Chicago

Epilogue

Four hundred and eighty five days.

It took me four hundred and eighty five days to see the light of day again.

"I'm standing outside of the Westville Condos located in Downtown Chicago where the grisly murder of famous musical producer, Derek Frost, just took place. At around two o' clock this morning, officers received a call from neighboring tenants about an unsettling disturbance in apartment 1002. Tenants recalled hearing loud crashes and screaming coming from the apartment. When officers arrived at the scene they were frightened to see Derek Frost laying in the middle of the apartment, stabbed to death. The suspect? His fiancé, Chicago Bennett..."

Everyone knew about "The Derek Frost Case." It was one of the most highly publicized crimes in Illinois history as it featured a wealthy, established man and a woman who was itching to kill. A story of a broken and battered woman suddenly turned into a shameful display of greed and gore. Everyone labeled me a cold hearted killer and it felt like my life was over.

"The honorable Judge Hoffman..."

The court stood up as the judge walked into the courtroom without a figment of expression. She had been through hundreds of cases like this one and didn't plan on extending any mercy to Chai if she didn't deserve it.

The court settled in and prepared for the lengthy trial. Chai sat there with her defense attorney that was graciously funded by Brynn and Asaad. The defense attorney had her work cut out for her and wasn't 100% confident that they'd win. It was obvious that Chai was the killer but now they had to prove a reasonable motive. It seemed like a cut and dry case but the evidence proved otherwise.

After the opening statements and prosecution evidence, Chai was finally called up to the stand. She sat to the left of the judge  and looked amongst the crowd of people who came to witness the trial. Within the sea of people, Chai quickly spotted her family who stood by her side through it all. Brynn, Asaad and Saint sat there with confidence and gazed encouragement into Chai. It almost made her cry because their support was the only thing getting her through the long and painful days.

"Ms. Bennett, how long were you and Derek Frost together?" The prosecutor began her cross examination. Her eyes were cold and she had no intentions on taking it easy on Chai.

"Since high school."

"Can you give me an exact number? Two...three years?"

"I'd say about three and a half years."

"And how would you describe your relationship with Mr. Frost?" She inquired.

"Abusive."

"What was the first occurrence of abuse that you experienced with Mr. Frost?"

"It was soon after we officially moved in together. One night, I found out he was cheating and when I tried to leave him, he pushed me down, choked me and then threatened to kill me if I left him," Chai answered with a shaky voice. Be strong, she told herself. It was humiliating to expose her situation to a bunch of strangers who were itching to discredit her experience.

"I see...were you ever on some sort of house arrest? It's to my knowledge that you were employed at a nearby boutique and pretty much had free reign to go wherever you pleased. Is that correct?"

"Yes but-"

"So then why did you stay? Is it plausible that you could've left him at any time you were able to leave the house?"

Chai choked up, "yes...but I was scared."

"Of?"

"What if he came after me or my family? He knew exactly where we lived and he knew exactly where I would be if I wasn't with him. I didn't want to risk getting my family hurt."