17 years later...

February 17th 2013

"Due to the substantial evidence provided against the accused, the court has hereby passed its verdict. The accused, Olivia Silver, has been found guilty of the murder of her late husband, Andrew Silver, and has hereby, been sentenced to thirty two years in prison."

Olivia felt her life come to a stop the moment those words left the Judge's mouth. She would be lying if she said she was surprised. She knew they would never let her off that easily and by they, she meant Victoria. Tears blurred her vision as she scanned through the crowd, the flickering sounds of camera and the lights filling the room, she held her breath when she took sight of her best friend Amanda, she could see her move her lips but she couldn't seem to hear the words coming out of her mouth because everything was happening in slow motion.

Nothing made sense.

She was numb, exhausted and scared.

Thirty two years.

Where on earth was she supposed to start from?

What would happen to her baby?

She could feel tears in her eyes threatening to fall and she tried as hard as she could to hold it all in. She tried so hard to keep her eyes down, away from all the flickering lights, away from the camera as the policemen that had placed handcuffs on both her hands, led her out of the room. Yes, the media weren't going to miss a story like that for anything. There were a lot of them and it was like they all wanted to cover the story.

At that point, she was drawn in between pulling herself in whatever direction the policemen pulled her and the attack questions thrown at her while the media tried to push their way to her.

"Did you really kill your husband Mrs Silver? Is it true you were jealous your husband might have had a mistress? Why did you do it?"

"Mrs Silver, is it true that you murdered your husband just so you could have access to your rights as his next of kin? To his wealth and businesses? For your financial gain?"

God those questions, those annoying questions. It was like no one believed a thing she had said in court.

I didn't do it !

She wanted to yell at the top of her lungs but the thought of returning back to that cell and spending the next thirty two years of her life in it constantly frightened her.

"Did you really admit to everyone that you wanted Mr silver killed?" The questions kept coming "Mrs Silver, why did you do it?"

Thank God for those policemen.
They were the only ones protecting her from all that crazy.

"This way."

Their grasp on her was so tight. She could almost feel their fingers piercing towards her bones. She could also guess the rest of the policemen were trying to push the media back so she could make her way outside the building from the back door. She knew the tons of angry mobs waiting to stone her to her death if they could we waiting right outside the front door.

What did she expect?
She was the continent's most hated person at the moment.

"He didn't deserve it! You're a monster! You're a big misfortune to the Silvers, an ungrateful child! Shame on you, shame."

Those words thrown at her on her way down from the bus for her trial were still fresh in her memory, and the thought of all the stones thrown at her, made her heart race even more. Her hands were still bruised, not just her hands, every inch of her body.

"Mrs Silver."

Olivia felt everything and everyone come to a stop at the sound Victoria's louboutin heels made as it echoed down the hallway while she made her way towards them, pulling the media's attention on them both now.

There she was, the best mother in-law anyone would have ever wished for, the irony.

She managed to look like she always did even after losing her youngest. Her make up rhymed perfectly with her black shiny laced dress, her black scarf wrapped boldly across her shoulders. Olivia could see Austin right beside her, dressed head to toe in black, the color of mourning.

She could feel the policemen suddenly force her to a halt right in the middle of the hallway so the Silvers could make their way to them. She could feel her legs tremble every step closer to her they got. She was terrified. If there was one thing she knew about the woman in approaching her, it was the fact that she wasn't really good at forgiving and she wasn't really fond of her either.

Olivia held her breath, waiting patiently for them to get close enough for her to at least try to convince them about her innocence once again. If there was anyone that could help her come out of that situation it had to be Victoria. Just like she was doing everything in her power to make sure she ended up behind bars.

Olivia could feel her lips shake as Victoria took her last steps to her with a stern look on her face, her eyes behind her thick black sunglasses.

"M-mother-"

Victoria slapped her before she could even say anything else, hard, hard enough to leave her fingerprints on Olivia's cheek. The entire hallway came to conclusive silence.

"Mum," Olivia could hear Austin whisper to Victoria as he tried to push her away from Olivia gently.

"You Ungrateful monster!" She wasn't really doing a good job keeping her emotions or voice in check. "You wicked tramp. Murderer!"

"Mum." Austin's whisper became a bit louder as he pulled Victoria's arm again. "Mum, the press is here, don't cause a scene."

"I don't care who sees, I want the whole world to know that this woman over here," she pointed sternly at Olivia. "This woman killed my son."

"I did not." Olivia managed to whisper. "I'm innocent, I swear it."

"I let you into my home. Your whole life, you benefitted from all the privileges my family gave you. Food, education, a roof over your head and this is how you repay me?"

"I'm innocent." Olivia could barely stop the tears leaving her eyes now.

"My poor boy. He didn't deserve this, he didn't deserve to die like this. All he ever did was love you  and give you everything but what did you do? You ruined him, you ruined my family. Thirty two years isn't enough to pay for your sins. My son is dead and it's all because of you, all he did was love you andyou killed him. I'd  never forget that, I'd make sure that cell room is the last thing you'd see before you draw your last breath. You'd never get out of prison."

Olivia couldn't take it anymore. She wasn't getting anyone to listen. This was beyond her now, this wasn't even about her anymore, it was about the life inside of her. Her own child. She knew prison wasn't the best place to raise a child, she understood that.

Olivia went down on her knees as soon as she could.

"Have mercy on me." She rubbed her hands together. "I didn't do it, I'm being framed."

Victoria scoffed

"I had no reason to kill Andrew. I know we weren't always on the same page but I had no reason to want him dead please believe me, help me. I can't go to jail, what's going to happen to the baby? Think about the baby please."

She wished she could help the tears that fell off her eyes now. She was desperate, very desperate. The thought of spending another night in that room terrified her.

"The baby?" Everyone could hear Victoria's loud scoff. "You should have thought about that before you made her fatherless. I'm going to ruin you Olivia kalu. I'm going to destroy you, I'll make you pay for what you did to my son."

For every word she said, everyone could feel the pain  laced in her voice. It was no secret that Andrew was Victoria's favorite. She was so proud of him and the whole world knew that.

Losing him the way she did broke her.

She turned to the policemen

"Take her out of my sight." She instructed, not batting an eyelid

"Ma Victoria," Olivia breathed fast as she yelled Victoria's name as the policemen pulled her up to her feet. She could feel the cuffs piercing into her wrist just as they grabbed on to her arm.

"I didn't do it. I'm innocent I swear it. Please, please have mercy on me." She went on and on just as the men pulled her away.

"I didn't do it!"