CHAPTER 176

The courtroom air was thick with tension as Laura Oviedo took the stand. I could already feel the anger bubbling up in my chest before she even opened her mouth. She was Justin's last-ditch effort, his final weapon to tear me down. I had known it was coming, but nothing could have prepared me for the lies that were about to spill from her mouth.

Laura sat there, calm and collected, a perfect picture of false sincerity. Her eyes flicked toward me, cold and calculating, and then she began to speak.

"Miss Margarette was never satisfied with the life Justin provided for her," Laura said, her voice steady and dripping with false concern. "She was always spending money on extravagant things, taking trips, buying expensive clothes. And... well, she often took items from Madam Victoria’s personal collection. Jewelry, mostly."

My fists clenched so hard my nails bit into my palms. Jewelry? She was accusing me of stealing jewelry? I could barely process the absurdity of it. But it wasn’t just th