Part 2: The Shadows Within

The Evidence of Betrayal
The trial centered on the contents of the “calming” tea. The lab results had come back months ago, and the testimony of the toxicologist was a blur of long, scientific names for substances that should never be near a pregnant child.

“The defendant, Patricia Gomez, systematically administered abortifacients under the guise of familial care,” the prosecutor announced, his voice echoing.

I looked at my mother. She was weeping silently, her face buried in my father’s shoulder. To lose a sister and a daughter’s trust in the same breath was a wound that hadn’t begun to scab. My father’s eyes were fixed on the judge, his jaw set so tight I thought his teeth might break. He had spent the last year working double shifts at the warehouse to pay for the lawyers, determined that justice wouldn’t be another thing the wealthy could buy.