Chapter 12 - The Trial of Adrian Bennett
Three months passed.
Noah survived.
He spent seven weeks in neonatal intensive care before Sophia was finally allowed to take him home.
Thomas also survived after multiple surgeries.
Eleanor remained in critical condition for several weeks but gradually recovered.
Marcus Cross was presumed dead.
Search teams found pieces of his boat, his coat, and blood on the wreckage.
They never found his body.
Sophia did not believe he was gone.
Neither did Gabriel.
Adrian’s trial became the most watched legal case in the country.
Prosecutors presented the ballroom footage, the custody plan, the clinic payments, and his attack against Vanessa.
Adrian’s attorneys claimed he had been manipulated by the Bennett Legacy Trust.
They argued that Marcus Cross had directed the medical conspiracy.
They portrayed Adrian as another victim.
Sophia sat in the courtroom each day.
She listened while the man she once loved described their marriage as an obligation forced upon him.
“I cared for Sophia,” Adrian testified. “But I began to believe the child was the only reason the family valued me.”
The prosecutor approached him.
“So you planned to have your wife declared mentally unfit?”
“I was advised that she might become unstable.”
“By whom?”
“Marcus Cross.”
“Did Marcus Cross force you to sleep with Vanessa?”
Adrian looked toward the jury.
“No.”
“Did he force you to tell Vanessa that you would take Sophia’s baby?”
“No.”
“Did he force you to point a gun at your pregnant wife?”
Adrian’s silence filled the courtroom.
Sophia felt no satisfaction.
Only distance.
The man on the witness stand no longer resembled the person in her wedding photograph.
Vanessa testified next.
She admitted to the affair and the clinic payment.
She described Marcus’s lifelong control.
“I believed love was something you earned by being useful,” she said. “Adrian made me feel chosen.”
The prosecutor asked, “Did Sophia ever threaten you?”
“No.”
“Did she save your life after Adrian shot you?”
Vanessa looked toward Sophia.
“Yes.”
Gabriel testified about the Legacy Trust.
Eleanor provided documents proving that Harold Bennett had created the system of hidden descendants and arranged marriages.
Charles admitted that he had known about many of his father’s actions but had remained silent to protect the company.
The confession destroyed what remained of his reputation.
It also saved several children whose identities were hidden in the Blackwood files.
Authorities began investigating adoptions, hospitals, private schools, and foundations across multiple countries.
On the final day of testimony, Adrian requested to speak with Sophia.
Maya advised her not to go.
Sophia agreed anyway.
They met in a secure room separated by glass.
Adrian wore a gray prison uniform.
He picked up the telephone.
Sophia did the same.
For several seconds, he only looked at her.
“How is Noah?”
“He’s healthy.”
“You changed his name.”
“Yes.”
“He’s still my son.”
“Biologically.”
Pain crossed Adrian’s face.
“I was raised to believe the company was everything.”
“That explains you. It does not excuse you.”
“I know.”
Sophia had expected anger.
Instead, Adrian sounded empty.
“Did you ever love me?” she asked.
He looked down.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“At the beginning. Before everyone started telling me what our marriage meant.”
Sophia remembered the early years.
Adrian bringing her coffee while she worked late.
Adrian dancing with her in an empty kitchen.
Adrian promising that she would never become trapped inside the Bennett family.
Perhaps those moments had been real.
Perhaps that was why the betrayal had hurt so deeply.
“What happened?” she asked.
“I became afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That you and the baby would replace me.”
“So you tried to take him.”
“I thought control would stop the fear.”
Sophia looked at him.
“It only revealed who you were willing to become.”
Adrian pressed his hand against the glass.
“Is there any chance you’ll forgive me?”
“One day, I may stop carrying hatred.”
Hope entered his eyes.
“That is not the same as forgiveness.”
She placed the phone down.
As she stood, Adrian struck the glass.
“Sophia.”
She looked back.
His voice came faintly through the barrier.
“Marcus is alive.”
Sophia picked up the phone again.
“How do you know?”
“He contacted my lawyer.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“What did he want?”
Adrian’s eyes moved toward the security camera.
“He said Noah is not the final heir.”
Sophia felt cold.
“What does that mean?”
“He said another child was born before Noah.”
“Whose child?”
Adrian leaned closer to the glass.
“He told me to ask Gabriel what happened eight years ago in Prague.”
The guard entered.
“Time is over.”
Sophia held the phone tightly.
“What happened in Prague?”
Adrian’s expression changed.
May you like
For the first time during the entire trial, he smiled.
“Gabriel knows.”
