Chapter 25 - OCTAVIA TELLS THE JURY WHAT SHE THOUGHT SHE OWNED
Octavia testified.
Against advice.
She wanted to explain herself.
That impulse ruined her.
She admitted creating the false paternity report.
Why?
“To prevent chaos.”
“Was the report true?”
“No.”
“Did Luciano authorize it?”
“No.”
“Did Maeve?”
“No.”
Then the letters.
“Yes.”
“Why tell each parent the other had chosen money?”
Octavia lifted her chin.
“Because money was cleaner than resentment.”
The prosecutor waited.
“Cleaner for whom?”
No answer.
Then:
“Did you believe the twins were Luciano’s?”
“I believed they probably were.”
My hands tightened.
Maeve stared straight ahead.
“From the beginning?”
“Yes.”
There.
Then:
“Why keep father and children apart?”
“Because Luciano was not capable of making rational decisions after his father died.”
“Five years later?”
“He remained vulnerable where Maeve was concerned.”
There.
Control.
Then the money.
“Did you personally take two million?”
“No.”
True.
“Did you administer the agreement?”
“Yes.”
“Did you reduce payments based on Maeve’s contact attempts?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To enforce the agreement.”
“Did the agreement allow you to punish children financially because their mother sought lawful paternity?”
Octavia’s lawyer objected.
Legal conclusion.
Sustained.
The prosecutor moved on.
Then Silas.
“Did you order a chain attached to his ankle?”
Octavia paused.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He kept running toward a members-only area.”
“He was five?”
“Yes.”
“Was security unable to stop him without chaining him?”
Silence.
Then:
“I wanted him to understand there were rules.”
The prosecutor showed the audio transcript.
Then he’ll learn faster.
“Was that your voice?”
“Yes.”
“Did Silas need to be restrained for immediate physical safety?”
“No.”
There.
Then:
“Why tell him his father took two million dollars to forget him?”
Octavia’s face changed.
“I was angry.”
“Was it true?”
“No.”
“Did you know it was false?”
“Yes.”
The jury went still.
Then the final issue.
“I protected your empire.”
The prosecutor asked:
“What empire needed protection from two five-year-old boys?”
Octavia looked at me.
Then Maeve.
Then the jury.
“It was never the boys.”
Exactly.
“What was it?”
“My son was becoming someone who no longer listened to me.”
There.
The entire case shrank to its actual size.
A mother who could not tolerate losing authority.
No grand criminal strategy.
No dynasty survival.
Control.
The prosecutor asked:
“So you removed the people who gave him another center of loyalty?”
Octavia’s lawyer objected.
Argumentative.
Sustained.
May you like
No answer required.
The documents had already answered.
