Chapter 13 - THE WOMAN IN THE CREAM DRESS
Claire entered court wearing a dark green maternity dress.
The cream anniversary gown remained sealed in evidence.
Vivian watched from the defense table.
For the first time, she could not interrupt.
The prosecutor asked Claire why her phone was recording.
“To preserve my husband’s reaction to the pregnancy announcement.”
“Did you know your mother-in-law intended to confront you?”
“No.”
“Did you provoke her physically?”
“No.”
“Did you move toward her?”
“No.”
The videos played.
The jury watched Claire stand beside her chair.
Vivian crossed the room.
The heel rose.
The blow landed.
Claire’s hands covered her abdomen before she fell.
Vivian’s attorney approached.
“You and Mrs. Bellamy had argued for years.”
“Yes.”
“You were investigating her company expenses.”
“Yes.”
“You opposed the Crestland sale.”
“Yes.”
“You intended to announce a pregnancy during a business dinner.”
“It was my anniversary dinner before Vivian turned it into a business meeting.”
A few jurors looked toward Daniel.
The attorney continued.
“You knew an heir would reduce Mrs. Bellamy’s trust authority.”
“I learned the full significance after the assault.”
“But you knew a child affected the family trust.”
“I knew our child would be a beneficiary. I did not know Vivian had stolen eighteen million dollars.”
The attorney asked whether Claire enjoyed gaining control.
Claire looked at Vivian.
“I spent four years wanting children, not voting shares.”
Daniel testified next.
He described Vivian’s influence over him.
He admitted minimizing Claire’s warnings.
The defense attorney asked:
“Are you blaming your mother because your marriage is failing?”
Daniel answered:
“My marriage was failing because I kept asking my wife to survive behavior I refused to confront.”
Michael Torres testified about the guests’ silence.
The obstetrician explained the injury.
Sabrina confirmed the financial motive under her cooperation agreement.
Then prosecutors played Vivian’s message:
If those babies are real, the audit starts the day they’re born.
Vivian’s face remained still.
The jury heard exactly what the two heartbeats meant to her.
Not grandchildren.
May you like
Exposure.
👉 Claire’s testimony connected the violence to the fraud, but the final witness would reveal Vivian had once tried to change Arthur Bellamy’s trust before his death.
