Nearly a month passed after the court case began, and by then the proceedings had exhausted nearly everyone involved.
Witnesses had been called and questioned, evidence had been challenged from every possible angle, and the defense had spent days trying to separate each accusation from the next in hopes that the larger picture would fall apart if enough individual pieces were weakened.
Larissa had remained steadfast through all of it.
Some days had been worse than others, especially when the defense tried to portray her father's investigation as unreliable or suggested that her own involvement had been driven more by grief than evidence, but she endured every argument without allowing herself to lose control.
By the time the final day arrived, she looked far more tired than Ning remembered seeing her in a long time.
The courtroom was full when the judge entered.
Ning had come once again in a simple disguise, taking a seat near the back where nobody paid much attention to him.
