The Unwanted Wife's Return (Ex-Husband Wants Me Back) novel Chapter 173

Gavel and Goodbye

HANNAH’S POV:

I thanked the heavens for Lucas. He was genuinely one of the most supportive people I’d ever known. The best uncle and godfather to my kids. He’d been angry at everyone who’d hurt me, defensive on my behalf even when I’d been too tired to defend myself.

We walked into the courtroom together as a united group, but the moment I saw Janet sitting at the defense table, something inside me twisted painfully.

There she was. Handcuffed. Looking pale and thinner than I’d ever seen her. A shadow of the girl I’d once called my sister.

Yet her eyes, those cold and furious eyes, were exactly the same as they’d always been. Her lips curled into that familiar smug smirk, like she was sitting in a café rather than a defendant’s chair awaiting sentencing for attempted murder.

Like she wasn’t responsible for the scars still healing on my skin and in my heart.

Her mother sat rigidly beside her, stiff-backed and sour-faced as always. Her father stared straight ahead like he’d already left his body weeks ago, like he’d checked out of reality entirely.

Good. I was genuinely happy they weren’t actually my parents. I couldn’t imagine my real parents, Mirada and Aaron, being so fundamentally evil.

The bailiff called for everyone to rise as the judge entered. My knees felt weak and shaky. Each heartbeat vibrated loudly in my ears, drowning out almost everything else.

The judge was an older woman with steel-gray hair and sharp eyes behind reading glasses. She adjusted those glasses now, flipping through papers on her desk with excruciating slowness.

Every second felt like an hour.

“After carefully reviewing all evidence presented by the prosecution,” she began, her voice clear and authoritative, “as well as all testimony from both the defense and prosecution witnesses, expert reports, psychological evaluations, and the complete criminal investigation findings, I am now ready to deliver my sentencing decision.”

My breath came out trembling and uneven.

“For your roles as accessories to kidnapping, for your participation in abuse and psychological torture, for aiding in attempted murder, and for your involvement in arson, Mr. and Mrs. Jones, you are each sentenced to twenty- five years in prison, with no chance of parole before you have served a minimum of twenty years.”

There was a quiet, heavy pause that seemed to stretch forever.

Then the judge picked up her gavel, and there was a single, decisive strike against the sound block.

“Court is adjourned.”

The echo of that gavel broke something open inside me. My knees wobbled dangerously. My breath stuttered in my chest. My lungs felt too small to hold enough air.

Then suddenly my friends were surrounding me, creating a protective circle. Their bodies pressed close in a messy, tearful group embrace.

Maya squeezed me so tightly my already tender ribs ached. Cherry clung to me from the other side, openly sobbing. Jacob kissed the top of my head while making soothing sounds. Lucas wrapped his impossibly long arms around all of us, holding us together in a cocoon of warmth and safety and love.