Chapter Seven
Seven
Two weeks after Nelson’s guilty verdict, the court reconvened so that Judge Reeves could finally pass sentence on Nelson Stewart, and she wasn’t at all lenient.
That evening at The Longfellow, on Harvard Square, George Oakfield had predicted that Nelson wouldn’t get less that twelve years in prison for what he’d done, and the DA had perfectly hit the mark with his first prediction.
Judge Reeves initially sentenced Nelson to twelve years of incarceration – five for the crime of criminal domestic violence and seven for the crime of false imprisonment and captivity – but Nelson’s threatening outburst at the end of court proceedings had really angered Judge Reeves, and for that she had added another full year to her ruling, giving Nelson a total of thirteen years behind bars.
To everyone’s surprise, as Judge Reeves read the final sentencing out loud, Nelson stood completely still and totally silent – no angry outbursts…
no offensive gestures either. He didn’t even look up at the judge as she brought gavel to lectern to finally conclude proceedings.
No, Nelson simply kept his eyes low… lost in thought… deep in anger.
The next prediction that Oakfield got right was with regards to Samantha and Nelson’s divorce process, which was completely expedited by the outcome of the trial, and nine days after the guilty verdict, Sam legally ceased to be Samantha Stewart, reverting back to her maiden name – Samantha Chambers.
With Sam and Nelson’s divorce process completely finalized, Samantha’s lawyer, Kristin Miller, had all the ammunition she needed to finally file a petition for the identity change process.
Kristin cited ‘fear for personal safety and endangerment to life’ as the main grounds for the requisition, but she didn’t even need to.
As luck would have it, the application for the identity change ended up on Judge Reeves’ desk, and she didn’t have to read the trial transcripts to approve the petition.
And just like that, a mere three and a half weeks after Nelson had been officially sentenced to thirteen years in a correctional institution, Samantha Stewart, aka Samantha Chambers, was ready to simply vanish from the face of the earth.
With a simple signature from a court judge, she was free to reinvent herself and pick whatever new name she wanted to, and it didn’t take her long to decide on one – less than a day, actually.
All she had to do was weigh her choices, and once again, George Oakfield had given her some very sound advice.