Chapter 8 - His Mother’s Testimony
Lorraine testified against Gregory.
Not out of remorse.
Out of calculation.
Prosecutors offered reduced charges if she provided complete records and acknowledged her role.
She accepted.
On the witness stand, she appeared elegant, composed, and offended by the courtroom.
The prosecutor asked when Gregory’s schemes began.
“After his father abandoned us.”
“How old was Gregory?”
“Nineteen.”
“What was the first scheme?”
“He married Kendra.”
Kendra sat behind me.
Her hand tightened around mine.
“Was the marriage genuine?”
Lorraine hesitated.
“He may have cared for her.”
“That was not the question.”
“No.”
Lorraine described teaching Gregory how to identify women with property and limited family support.
She researched records.
Prepared documents.
Helped create medical narratives.
Stored assets.
“What did you call the first week after marriage?” the prosecutor asked.
“The adjustment period.”
“Was violence part of it?”
“Not originally.”
The prosecutor displayed the note from my folder.
Use discipline early.
“Did you write this?”
“Yes.”
“What did discipline mean?”
“Establishing authority.”
“Through threats?”
“If necessary.”
“Through physical violence?”
Lorraine looked toward Gregory.
“He went too far.”
The phrase caused murmurs.
Not “It was wrong.”
Too far.
The prosecutor asked whether she instructed him to strike me.
“No.”
“Did you expect intimidation?”
“Yes.”
“Why target Eliza Mercer?”
“Her assets.”
“Anything else?”
“Her background made her valuable.”
“My background?”
“Her mother’s history. The trust. We believed the fund could be controlled through marriage.”
The room became still.
They had studied not only my money.
My trauma.
They believed a daughter of domestic violence would be easier to manipulate because she feared repeating her mother’s story.
They miscalculated.
“What happened when Gregory reported resistance?” the prosecutor asked.
“I told him to slow down.”
Messages showed otherwise.
Lorraine wrote:
Break confidence now or she controls the marriage.
Confronted with the message, she blamed panic.
Gregory’s attorney attacked her credibility.
“You are testifying to save yourself.”
“Yes.”
The blunt answer surprised him.
“You taught your son fraud.”
“Yes.”
“You helped him commit bigamy.”
“Yes.”
“You benefited financially.”
“Yes.”
“Then why should anyone believe you?”
Lorraine looked at Gregory.
“Because he kept records too.”
She produced a hidden audio archive.
Gregory recorded conversations with his mother as insurance.
In one, they discussed me.
“I’ll have the passwords by Friday,” Gregory said.
“What if she refuses?” Lorraine asked.
“She won’t after the first lesson.”
“What lesson?”
A pause.
Then Gregory laughed.
“Whatever makes her understand.”
The jury heard intent before the dinner incident.
The defense collapsed.
After testimony, Lorraine passed me in the corridor.
She was escorted by officers.
“Eliza.”
I turned.
“You think you’re different from us because you used the law instead of force.”
“Yes.”
My answer unsettled her.
“I taught Gregory to survive.”
“You taught him to consume people.”
“Your father taught you violence.”
“My father taught me to stop it.”
She looked away.
For the first time, I saw what Gregory had inherited.
Not strength.
A belief that domination was survival.
Lorraine had spent her life calling cruelty protection.
May you like
Now the court would call it conspiracy.
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