My husband kicked me in the stomach while I was eight months pregnant—and before I could even scream, his mother crossed the room and slapped him across the face.

The closing arguments were powerful.

The prosecution painted Diane as a cold, calculating killer who had gotten away with murder for fifteen years.

"Don't let her manipulate you," the prosecutor told the jury. "She's had fifteen years to perfect her story. To make herself the victim. But the facts are simple: Diane Miller set fire to her home while her husband slept inside. She killed him. And she got away with it. Until now."

Margaret's closing was different.

She didn't try to excuse what Diane had done.

She acknowledged it.

"Diane Miller made a terrible choice," she told the jury. "A choice that haunts her every single day. A choice she will regret for the rest of her life."

She showed them the tape. Played Frank's voice. The threats. The anger.

"This is what Diane Miller lived with every day," she said. "This is the man she was married to. A man who beat her. A man who threatened to kill her. A man who terrified her."

She looked at the jury.

"The law says self-defense must be proportional. The law says you must retreat if you can. But the law was written by people who have never been trapped in an abusive marriage. Who have never woken up at night wondering if this is the night they die. Who have never looked into the eyes of the person they once loved and seen nothing but hatred."

She paused.

"Diane Miller didn't have a choice. Not really. She was trapped. With a man who had threatened to kill her. With no way out. And in that moment of terror, she fought back. She did what she had to do to survive."

She looked at Diane.

"For fifteen years, Diane Miller has tried to make amends. She raised her son alone. She built a new life. She became a loving mother-in-law. A devoted grandmother. She saved the life of her pregnant daughter-in-law and her granddaughter. That is who Diane Miller is. Not a monster. A woman. A survivor."

She turned back to the jury.

"You have a choice today. You can punish a woman for surviving. Or you can recognize that sometimes, the law doesn't account for the reality of human suffering. Sometimes, mercy is the greatest justice."

The jury deliberated for three days.

Three of the longest days of my life.

Diane stayed strong. She prayed. She held Grace. She told me that whatever happened, she was at peace.

I wasn't.

I couldn't imagine my life without her.

Grace couldn't imagine her life without her grandmother.

On the third day, the jury reached a verdict.

We filed into the courtroom.

Ryan was there, sitting with the prosecution. He smiled when he saw us. A cold, victorious smile.

The judge asked the jury foreperson to read the verdict.

"We the jury, in the case of The State of Texas vs. Diane Miller, on the charge of murder, find the defendant..."

The room went silent.