Chapter 9
The trial lasted two weeks.
I testified. Lily testified—gently, in a closed room, with a support person beside her.
The other women testified. One by one. Telling their stories.
Ethan sat there, face blank, listening to his life unravel.
The jury deliberated for four hours.
Guilty.
On all counts.
The judge looked at him with clear disgust.
"You targeted vulnerable women," she said. "You exploited their grief. You used their children as leverage. And you showed no remorse."
She sentenced him to twenty years in prison.
With no possibility of early release.
As they led him away in handcuffs, he looked at me.
For just a second.
And I saw it.
Not anger. Not hatred.
Fear.
He was afraid of me.
Because I had stood up.
May you like
Because I had fought back.
Because I had won.
