CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: THE WITNESS BOX
The courtroom was cold.
Polished wood. Steel-gray light pouring through high windows. Rows of strangers in suits. And in the center, Grace Clarke, dressed in a beige blazer, her hands folded like a polite guest at afternoon tea.
But her eyes—those dark, calculating eyes—never left Emma.
Emma stood near the witness stand, palms sweating.
Caroline Dorsey gave her a reassuring nod.
"It's just the truth," she'd said.
But truth had never felt so heavy.
⸻
The Oath
Emma placed her hand on the Bible and whispered the words:
"I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."
She sat down.
The room waited.
Caroline stood.
"Can you state your name for the record?"
"Emma Grace Clarke."
"Do you recognize the defendant?"
A long pause.
"Yes," Emma said. "She's my mother."
⸻
The Cross-Examination of a Life
Caroline took her through the past slowly. Carefully.
Her childhood. The inconsistencies. The whispers. The sudden wealth.
How Emma started asking questions.
How she discovered that "Grace Clarke" wasn't born. She was made.
And how it led to Marianne Dunn, the missing woman who hadn't been dead—but silenced.
Emma's voice only cracked once.
"She didn't raise me. She trained me—to lie, to cover, to obey. But I never knew what I was protecting."
The courtroom murmured. The judge called for order.
Caroline nodded, satisfied.
"No further questions."
⸻
Grace Takes the Stand
Later that day, Grace stood in the same box Emma had occupied hours earlier.
She looked at the jury like an old friend.
"I never lied about being a mother," she began. "I lied about surviving."
She painted herself as a woman who had escaped abuse. A girl who had needed a new name to live free. A mother who'd done what she had to for her daughter's future.
"I didn't steal Marianne's life. I stepped into it when she left it behind."
Emma couldn't believe what she was hearing.
The courtroom was transfixed.
⸻
Marianne's Turn
Then came Marianne.
Quiet. Thin. Still bearing the marks of her silence.
She opened a small leather notebook.
"This is my journal. I kept it when I was in school. I wrote about Anna—her real name—and how we loved each other. I trusted her."
She turned a page.
"And then she forged my documents. Took my identity. And threatened to make me disappear if I said anything."
Tears slipped down her face.
"She didn't become me. She erased me."
The courtroom was silent.
⸻
Grace's Final Move
During a recess, Grace passed Emma a folded note as she was escorted past her.
Emma didn't want to open it.
But she did.
You have no idea what you've started.
I built a life. And now you've handed it to vultures.
Still think you're different from me?
Wait till they turn on you too.
– G*
Emma folded it without a word.
And dropped it in the bin.
⸻
Closing Scene – The Verdict Waits
The jury was dismissed for deliberation.
Emma and Marianne sat side by side on a bench in the courthouse corridor.
"You did well," Marianne said. "She didn't break you."
Emma nodded. "She almost did."
"She broke me once," Marianne said. "But I'm still here."
Emma looked at the courtroom doors.
"Let's hope the truth is too."
Would you like to continue with Chapter 24, where the verdict is delivered—and the public fallout begins?