Chapter 14 - His Mother Chose the Truth
Constance had spent thirty-eight years defending Derek.
The prosecution needed less than two hours to dismantle that history.
She told the jury how she had believed almost every complaint Derek made about me.
How she had repeated his descriptions of me as demanding.
How she had accepted his explanations without asking for mine.
Then the prosecutor asked:
“Mrs. Harlow, why did you eat the soup?”
Constance took a breath.
“To embarrass Renee.”
I closed my eyes.
“At the time, I believed she was being ungrateful.”
“Had Mrs. Callahan asked you to eat it?”
“No.”
“Had she prepared it?”
“No.”
“Had she touched the inside of the thermos?”
“Not that I saw.”
“Who told you it had been sent by your son?”
“His assistant.”
“And approximately ten minutes after consuming it?”
“I became ill.”
The prosecutor paused.
“Who accused Mrs. Callahan of poisoning you?”
“I did.”
“Were you correct?”
“No.”
“What made you change your belief?”
Constance looked at Derek.
“Evidence.”
His jaw clenched.
Then she told the jury about Derek asking whether I was pregnant.
About his claim that police would find medication under my name.
About his visit to her home after fleeing Harlow Shipping.
The defense tried to portray her as confused.
Old.
Medicated.
Resentful because her son had endangered her.
Constance listened.
Then Derek’s attorney made one mistake.
“Mrs. Harlow, isn’t it true you would say almost anything now because you feel betrayed?”
She looked at him.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because saying almost anything to protect my son is how we got here.”
Nobody moved.
“I spent years teaching him that whatever he did, I would explain it for him. I called control leadership. I called cruelty stress. I called dishonesty privacy.”
She looked directly at the jury.
“And when his wife tried to tell me something was wrong, I called her ungrateful.”
Her voice trembled.
“My son did not become this man in one afternoon. And I will spend the rest of my life regretting every time I helped him avoid becoming accountable.”
Derek looked away.
The testimony spread everywhere.
Millions watched clips.
Some comments praised Constance.
Some condemned her.
For once, she did not read them.
“I’m finished deciding who I am by public opinion,” she told me afterward.
“Good.”
“I learned that from you.”
“No,” I said. “You learned it the expensive way.”
She almost smiled.
The prosecution rested.
May you like
Then Derek made another decision against his attorney’s advice.
He took the stand.
