Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. That was all she could think as she slowly rocked back and forth. She was dumb, how could she be stupid enough to believe he loved her. She knew she should have left the first time his fist connected with her face, but she stayed, and now here she sat in court. Why, oh why, had she stayed? Oh right, she was in love with him. Plus he had always been so kind and understanding, and he had apologized and made it up to her, said he was just angry, that he didn't mean it. She hadn't believed him, not really, but she had nowhere else to go; she had left her friends behind when they started saying such bad things about her boyfriend, like a good girlfriend. Oh, how she regretted it now. "Please rise for the honorable judge Smith." She stood, with some difficulty due to the metal handcuffed around her wrists. The same wrists that were littered with bruises. The same bruises that littered the rest of her body. She never left him, so he never stopped hurting her. It seemed like every day he was hitting her, sometimes just a slap along with a glare, sometimes it was so bad that she couldn't move. She no longer was under the illusion that he loved her, no matter how nice he was to her in front of everyone else. She had nowhere to go, no friends left, not close enough to her family to run to, and no money after he forced her to quit her job. He was going to kill her. Eventually, there was no doubt left in her mind. "You stand here accused of first-degree murder of Robert Milligan. How do you plead?" "Not guilty." My lawyer said at the same time I said guiltily. The lawyer sent me a slight glare, but I didn't care, there was too much evidence, and I had done it. It was while he was sleeping. I got up in the middle of the night; my clock said it was 12:02. I quietly crept to the kitchen, careful not to wake him up. She grabbed the largest knife they owned and after creeping back into their bedroom, without hesitation plunged it into his heart with a crunch. "Do you have anything to say before we come to the verdict?" The judge asked, and as she looked into her eyes, she said: "I regret nothing."
