Chapter 106

• Jennifer’s POV
• The bench under me feels harder than usual, as though the grain of the wood itself is pressing judgment into my spine. I keep my chin high, though my palms are damp where they rest against the smooth tabletop. My lawyer sits to my right, his briefcase open, a neat stack of papers angled toward him, a single pen poised like a weapon.
• The air in the courtroom is thick, as if everyone is holding their breath in the same stale pool. There’s that faint, biting scent of disinfectant under the heavier smell of too many people crammed into one space. The murmurs behind me sound like a tide, low, constant, threatening to rise.