Chapter 9: The Trial Begins**
Three months later, the county courthouse was packed to maximum capacity. Evelyn Vance sat in prisoner orange, stripped of her designer wardrobe and immaculate jewelry. Judge Patricia Morales presided over what the press dubbed the "Trial of the Decade."
Prosecutor Sarah Lin delivered a blistering opening statement: "This is not a case of mental illness. This is a case of cold, calculating, aristocratic narcissism. Evelyn Vance sacrificed her own flesh and blood on the altar of status and control."
When Detective Hayes took the stand, he meticulously detailed the chemical analysis of the arsenic compound, matching the batch directly to the offshore account controlled exclusively by Evelyn.
Defense attorney Pendelton attempted to cross-examine, claiming Julian had planted the evidence out of spite. But Hayes’s response was devastating: "The latent fingerprints on the inner rim of those baby bottles belong to one person only: Evelyn Vance."
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The jury leaned forward, their grim expressions foreshadowing the inevitable verdict.
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