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Chapter One

Victoria Winston

"Will the jury foreperson please stand? Has the jury reached an unanies voice booms into the microphone on the bench

"Yes, Your Honor" I watch in slow-motion horror as the older woman hands a folded piece of paper to the bailiff The look she givesabout e silently I feel like I a anxious

"What say you, e Hahn, of the District Court of North Georgia asks I have been sitting in this seat for weeks now as so-called evidence of my crime is plastered all over the courtrooe of venue, somewhere outside of Atlanta but that request was denied

"We, the jury, find the defendant, Victoria Rae Winston, guilty of one count embezzlement and fifteen counts of wire fraud"

Guilty The word echoes in my mind over and over I literally can’t believe it I know criminals say that they are innocent all the time, but in my case, I really am

"The court thanks you for your service and you are excused"

“Ms Winston, you have been found guilty of the crimes you’ve been accused of Would you like toatI can do about it Unfortunately, it’s nothing new for ht to do and say whatever they hen it co could be further from the truth

“I would not, your honor,” I say My lawyer toldNot for the first time, I wonder if he cares about ht-after attorney, but he took the case pro bono and beggars can't be choosers My personal and thankfully untouched assets have been frozen I will be using it to pay the charity back I have too Those kids needand acting, I’ve h to pay it back, but I shouldn’t have to It never should have happened I realize too late that Mr Porter did this for notoriety and the free press that follows o I don’t think he had any intention of winning this case for me

“Is there any objection to handing down sentencing today? No need to drag this out” I’ve learned that non-drug or capital o much quicker than that of a county court

“No, your honor,” the district attorney says

“Ms Winston?”

“No, your honor,” I answered quietly

“Very well Victoria Winston, you are hereby ordered to serve one to three years in the Santa Rosita Minimum Security Prison outside of Silver Falls Bailiff Richards, take the defendant into custody”

Soo quietly into the holding cell of the courthouse For the first time since all this started, I cry Silent tears streaot here

It all started in 2015 when I was fourteen years old I should have left well enough alone I shouldn’t have begged ave ia about an hour outside of my tiny town of Hoschton when I was discovered Less than a week later I was emancipated from my parents and on a shoot in Paris Me, Vickie Rae Winston, in Paris Hell, I still had scabbed up knees fro with my brothers and suddenly I was on runways It was the suht I was arade education coh to pass iant holes when it comes to book smarts, as in I have none I was overwhelmed and alone I looked up to older,with my one and only friend Oakley While she avoided their vices, I heldfor candy It came in the fors, never enough to becoe off or keepto pass out Even then, I didn’t eatbefore Oakley and I were everywhere Print ads, billboards, coht She did it the right hereas I blew my money and flitted froed to avoid all the bad I dove in headfirst and lost s, partying, and endless shoots have taken a toll on me More than once I was offered more… provocative roles, okay, porn but I turned those down Despite my lifestyle, I still went to church and kept the