Isabella POV
The courthouse felt like a colosseum designed for gladiatorial combat, all marble columns and soaring ceilings that made individual voices sound small and insignificant. I sat at the defendant's table - though I was supposedly the victim here - watching Elena Vasquez present her case for my involuntary psychiatric commitment with the kind of clinical authority that had convinced judges to destroy other lives.
"Your Honor," Elena said, approaching the bench with a thick folder of fabricated evidence, "Ms. Sterling's psychological deterioration has accelerated to the point where she represents a clear danger to herself and others. The genetic testing confirms inherited bipolar disorder with psychotic features, while recent behavioral observations document violent outbursts and paranoid delusions."
