Every morning in our rundown Texas rental, my husband dragged me to the backyard, tied my hands to the porch pillar, and lashed my pregnant belly while yelling, “All you make is worthless daughters—you’re a broken wife!”

The jury deliberated for exactly forty-two minutes.

When the double doors opened and the twelve men and women filed back into the courtroom, the air was so thick with tension you could hear the soft hum of the air conditioning vents.

Navin and Devki stood at the defense table, held up by two bailiffs. They looked like hollow shells, their spirit completely broken by the relentless march of justice.

“Has the jury reached a verdict?” Judge Alpert asked.

“We have, Your Honor,” the jury foreman, a tall man with grey hair, stood up and handed a piece of paper to the bailiff.

Judge Alpert opened the paper, read it silently, and nodded. “The defendant will stand for the reading of the verdict.”

The foreman cleared his throat.

“On count one, Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, we find the defendant, Navin Patel, GUILTY.”

“On count two, Felony Injury to a Child resulting in Death, we find the defendant, Navin Patel, GUILTY.”

“On count three, Unlawful Restraint, we find the defendant, Navin Patel, GUILTY.”

A quiet wave of gasps rippled through the gallery.

“On count four, Complicity to Aggravated Assault, we find the defendant, Devki Patel, GUILTY.”

“On count five, Criminal Facilitation of Felony Injury to a Child, we find the defendant, Devki Patel, GUILTY.”

Guilty. On every single count.

Devki’s knees buckled completely, and she collapsed to the floor in a heap of orange fabric, weeping hysterically. Navin stared straight ahead, his eyes completely vacant, as if his mind had fractured under the weight of his reality.

Judge Alpert looked down at them with cold, uncompromising authority.

“Navin Patel, for your abhorrent cruelty and depraved indifference to human life, I sentence you to LIFE IN PRISON without the possibility of parole.”

“Devki Patel, for your active participation in the systemic torture of another human being, I sentence you to FORTY YEARS in the Texas State Penitentiary.”