INICIAR SESIÓN[Alice’s POV]When David appeared on my doorstep late at night, looking very agitated, I quickly let him in.He had a baby capsule with him, holding a newborn. The baby was fretting and crying.“I-I can’t stop him crying,” David exclaimed. “Nothing I do works. I’m out of my mind with frustration.”I picked the baby up out of the capsule and placed him upright, gently pressed against my shoulder. I patted his little back and he soon calmed down.“I think babies know when you are tense. It unsettles them,” I said.I looked at David. Relief was written across his face now.“I have to assume this is Lily’s baby?”He chuckled. “Right. Of course. He came a little early. He’s called Ricky.”We went into the lounge and sat down. I looked down at the tiny little bundle lying in my arms. The baby had fallen asleep.“Alice,” David said, “I’m not suitable to raise him on my own. And I don’t trust paid strangers to genuinely care about him. I don’t know which way to turn.”I understood his concern
[David’s POV]The horrified look on Lily’s face when the judge read out her sentence will haunt me to my dying days.They hustled her out of that courtroom, whimpering like a wounded animal.In handcuffs. In denial.The baggy green prison tunic failed to hide her advanced pregnancy.Before the trial began, she had begged me to make sure she gave birth by caesarian. She said she couldn’t survive a natural birth.While that claim was a little over dramatic, I assured her I would do all I could to make it happen.So, now I had an uphill battle to convince the Women’s Penitentiary where they were sending her, to permit a caesarian delivery. The Corrections Facility had what passed for a birthing room for inmates in Lily’s condition.I was informed that regulations did not permit voluntary caesarians. In rare circumstances, a birth emergency was handled at the nearest local hospital that had an obstetrics department.But as usual, money talks. The penitentiary was a privately run institute
[Alice’s POV]I was starting to feel very fatigued.I have been caught up in this trial for too long today, and my energy is plummeting. I want to go home.They have me in the witness stand. Lily’s defense barrister has been badgering me for what feels like hours. It wasn’t, of course, but that’s what it felt like. He was trying to find inconsistencies in my evidence; something to pounce on. But my testimony never varied. I gave him no chance to discredit me.Finally, he retired to the defense’s bench and sat down.Now, the prosecution’s barrister had right of rebuttal.He approached the witness box and in gentle tones he said, “Please accept the court’s apologies, Doctor McCutchen. We understand that you have been battling serious health issues. But I need you to help me with a certain piece of the evidence that is provided on your original witness statement.”He looked around the court room in dramatic fashion, before turning back to me. “Please tell the court what exhibit DiX2 is,
[ Alice’s POV]The chemotherapy has taken its toll these past few months, leaving me fatigued and nauseous much of the time. But my course of treatment is coming to an end.Scans have found no further tumors, so far, which means that thankfully, I haven’t progressed to stage 4. Adam and I have found this a really reassuring sign.Could the battle finally be over?I’ve been taking care of myself to aid my recovery, and having dedicated domestic staff at home has been a blessing.But most of all, Adam’s support has been priceless. He is my strength, my guiding light, leading me out of what sometimes felt like an overwhelming forest of darkness and doom.Lily’s trial is coming up, starting next week, and I was dreading it. The National Office For Prosecutions has kept me informed on how the case against her has been stacking up.They found the van involved, and tips from the public helped them find the location of the warehouse I was taken to before going to the river.Thank you, Endall
[Adam’s POV]“Mr Ballard, Marie Van den Berg is here to see you,” Geraldine announced.I left Eric’s office and headed down to my father’s suite. Well, my suite now.I went straight into the inner office and closed the door behind me.Marie was waiting. She turned to face me when I arrived.She was immaculately groomed, as always. Christian Louboutin shoes and matching clutch, an elegant tailored dress. The whole sophisticated package was completed with an understated Van Cleef necklace.But while she looked vibrant and polished, her face was stoney.“Take a seat,” I told her, pointing to the chaise lounge. But she didn’t move.“Get to the point, Adam,” she snapped. “I’ll give you five minutes, then I’m heading out to a fashion gala.”“Of course you are,” I said. “But, really Marie, you’ll want to hear what I have to say.”I sat down opposite the chaise lounge and looked over at her standing stiffly at the floor-to-ceiling windows that ran one entire side of the office. Her slim figur
[Adam’s POV]My father’s funeral was on Saturday.I was in two minds whether to attend. I know it was expected that I should. I guess it was also expected that I would read a eulogy at the ceremony.How could I do that when I had nothing good to say about the man, and plenty to say about his failings as a human being and as a father?Alice and I talked it over. It was a relief to share my conflicted feelings about it.“Perhaps you could just put in a brief appearance,” she suggested. “And get away as soon as you decently can.”I left it until the morning of the funeral to decide what I was going to do. Taking the cue from Alice, I appeared at the church at the last minute, sat in a row near the back and ducked back out of the church as soon as I could get away. And I didn’t attend the wake afterwards at his mansion on the family estate.Instead, I contacted an upmarket real estate firm that afternoon, to place the property on the market. I couldn’t bring myself to live in his shadow,
[Alice's POV]The dull pain in my stomach struck again, more intense than at any time before. I staggered for a moment, and Adam firmly supported me.“You need to get checked out right away.” Adam’s tone was serious. “You’re paler even than Lily.”“Could you take me back to Lily’s room? I’ve left m
[Alice’s POV]Adam’s car was a sleek, refined, dark gray Volvo. Just as he gave off the feeling of safe, steady, and possessing the right amount of restraint, so too did his car.The moment the door closed, the bothersome noise that had assailed me, those false compliments and malicious speculation
[Alice’s POV]Sirens cut through the dull night sky of Boston.David obviously didn’t expect Adam to actually call the police, much less that the police would arrive so quickly. When the alternating red and blue lights reflected off the body of his top of the range Rolls-Royce, the malevolence on h
[Alice’s POV]The police officer assigned to this complaint spoke to both men. “Regarding Mrs Newcombe’s movements from here, since this is not a case of injury arising from a domestic violence complaint, the Berkeley Police Department has no jurisdiction in determining her future decisions. She ha







