“Violet, stop making a scene.” Leonardo furrowed his brow and looked at me. “Is it because I was being a little nice to Daphne? You can be jealous, but there’s a limit.”
I was in the defendant’s dock. Daphne sat there, stammering and glancing toward Leonardo.
He coneinued, “What, drag this into court? Not satisfied with putting on a show alone so now you need everyone to watch? Withdraw this suit and go home!”
I didn’t look at him. I picked up the diary and read it aloud.
“Daphne damaged the railing, causing Grandma Gillian to fall to her death; she replaced pain medication with vitamins, causing my mother-in-law Everly to have a fatal allergic reaction…”
“Daphne sabotaged the car brakes, causing my father-in-law Zach’s fatal crash.”
“Daphne sprayed a conductive liquid on the floor lamp cord in his elder brother’s study, electrocuting Uncle Hugo to death.”
“Daphne intentionally caused a gas leak, leading to my sister-in-law Grace’s gas explosion and death.”
With every line I read, the courtroom air grew heavier. Each bloody truth I revealed drained color from Leonardo’s face. He moved from initial rage, to disbelief, to a hollow bewilderment now teetering on the edge of collapse.
His gaze fell on me, his lips moved, but no word came. Those eyes that had once burned with hatred were now filled with a vast, empty silence.
I closed my diary with a sharp snap that echoed in the still courtroom. I finally fixed my gaze fully on Leonardo and asked with determination.
“Leonardo, now, do you still think I’m just jealous, that I’m just causing trouble?”
When I finished the thirteenth entry, he abruptly stood up. “What are you talking about?” he demanded through his pale complexion. his stare was full of shock and fury nearly spilling out.
“That diary of yours IS your plan to kill Daphne. Now, how did it turn into her list of actions in murdering my family? You’re really jealous enough to come up with this?” he insisted.
I chuckled. “I married you to repay a debt to Grandma Gillian. Why would you think I was acting out of jealousy? Leo, all that I read was my hypothesized ‘death diary.’”
“Leo…” Daphne’s sobs broke the the solemn courtroom. She wept, mascara streaking her cheeks, shoulders trembling. “Don’t believe her! She’s always like this! She’ll make lies to frame me.”
“She couldn’t poison me, so now she wants to frame me for murder! I love you so much, Leo… I don’t want anything else. I just want to stay by your side. Why won’t she let me be?” she sounded sad.
I interrupted coldly. “Save the act. This is a court of law. Whining and playing the victim won’t work.”
Daphne wiped her tears, eyes openly defiant. “Vi, you say I killed those people. Where’s the evidence? Your claims have no proof. I’m being falsely accused! Can’t I even speak for myself?”
Watching her calm, composed defiance, everything suddenly became clear to me.
Ah, of course she wasn’t afraid. She thought every piece of evidence I had painstakingly collected had been destroyed by Leonardo, by the man sitting before me.
The dam of memory burst open and the burning pain of it crept back to my fingertips. It was the seventh day after my father-in-law Zach’s accident. I had found Daphne’s contact her people outside and destroyed the cctv recordings and photos showing the brake sabotage.
I thought the truth would finally come out at that time. So, I turned to pack my things, planning to leave.
Daphne, nearly naked, had stumbled to Leonardo’s feet, crying as if she was utterly heartbroken.
“Leo, she’s lost it! She hired someone… she had me defiled and took pictures. She says if I don’t admit to killing Dad, she’ll publish those photos and you’ll despise me!”
Amid her cries and my frantic explanations, Leonardo’s eyes were bloodshot. He snatched the evidence from my hands and hurled it into the fireplace. The flames leapt up and swallowed my hope.
Daphne’s sickening voice cut off from my memory roll. “Your Honor, I also have evidence proving how Violet schemed to kill people, forge evidence and frame me.”
