My Alpha Boss Gave Me Triplets ā Episode 63
Darleenās request claimed only Evie could explain how the magnetic bond distorted everyone around it. Her attorneys intended to argue that the curse influenced Darleen, reducing deliberate crimes to supernatural compulsion.
Evie could refuse because pregnancy made travel dangerous. She chose to provide testimony remotely, unwilling to let Darleen use her absence as proof that the victim feared examination.
Her attorney established limits. Questions could address events Evie witnessed but not demand private emotions, medical records, or speculation about Darleenās mind.
The defense began with Leopoldās behavior. Had he misjudged Evie because of the curse? Had the bond caused physical pain and irrational decisions? Evie answered yes without accepting the conclusion.
āInfluence explains pressure,ā she said. āIt does not erase choices. Leopold changed his behavior when he learned it harmed me. Darleen studied harm so she could repeat it.ā
Darleen watched from behind reinforced glass. Her amnesia claim had been withdrawn, but she now described herself as another victim of generations of Blackhart duty.
Evie acknowledged that family expectations could wound people. Her own family had tried to force her into marriage. āBeing controlled does not create the right to control someone else.ā
Prosecutors presented Cristinās messages and Joelās records. Darleen approved doses, routes, and emotional triggers with precise language inconsistent with temporary loss of control.
The defense argued Joel manipulated her. Joel accepted his own guilt but produced voice recordings in which he warned Darleen that Evie might miscarry. Darleen answered that heirs could be conceived again once Leopold belonged to her.
Leopold left the observation room before anger overcame restraint. Max accompanied him, ensuring Darleen could not provoke an incident before judgment.
Evie remained. Hearing the statement hurt, but leaving would not change what Darleen said. She named the triplets as individuals whose lives had been knowingly risked.
Human physicians testified that the kidnapping drugs, ritual stress, and physical struggle contributed to premature labor. Magic did not replace ordinary medical causation; it added another mechanism of harm.
The court found sufficient evidence to proceed on every major charge and denied release. Final criminal judgment would take longer, but pack exile could be decided from admitted conduct and threats to regional peace.
Before the council session, Darleen asked to address Evie privately. The request was denied, so she spoke through the public record.
āHe will choose the children once they are outside you,ā she said. āThen you will understand why I fought before it was too late.ā
Evie answered without defending Leopold. āIf he makes that choice, I will leave him. You built your life around preventing a truth you were afraid to face.ā
The response denied Darleen the fantasy that possessing Leopold was necessary for survival. Love without freedom was not victory.
The council reviewed the blockade, ritual attacks, and misuse of Blackhart wards. Even delegates sympathetic to her family could no longer call the matter private rivalry.
Exile required a supermajority. The vote began, and one by one, Blackhartās former allies placed black stones into the judgment bowl.
Before the final count, Darleen collapsed againāthis time while every magical monitor showed no active spell.