung. We'd lost our child...

From the corner of my eye I noticed that Mina stood up, took Ethan out of Victoria's arms and walked over to the exit.

"Sadly for Ms. Manoban, Jennie didn't die. The baby was gone, but she did not die. However, that wasn't the last time Jennie was hospitalized. In fact, she had taken a gunshot wound to shoulder. She had been in car accident. There was no explanation. How does a car accident equate to a gunshot wound? Coincidentally, Jennie was pregnant again. This time, Ms. Manoban knew what to do. The way to get her freedom back, was to get rid of her. Only moments after giving birth, Jennie disappeared. The only people who could have been there were her doctors and Ms. Manoban herself."