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At my sister’s wedding, she threw her drink straight into my face and laughed, “Relax—it’s just a joke.” Minutes later, my skin began blistering. I rushed to the ER. Three days later, police showed up at her door. / Chapter 5 / 10

Chapter 5 - The Civil Counter-AttackIf Lauren and her defense attorney thought I was simply going to wait quietly for the criminal trial, they severely underestimated me.

The following Monday, my civil attorney, Marcus Sterling, filed a ten-million-dollar personal injury and intentional tort lawsuit against Lauren Sterling, her husband Greg, and the wedding venue itself for failing to secure commercial chemical storage closets on the premises.

The financial pressure was immediate and devastating.

Greg’s family, who owned a prominent regional logistics firm, immediately cut off all financial support for Lauren’s legal defense. They forced Greg to file for an emergency annulment of the three-week-old marriage, citing fraud, extreme cruelty, and severe reputational damage.

Deprived of her husband’s money, Lauren was forced to move back into my mother’s house.

On a rainy Tuesday afternoon, my phone chimed with a voicemail notification. It was Greg.

I called him back from my lawyer's office on speakerphone.

"Claire..." Greg’s voice sounded hollowed out, completely broken. "I'm so sorry. I swear to God I had no idea what she did that night. If I had known she put chemical cleaner in that glass, I would have stopped her myself."

"You stood next to her while she laughed, Greg," I reminded him coldly.

"I thought it was just champagne!" Greg pleaded. "She told me you were just throwing a fit for attention! I didn't realize until the ambulance arrived... Claire, please, my family is facing financial ruin because of the civil suit against the venue and our joint assets."

"What do you want, Greg?"

"I have something that can help your criminal case," Greg revealed, dropping his voice to a low whisper. "Lauren’s mother came to our house two nights ago. She took Lauren’s secondary laptop—the one she used to manage her social media accounts and search history. They were trying to wipe the hard drive."

My attorney, Marcus Sterling, immediately sat up, gesturing for me to keep him talking.

"Did they wipe it?" I asked.

"No," Greg said. "I backed up the entire drive to a cloud server before Helen took the laptop. Claire... her search history three days before the wedding includes terms like 'chemicals that cause skin rashes,' 'how to spoil wedding photos,' and 'non-lethal household corrosives.'"

I looked at Marcus, who was already writing rapid notes on a legal pad.

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Chapter 6 - The Digital EvidenceTwenty-four hours after Greg surrendered the cloud drive link, forensic digital analysts from the Charleston Police Department verified the authenticity of the files.
Chapter 7 - The Trial BeginsSix months later.
Chapter 8 - The Witness StandOn the third day of the trial, I was called to the witness stand.
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