Three days later, the county courthouse was packed with news cameras, corporate executives, and high-society reporters. Flashbulbs exploded continuously as state troopers escorted Victoria Sterling down the center aisle of the main courtroom.
Victoria wore a orange state corrections jumpsuit, her hands handcuffed to a heavy leather waist chain. Her hair was pulled back tightly, and a small white bandage covered the deep cut on her forehead where Clara's crowbar had struck her.
At the prosecutor's table sat Clara, dressed in a neat navy suit, holding her four-day-old niece tightly against her chest. Beside her sat Sarah Jenkins and Detective Vance.
Judge Harrison: Court will come to order. We are here for the formal arraignment and bail hearing in the matter of the State versus Victoria Sterling.
Defense Attorney: Your Honor, my client is a prominent business leader and a respected member of the community. We request immediate release on personal recognizance or a modest bail bond.
Prosecutor: The State strongly opposes bail, Your Honor! The defendant is charged with first-degree murder, felony child kidnapping, and attempted human trafficking!
Defense Attorney: The defense maintains that the chapel incident was a severe misunderstanding regarding ceremonial estate arrangements!
Judge Harrison: A misunderstanding? Mr. Davis, there is video footage of a living newborn being pulled out from a locked wooden casket buried under flowers!
Defense Attorney: My client was not aware the child was inside that casket, Your Honor!
Judge Harrison: She had the brass key in her pocket along with a foreign transfer bill of lading signed in her own hand!
Victoria leaned over to her attorney, whispering frantically with a cold, desperate expression.
Victoria: Tell him I will surrender my passport! Tell him I will wear an electronic ankle monitor at my Hamptons home!
Defense Attorney: Your Honor, Mrs. Sterling is willing to post a twenty-million-dollar cash bond immediately!
Judge Harrison: Money cannot purchase freedom when a child's life was placed in a box, Mr. Davis.
Judge Harrison turned his sharp gaze toward Clara, nodding respectfully to the young woman sitting at the prosecution table.
Judge Harrison: Clara Sterling, do you wish to make a statement before I rule on the bail application?
Clara stood up slowly, cradling the tiny sleeping baby in her left arm as she walked up to the podium in front of the judge's bench.
Clara: Your Honor, three days ago, this woman tried to erase my sister's legacy. She tried to bury a living child in a dark wooden box so she could keep control of a bank account.
Victoria: You lie! You set me up at the chapel!
Judge Harrison: Silence in the courtroom! One more outburst from the defendant and I will have her removed to the holding cell!
Clara: Victoria didn't just steal money, Your Honor. She stole my sister's life, and she tried to steal this baby's future. If she is released on bail, no witness in this case will ever be safe.
Judge Harrison: Thank you, Miss Sterling. You may be seated.
Judge Harrison adjusted his glasses, looking down at the legal documents resting on his mahogany bench before striking his wooden gavel with a loud thud.
Judge Harrison: Bail is denied! The defendant will remain in state custody at the maximum-security facility until her trial date!
Victoria: No! You can't do this to me! I am Victoria Sterling!
Judge Harrison: Take the prisoner away!
Two state troopers grabbed Victoria by her arms, dragging her toward the heavy iron doors at the rear of the courtroom. She thrashed against her waist chain, her face contorting in wild rage as she screamed at Clara.
Victoria: You took everything from me, Clara! You took my company! You took my life!
Clara: You took yourself down, Victoria. Greed was your only master, and now it's your jailer.
The heavy iron doors slammed shut behind Victoria, cutting off her screams once and for all. The crowd inside the courtroom broke into a loud, spontaneous round of applause as news reporters rushed forward to take photos of Clara holding her baby niece.