The Accidental Wife (Emily and Julian)

Chapter 74

I put on a dark blue suit and pulled my hair in a low ponytail. Jeffrey's trial was today. I didn't know if I could stomach seeing him, but I wanted to be there. I wanted to look him in the eye as he would get sentenced to at least five years in prison.

If I was going to be completely honest, I didn't think that five years were enough, because he had done so much. However, even if they were just five years, at least he would be punished for what he had tried to do.

My own father tried to kill me.

I couldn't even wrap my mind around that fact until now.

I was starting to make peace with how he never loved me and didn't even try to, but even if I made peace with that idea, it wasn't easy to accept that my father pulled the trigger against me.

He

had seen how Fiona and Maggie were towards me, yet he had always made sure to find excuses for them no matter what. I guess if Fiona was the one who tried to shoot me, he would have found an excuse to help her get away with her actions, considering that she was t daughter he had always wanted.

"Are you sure you want to go, sunshine?" my fiancé asked me.

I took a deep breath and nodded. He had asked me that question last night and I told him that

I wanted to go, but Julian understood well how I was feeling. He understood how hard it was for me to find out that my father wanted to permanently get rid of me. He suggested that I shouldn't go, yet I wanted to be there. I wanted to see him being punished for his desire to Julian punished him before when he found out that he stole my money and had always mistreated me. It was now the law's turn to punish him.

"I've got you, Emily. If you want to leave at any moment, just tell me," he said, wrapping me in his arms. His touch would always be my number one source of comfort.

"Thank you for always having my back," I whispered, leaning in to kiss him.

Julian and I headed to the car where his driver was waiting for us. He opened the door and we both got inside.

During the whole ride, Julian didn't let go of my hand and kept rubbing small circles on its back; a way to help me ease my nerves.

When we arrived at the court, I was surprised to find Ansel, Harper, Sam and Maya waiting for us there. My eyes welled with tears at the idea of seeing them coming to support me, but I quickly blinked them away, not wanting to get emotional.

"Did you really think that we were going to leave you alone?" Sam said as he tightly hugged me. "I can't wait to see that old bastard rot behind bars."

"Yeah... I can't wait for this to happen too," I mumbled as we pulled away.

Once it was time to get inside the courtroom, my anxiety intensified. I wasn't sure if I was ready to see him or not. What eased my nerves was the presence of my family with me. They made me feel stronger.

When my eyes laid on him, my heartbeats accelerated. Hatred was obvious in his eyes. For years, I thought that something was wrong with me. I thought that I didn't deserve to be loved because my own father didn't love me. But years later, I found myself among people w Julian told me that Jeffrey said during interrogation that he lost Maggie and Fiona because of me, yet they were here. He didn't want to admit to himself that they abandoned him because all they wanted was his money and once he ran out of it, he became useless. Their glares towards me didn't escape my notice. To them, I was the devil who took away the luxurious lifestyle they were accustomed to. Yet, they didn't consider themselves criminals for what they had done to me for as long as I could remember. Not only did they mistreat me, but they also made sure to ruin my marriage after they were the reason behind it. I couldn't understand their logic. I wanted to know how their brain worked, but I believe that was one hell of a mystery that I would never be able to solve. "I know that he is going to get more than five years in prison. Actually, more than ten years. Once the judge delivers his verdict, I want us to end this chapter in our lives okay? No more thinking about him, Maggie, or Fiona, yeah?" Julian told me. "How are you so sure that he's going to get more than ten years?" I wondered, tilting my head. My fiancé was full of surprises. He never failed to

amaze me.

Before Julian got to answer me, the judge walked inside. Silence took over the place and the trial started.

As I stared at Jeffrey for a while, I realized that he had grown so much. More wrinkles were visible on his face and something about his eyes was different.

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11:39 AM Chapter 74

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My mouth dropped when I realized that Jeffrey wasn't just being tried for trying to kill me. I understood why Julian was speaking with confidence. Jeffrey was also being prosecuted for forging my mother's will and a lot of other things he had committed. I looked at my soon-to-be husband and I found a sly smirk on his mouth.

"Just five years for trying to kill the love of my life? Not on my watch, sunshine," he whispered, making me smile.

It wasn't a long trial and I was surprised with how Jeffrey admitted to doing everything he was accused of. Why did he give up on life like that? He wasn't like that. What happened that broke him to that extent?

"I hereby sentence you Jeffrey Harolds to twenty-three years in prison," the judge ruled and I sucked in a breath.

I didn't expect that to happen, but I found myself feeling sorry for him. If he had been a good father, none of that would have happened. We would have been a good family and I would have introduced him to Rosie.

But I had to remind myself that he was the one who chose that path. He was the one who tried to kill me.

Knowing that there would be a lot of reporters outside, we all knew that we needed to leave as soon as possible. My eyes met Fiona's and I saw a sly smile on her lips that I could not decipher. Was I just being paranoid and reading too much into it? I wanted to forget about them and live my life peacefully. I wanted Julian and Rosie to be safe and not get hurt because of some people that were once considered my 'family' in the eyes of the public.

Once Julian and I walked inside our place, we were greeted by Rosie's babysitter who informed us that our daughter was asleep. We sat on the couch. Automatically, I rested my head on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" he asked softly.

"I thought... I thought I would be happy after this day, you know? But I... I'm upset. I never wanted this to be the end. I never wanted him to be my enemy, but he... he chose this," I replied, looking at him.

"It's normal to feel this way. I didn't expect you to be ecstatic. I know that this may be hard, but let's just forget about this, okay? Let's have a new start. We deserve it. You deserve it." Julian was right. We did deserve it.

"Are you ready to move to our new place?" I loved the smile I saw on his lips.

"I can't wait." I grinned.

"Mommy." A sleepy Rosie walked towards us, making me smile. I picked her up and put her on my lap, smothering her with kisses, causing her to giggle.

"I missed you, cupcake," I told her.

"I missed you too," she said, putting her head on my chest. "Hi, Daddy."

"Hello, cupcake," he said, poking her nose playfully. "Are you both up for a little adventure?" he asked us.

Rosie and I looked at each other for a moment before looking back at him and nodding. "What do you have in mind?" I wondered.

"Who would like to go to the amusement park?" Rosie squealed as he made the suggestion and jumped off my lap.

And just like that, we spent the rest of the day, having fun and enjoying the company of our daughter. Our family was small, but I loved everything about it. I couldn't wait until Julian and I grew it together.