The Verdict on My Husband the Judge: GUILTY novel Chapter 23

Chapter 7

During my recovery, everything was peaceful and calm.

But I knew it was only because Sander was shielding me from all the confrontations and desperate pleas coming my

way.

After that day, my phone had been ringing nonstop.

I’d gradually cut ties with everyone during my marriage to Theo, so this time I just changed my number entirely.

The moment I got online with my new SIM card, I found out the Harrington family had gone bankrupt.

At first, Theo spent his days posting angry rants online cursing everyone and everything, mostly Sander, swearing vengeance for stealing his wife.

Then Sander released the hospital security footage showing Theo’s own words about sending me to the Blackwood estate, cementing his image as the husband who chose his mistress over his wife. The internet turned on him completely after that.

Sander’s anger didn’t stop there either. He pulled all investments and canceled every partnership, and within days the Harrington empire crumbled under mounting debts and operational failures until they officially declared bankruptcy.

Then Theo’s online presence shifted to begging, saying Sander had gone too far and should leave some room for reconciliation. When he couldn’t reach me directly, he pleaded through social media posts asking me to show mercy for old times‘ sake, even setting up a digital memorial for my parents online, which I found equal parts infuriating and pathetic.

A month later, my injuries had mostly healed under Sanders attentive care and I was finally ready to leave the recovery facility.

But first, I needed to go back to the Harrington house one more time.

The estate had been sold off to settle debts, and Sander had Hought it.

I was going back for my parents‘ ashes.

As I wiped the dust off their photograph, an aching emptiness settled in my chest.

Ten years ago, my parents and I had moved back to the city because Alistair Harrington was gravely ill.

My mother was his adopted daughter. It was a cliché story really–the old man’s biological daughter had been lost, so he’d adopted my mom to fill that void, only for the real daughter to eventually be found.

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Chapter 7

My mother felt like she’d taken someone else’s place, so she left without taking anything and went to Santa Fe where she met my dad and they built a quiet, loving life together.

Even after the biological daughter’s health deteriorated and she passed away young, even after Alistair reached out repeatedly, my mother refused to return.

Not until he fell critically ill did her compassion move her to go back and care for him, to repay his years of raising

her.

But in everyone else’s eyes, especially Genevieve’s, my mother was just a shameless woman coming back to fight for inheritance. Genevieve made her life hell at every turn.

My mother didn’t care. She believed actions spoke louder than words and that the truth would reveal itself in the

end.

Then an accident put an end to all the conflict.

Late one night, a scented candle Genevieve had lit caught fire and the flames spread from the bedroom through the entire house. My parents woke everyone and got them out safely, but then realized Alistair was still in his sickbed.

The bed was too heavy for one person to move.

My parents ran back into the inferno and pushed Alistair to safety, but they never made it out themselves.

After that, no one in the Harrington family dared speak ill of me again.

I touched the cold surface of the urn, my eyes burning.

But Mom, Dad, in the end it just proved that the people you saved weren’t worth it.

When I stepped outside the estate, rain was pouring down in sheets.

Sander held an umbrella over me as we walked to the car, and unsurprisingly, we ran into Theo.

He looked haggard with an unkempt beard and a suit that clearly hadn’t been washed in days, reeking of sour sweat. All his former confidence had vanished completely.

The moment he saw me, joy flooded his face and he stumble forward before dropping to his knees in front of me.

“Juliette, I was wrong! I was so wrong! Please, just give me one more chance!”

“I know you’re upset about Bianca, but I see her clearly now she’s trash, she destroyed what we had! I broke her legs and locked her in the basement, you can go get your revenge whenever you want!”

His bloodshot eyes looked up at me pleadingly. “Jules, we’ve known each other for ten years and loved each other all that time. I don’t believe you’ve really let me go! You must have been forced into this, right?”

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The Verdict on My Husband the Judge: GUILTY

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Chapter 7

Looking at his desperate expression, I felt something finally settle in my chest.

Maybe before today I wasn’t entirely sure if I still had feelings for him, but now I was absolutely certain–I didn’t.

This pathetic, spineless man who bent whichever way the wind blew was no longer the passionate young man I’d once fallen for.

I’d just call it a mistake from the past.

I didn’t spare him another glance and headed straight for the car.

No matter how much Theo begged and cursed behind me, I never looked back.

Six months later on Valentine’s Day, Sander proposed to me

I said yes.

From the way his eyes had avoided mine that first day, I’d already guessed that Sander had loved me for a long time, even though I’d always seen him as my childhood friend.

But this late–blooming affection wasn’t too late at all.

Maybe being tied to Theo for so long had made me forget what real love actually looked like.

Sander prepared surprises for every occasion, arranged everything thoughtfully, paid constant attention to my moods, and seemed eager to give me everything he had.

His love was intense and pure, like he’d never stopped being that earnest little boy from years ago.

A year later, we held a grand wedding by the ocean, just the way I’d always wanted.

After the guests had left, I changed into a simpler wedding dess and walked hand in hand with Sander along the

beach.

The sun was setting and the sea breeze was gentle.

Suddenly Sander produced a bouquet of lily of the valley and dropped to one knee in front of me with a radiant

smile.

“Jules, will you marry Mr. Sander?”

My veil lifted in the ocean breeze and draped over both of us in a soft, hazy cocoon.

The scene was so familiar it pulled me back to a summer day more than ten years ago.

I laughed softly, accepted the bouquet, and gave a dignified mod.

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