Blanca Like Snow

Chapter 49 ~ Unfair Trade

       With the sweet word, the masks fall off and Laura shows her true colours. For the first time, she loses her composure in front of an audience, her face draining of colour as she just gapes at the judge, like waiting for him to tell her it's just a joke. For a moment even I fear that's what will happen, but the verdict is clear and unchangeable and when that sinks in Laura's mind, she screams.

The woman stands up in one motion, fast like a blur, the chair falling back with the force of the movement whilst she slams her fists against the desk, the scream piercing in the ears of all the people present in the room. Her eyes are wild and crazy, and for a second her expression reminds be of a rabid predator, a creature that'll jump to my neck and kill me.

"This is a joke, isn't it?" Laura cries out, glaring at the judge but he ignores her, so now she turns to her lawyer. "You said we'd win! That no matter what they showed we could turn it around. YOU SAID IT!"

Because Laura wasn't a prisoner per se, she isn't wearing handcuffs so when the lawyer is about to say something she just backhands him with all she's got, the sound of flesh against flesh hard and violent, making more than one flinch.

"You incompetent foolish rubbish. You'll pay for this," she threatens her lawyer, forgetting where she is because at such display of violence and clear threat, the police officers making guard come to take her away, also taking her to fulfil her sentence.

I watch the scene with a detached feeling, like I'm not really in the room watching all this happen, as if all this was just part of a dream.

"It's done," Will calls then and only then I wake up and realise he's by my side again, his hand holding mine very tightly. "She'll start paying for all she did. It's over now, Blanca."

I turn to focus on his face, letting the words wrap me and lull me in a sense of peace and safety. Will is right, it's over and now Laura will go to jail and pay for all her crimes, not just the attempt murder but also conspiracy to attempt murder and all the corruption to fake my dead, and the embezzlement with the company.

She'll stay in prison for many years. And with her have fallen many others, including Dean for accomplice and murder attempt.

When my body catches up with what happened and understands it's really over, we won and the nightmare has ended, I lose all my strength. It feels like my muscles have turned in gelatine and relief is too heavy for them, I can't hold myself. Will is fast to catch me and cradle me against his chest, rubbing his hands on my back soothingly.

It takes a while for me to fully believe it's over, that the rial really took place and justice was served, which is inspiring. I had lost hope in the system, and was terrified it would come to slap us again, but we used everything we had to back up our case and fight our cause, succeeding at the end.

For the rest of the trial day, I'm in shock and too exhausted to do anything else. The pressure and anxiety worn me out and I can barely keep myself awake. Will is always by my side, holding me and reminding me it did happen when I wake up from a nap. Then Nora is the one telling me I don't need to go to work today and that I need to rest, too.

"You've been asking too much to yourself and you'll break if you don't stop for a bit. Stay home with Will today, we'll take care of the rest," Nora encourages me and reluctantly I agree, mostly because with Will's arms wrapped around me and cocooned in his warmth I really don't want to move.

I give myself one day to be with Will, although we don't do much aside from cuddling. We don't even talk too much but there's something so comforting that comes with being with him, his company more revitalising than anything else.