Megan gripped my arm so hard her knuckles turned white.

“She wanted to kill me,” Megan said.

“She wanted the baby,” Sarah Vance corrected gently.

“She wanted you out of the picture.”

“But we have the security footage from the hospital.”

“It shows her trying to alter the medical charts.”

“It shows her trying to wheel the incubator out of the ward before you arrived.”

“She has pleaded not guilty,” the prosecutor added.

“She claims she was trying to rescue the child from neglect.”

“But the jury will see the truth.”

“We are going to trial.”

The trial began in January.

The courthouse was a massive limestone building downtown.

The hallways were filled with lawyers, reporters, and families.

My mother sat at the defense table.

She wore a plain gray suit and had her hair tied back.

She looked smaller than I remembered.

She looked like an old woman, but her eyes were still sharp and cold.

She did not look at me when I entered the courtroom.

I was the first to testify.

I sat on the wooden witness stand and looked at the jury.