The Billionaire CEO Betrays his Wife: He wants her back-Chapter 234: The Verdict

Two Hours Later – Verdict

Maria couldn’t feel her hands. She sat beside Ethan, her chest rising and falling in shallow, panicked breaths. Rafael was behind them, silently staring ahead. The judge looked up as the jury filed in.

The foreman stood.

"In the matter of Maria-Isabel Williams Lewis, on the charge of murder in the first degree... we find the defendant..."

A pause. "...Not guilty." Maria gasped. "In the charge of second-degree murder..."

"Not guilty."

A whisper swept through the courtroom.

Ethan bowed his head. Maria’s hand flew to her mouth as tears flooded her eyes. The judge nodded solemnly. "Maria-Isabel Williams Lewis, you are free to go."

The moment shattered.

Maria collapsed into Ethan’s arms, sobbing—not from grief, but from release. Ethan held her close, murmuring into her hair, "You’re going home. You’re going to be okay."

Rafael stepped forward, nodding at Ethan. "You did it."

"No," Ethan said. "She did."

As the press outside roared, camera flashes lit up the courtroom steps. Maria’s knees buckled slightly as the weight of the moment crashed over her.

Her body trembled, her vision blurred. It wasn’t pain, exactly — more like her soul was detaching from her flesh, drifting somewhere far away. She had held on for so long, clenching her strength like a fist. But now, in the silence that followed the verdict, the adrenaline began to slip from her veins like sand through fingers.

She had made it. She had reached the finish line. But she felt hollow. As though the cost had been everything inside her.

She staggered slightly, and someone reached out to steady her, maybe one of the guards. Her eyes fluttered shut for a second, just long enough to find her center again.

"I just need a moment," she whispered, not even sure if she was speaking aloud or just in her own head. But then, a small voice called out.

"Mama?" Maria looked down and saw her daughter clinging tightly to her waist, Isabella. Her precious, bright-eyed girl. The one who had unknowingly carried her through every sleepless night, every court hearing, every accusation whispered in dark corners.

"My baby..." Maria’s lips trembled as she knelt down slowly and cupped Isabella’s face with both hands, brushing away the strands of hair clinging to her sweaty forehead. "My sweet Isabella."

A soft whimper escaped her lips as she pulled her daughter into her arms, holding her close like she was anchoring herself back to life. Tears slipped down her cheeks, silent and slow. The storm was over, but Maria felt like a shell, stripped down, shattered, but still standing. Barely.

"We need to get you both out of here," Rafael said gently, glancing toward the door. "The press is all over the front. Come on, let’s go through the back."

Maria nodded, still cradling Isabella. The flashes, the questions, the noise outside the courthouse — she didn’t want her daughter to see any of it. She just needed calm, quiet, and a room where she could fall apart in peace.

As they slipped into a side hallway, Maria paused. "I need... I need to speak to Ethan," she said softly.

Rafael’s brows furrowed, but he nodded. "All right. I’ll give you a few minutes."

He reached for Isabella, but the little girl shook her head fiercely, her arms wrapping tighter around her mother.

"It’s okay, love. Mama just needs to talk. I’ll be right here," Rafael reassured her.

But the child wouldn’t let go.

Maria smiled faintly, kissed the top of Isabella’s head, and whispered something into her ear — words only they would ever understand. Then she gently handed her over. The separation ached more than she thought it would.

Rafael stepped out with Isabella and pulled the door closed behind them.

Outside, he pulled out his phone, his fingers shaking slightly now that the urgency of the courtroom was behind him. He tapped Mara’s number, waiting as it rang.

Once. Twice. "The person you are calling is not available. Please try again later."

He frowned.

Tried again.

Same message.

A flicker of worry darted through his chest. Mara always answered. She knew what today was. He stared at the screen, thumb hovering over the call button again, then lowered the phone slowly.

Something’s not right. Rafael’s eyes drifted to the courthouse entrance where the press swarmed like hornets, and without thinking, he opened a flight app and booked the next ticket back to Salvador. novelbuddy-cσ๓

He wouldn’t wait another day. Not another hour. Maria was safe now. That part of their lives, that war, was over.. He looked at the photo of her on his lock screen, fingers brushing the image with quiet resolve.

I’m coming, Stef. I’m coming home.

—

The wheels of the plane hit the tarmac with a jolt. Mara’s body lurched forward, but her mind was still somewhere else — tangled in the past, stuck in the space between memory and regret. She didn’t move immediately. Passengers stood, stretching, chatting, and reaching for bags in the overhead compartments. Around her, life moved as if nothing had changed.

But for Mara, everything had.

She finally rose, each motion slow, deliberate, as if bracing herself for the weight of the world she was about to walk back into. Her legs felt heavier than they should. Like the burden in her chest had seeped into her bones.

As she stepped off the plane, the wind hit her face, hot and dry. The airport was bustling, people moving with purpose — toward loved ones, toward vacations, toward home. She had none of those waiting for her.

Only a courtroom. Only pain. Only questions she might never get answers to.

The taxi ride was silent. The driver didn’t ask where she was from or make casual conversation, and Mara was thankful. Her eyes stayed fixed outside the window, watching the blur of the city she once knew — the corners where she and Maria used to laugh and loiter, where they had built dreams on shaky teenage hopes.

The courthouse loomed in the distance, gray and severe against the clouded sky. As they neared, her hands began to tremble again. She rubbed her palms against her thighs, trying to steady herself, but the knot in her stomach only tightened.

What if the girl who once swore they’d grow old together was nothing more now than a defendant in a file, a name in a report, a tragic headline waiting to happen?

The taxi pulled up.

Mara stared at the building, suddenly frozen.

You don’t have to do this, a small voice inside her whispered.

But she did.

She paid the fare and stepped out, her heels clicking against the pavement like tiny hammers beating into her resolve. Her breath caught as she reached the courthouse steps.

She saw them then — reporters, officers, people milling around waiting for the next piece of someone else’s tragedy. The world had moved on from her pain, but here it was again, fresh and sharp and unforgiving.

Each step she took toward the entrance felt like a step back in time.

Back to when Maria used to braid her hair before school.

Back to when they’d dance barefoot in her bedroom to songs they never remembered the lyrics to. Back to when she still believed love was simple — and friendship was forever.

Now everything was fractured. She needed a second. Just one breath. Was she ready for confrontation with everything she had tried to run from — Maria, the betrayal, the blood-soaked consequences, and the guilt that had followed her like a shadow?

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