Chapter 78 Bottleneck Iii

• Judge’s [POV]
• I don’t look at her. I can’t. I don’t trust myself. Instead, I keep my gaze on the councilors, hating Hildebrand as he watches Santiago remove Mercedes from the courtroom.
• I know what is coming. What form the punishment will take? And I cannot and will not allow Mercedes to bear it. Not after the trauma she has already experienced at her father’s hand and Theron’s. And even without those events, there was never a question that I would do this. That I would take her place.