Chapter 4 - WHAT THE COURTROOM HEARD
The courtroom was full before the hearing began.
Reporters lined the back wall. Jason sat beside his attorney in a charcoal suit, looking tired but confident. Lorraine sat behind him with her pearls and folded hands.
Chelsea entered through a side door in county jail clothing.
Her hair was tied back. Without makeup, expensive clothes or Jason’s attention, she looked younger and far less certain.
Emily took her seat beside Dana.
Gavin remained outside the courtroom.
He had told Emily that his presence might distract from the evidence. She understood, but the empty seat behind her still hurt.
Jason’s attorney began by describing Emily as emotionally fragile and unusually dependent on her father’s influence.
He showed the edited video from the mansion.
He cited her therapy records.
He referred to Chelsea’s attack as “an unfortunate act of property damage arising from a complicated marital separation.”
Dana did not interrupt.
When Jason testified, he spoke softly.
“I love my wife,” he said. “But I became concerned that pregnancy was intensifying her anxiety.”
“Did you have a romantic relationship with Ms. Reed?”
“No.”
Chelsea looked at him from across the courtroom.
Jason did not look back.
“Did you encourage Ms. Reed to damage your wife’s vehicle?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Did you know she would be at the mansion?”
“No.”
“Why didn’t you intervene when she struck the windshield?”
Jason lowered his eyes.
“I was afraid any sudden movement might cause her to swing toward Emily.”
His answer sounded careful and compassionate.
Emily might have believed it once.
Dana stood for cross-examination.
“Mr. Sullivan, when did you first learn about the parking-garage vandalism?”
“Emily called me.”
“At 10:26 a.m.?”
“Approximately.”
Dana displayed his phone records.
“Then why did you access your wife’s dashcam account at 9:58?”
Jason glanced at his attorney.
“I received an alert.”
“There was no alert.”
“Then I don’t recall.”
Dana placed a photograph on the evidence screen. It showed the destroyed dashcam hanging from its mount.
“Were you worried the device had recorded something?”
“No.”
“Were you worried it had recorded you moving financial documents connected to Mercer Capital?”
Jason’s attorney objected.
The judge allowed the question.
Jason’s composure tightened.
“Those were ordinary business records.”
“Records showing that you and Wade Mercer diverted money from client accounts?”
“No.”
“Records you temporarily hid in your wife’s vehicle because investigators had begun examining your firm?”
“That is false.”
Dana nodded toward the bailiff.
A state investigator brought in a sealed evidence bag containing a black baseball bat.
Chelsea stared at it.
Dana turned toward Jason.
“Have you seen this bat before?”
“No.”
“You didn’t purchase it at Cooper’s Sporting Goods two days before the attack?”
“No.”
Dana displayed a store receipt and security image.
Jason stood at a register holding the same model of bat.
His attorney whispered urgently.
Dana continued.
“You used a corporate credit card in your name.”
Jason looked toward Lorraine.
His mother’s face had gone rigid.
“That could be any bat,” he said.
“The serial number on the receipt matches the number on the bat.”
A murmur moved through the courtroom.
The judge called for silence.
Dana approached Chelsea.
“Ms. Reed, you entered a cooperation agreement with the state this morning. Is that correct?”
Chelsea nodded.
“Speak clearly.”
“Yes.”
“Why did Jason Sullivan buy that bat?”
Chelsea’s eyes filled.
“He told me Emily kept evidence in her car.”
Jason’s attorney objected again.
The judge overruled him.
“What evidence?” Dana asked.
“Videos. Documents. I didn’t know exactly.”
“Why did you destroy the infant car seat?”
Chelsea looked down.
“Because I hated her.”
“Why?”
“Jason told me she trapped him.”
Emily felt the baby move beneath her ribs.
Chelsea continued, her voice shaking.
“He said they were separated. He said the baby probably wasn’t his. He said Emily used her father to threaten him whenever he tried to leave.”
“Did you believe him?”
“Yes.”
“Even after you saw her pregnant inside the car?”
Chelsea covered her mouth for a moment.
“At the mansion, I started realizing something was wrong. He kept telling me to make her get out. He said she would attack me once she saw us together.”
Emily turned toward Jason.
He was staring at the table.
Dana placed a series of recovered text messages on the evidence screen.
Jason: She’ll come if my mother calls.
Lorraine: What if Chelsea goes too far?
Jason: Let her break the glass. Emily will lose it.
Lorraine: And then?
Jason: Record everything. We only need one clean clip.
The courtroom went silent.
The attack had never been a spontaneous confrontation.
Jason had purchased the bat.
Lorraine had lured Emily to the mansion.
Chelsea had been told to provoke her.
Jason had stood beside the car waiting for his pregnant wife to fight back so he could film her, declare her unstable and gain control of the trust.
But Dana was not finished.
She played the unedited recording from Lorraine’s phone.
Chelsea’s bat hit the windshield.
Emily shielded her belly.
The lead officer shouted.
Then, beneath the chaos, Jason’s voice could be heard clearly.
“Get out of the car, Emily. Come on. Do something.”
Emily had not heard him at the time.
Now every person in the courtroom did.
Lorraine began crying.
“I didn’t know he was stealing,” she said suddenly.
Jason spun toward her.
“Mom, stop.”
“He said Emily would take the house. He said the trust belonged to our family.”
“Stop talking.”
Lorraine stood.
“He promised he would pay off my mortgage if I helped.”
Jason’s mask finally broke.
“Sit down!”
His shout cracked through the courtroom.
Emily flinched, and Jason saw it.
For one second, they looked at each other.
He seemed to understand that she was no longer the woman who would soften his anger, protect his reputation or keep his secrets.
The judge denied every request in Jason’s petition.
Then she ordered the transcript and evidence forwarded to the state attorney for review of conspiracy, witness intimidation, unlawful disclosure of medical records and financial crimes.
Two investigators approached Jason.
He looked at Emily.
“You did this.”
May you like
Emily rose slowly, one hand supporting her belly.
“No,” she said. “You just finally had to watch yourself do it.”
