The mistress violently shoved his eight-month-pregnant wife down the courthouse steps. But she had absolutely no idea that the woman bleeding out across the marble was the cherished sister of the most feared attorney in the state

Chapter 12: Guilty

"On the primary charge of Aggravated Assault in the first degree, causing severe bodily injury to an unborn child, how do you find the defendant?" the court clerk asked, clutching the heavy paper document.

"We find the defendant... Guilty," the foreperson announced clearly.

Vanessa’s knees instantly buckled beneath her weight. A piercing, jagged wail ripped from her throat, echoing off the oak paneling as she collapsed entirely into the arms of her public defender, sobbing hysterically as reality finally crushed her spirit. The presiding judge struck his heavy wooden gavel once, his expression carved from stone, completely devoid of mercy or theatricality.

"Ms. Kensington, your actions on that courthouse plaza were a staggering display of monstrous vanity, malice, and premeditated cruelty," the judge stated sternly, his voice echoing through the quiet room. "The court sees no mitigating factors whatsoever. I hereby sentence you to serve twelve consecutive years in the state correctional facility, with no possibility of parole for the first eight."

As two burly, uniformed bailiffs hauled the kicking and screaming Vanessa away toward the holding cells through the side doors, Khloe remained seated in the gallery, her face completely serene.