YELENA

My eyes stayed on the screen like maybe I read it wrong. Like maybe if I blinked, the words would change.

Life imprisonment.

My breath caught in my throat as I got hold of myself, “Tyler was… what?” I whispered, my voice shaking.

Why?

Why that?

Why not death?

Why something slow... something that would eat him little by little?

Tears blurred my sight before I even realized they had started falling. One dropped on my hand, then another, then they wouldn’t stop.

My chest ...