Mr. Sterling turned pale. He looked at his son, who had finally shown up and was sitting in the back, looking defensive and angry.
Grant, realizing the evidence was stacked against him, stood up. His voice was full of resentment. “Yeah, I wanted her! I offered her a way out of this dump, a life she could only dream of, and she had the nerve to tell me no! She told me I had ‘no character.’ Me! A Sterling!
She said she’d rather be poor and respected than rich and married to someone like me. She insulted me. So, I decided to show her who really had the power.
I didn’t mean for her to die. I just wanted to scare her, to make her realize she needed me. I used my dogs to track her, to keep her on edge. That night, I broke in.
Mrs. Higgins was dead to the world in the other room. Grace was praying when I walked in. I threw that chain at her, told her it was her last chance. She looked at me with such terror… and then she just collapsed. I panicked, left the chain, and ran. I used the dogs later to try and mess up the grave site, hoping to distract people or make them think she was cursed.”
The room was deathly quiet. The “perfect” son of the town’s wealthiest man had just admitted to hounding a girl to her grave.
Mr. Sterling stood up, his hands shaking. He had spent his life building a reputation, and in five minutes, his son had destroyed it. He looked at the crowd and said, “I have no words. I thought I raised a man. I see now I was wrong.”
He turned to the Sheriff. “Do what you have to do. My resources won’t be used to protect him. Justice comes first.”
Luke, who had loved Grace from afar, was crying openly now. He said quietly:
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