His Chosen Bride (Perilous Series)

The Sentence

Enjoy!

*********************

Marcia

It was pouring outside, along with extreme humidity and my growing anxiety, which was making it hard to breathe. I walked into the building where Ashton's future would be decided, in a couple of hours.

I still remember how our house was ambushed and all of Ashton's guns were taken two days later. The same night he was taken I got rid of all the illegal arms. They ran test after test on every single one of them but could never find the one which had taken the lives of the brothers. There were a few things that came back to him, but nothing that I knew of that could possibly keep him in there for a long time. I had asked the lawyers again and again for more information but even they were having a difficult time.

I still shivered at the memory of that day. I knew who the real killer was, everyone working for Ashton knew. Yet the state government still wanted to see Ashton rot in a jail cell. They questioned his money and I brought the paperwork from the bank accounts he had set up for the company. I also brought them proof that he had acquired the money legally and there was nothing illegal when running the resorts. They wanted to bring him down one way or another.

I walked into the small courtroom escorted by Landon and my brother. I watched as Ashton was brought in and I swallowed the knot in my throat. He looked worse than the last time I saw him. His stress was showing on his face, and all I wanted to do was run up to him and tell him it would be okay.

I sat quietly between my brother and Landon. I was holding their hands tightly praying under my breath. After a few minutes I zoned out. I replayed everything that I had done with Ashton in the past month and smiled to myself.

I was completely numb at the moment and my ears were ringing. I realized I had zoned out for a long time and I tuned into what the judge was saying, making me frowned.

"The evidence is not very clear of whom the killer is..." He trailed off and I glared at him.

What does this idiot think he is doing?

"I have given the jury the permission to discuss this amongst themselves. They have reviewed this information, and they have come to a conclusion, I will give them as long as they need to make a decision." The members of the jury got up in a haste and left the small court room.

My nerves skyrocketed. Ashton turned around in his chair and glanced at me. He gave me a small smirk and nodded my way. A small part of me took that as a farewell and started to silently cry.

I placed my left hand over my mouth to stop the sobs from coming out of my mouth. I felt the hot, angry tears trailing down my cheeks and wiped harshly at my face. Landon squeezed my hand and mouthed something, I couldn't tell due to my blurry vision.

I cried for what felt like an eternity and watched as the jury walked back inside. One by one they gave their reason and they seemed to all be in favor of him being free. It was up to the last member to decide Ashton's fate.

The jury passed a paper to the judge since they wanted to keep the decision anonymous, due to the severity of the case. "The jury find the defendant not guilty." Those words alone caused me to choke on a sob. I didn't hear the rest of that because I was too focused on Ashton's expression.

He was now free.

********************

The judge ordered his immediate release but Ashton had to stay behind to sign some paperwork. He also wanted to change into some clothes I had brought along. For almost an hour I didn't get the chance to see or hold him, and it was killing me inside. I wanted to touch him and tell him how much I had missed him. I wanted to tell him that he was free. But mostly, I wanted to do it to remind myself that he was out of that hell hole.