HOUSTON -- The model and actress did not want to take the stand, and tried to drop out weeks ago after a California judge awarded her $475 million from her late husband's estate.

In a sometimes-tearful turn on the stand, Smith insisted that her relationship with her late husband was based on love, not money.

She and her attorneys are expecting questions from the other side about her sexual conduct and lifestyle during the marriage.

Before Smith took the stand, the jury heard from her late husband's former receptionist.

Patty Leonard testified that J. Howard Marshall II became concerned about the debts that Smith was running up.

"It was like a surprise to find out what the amount is going to be on the American Express or Neiman Marcus card," Leonard said.

Asked by the lawyers if she could give examples of what the amounts were, Leonard said, "Hundreds of thousands of dollars."

According to witnesses, J. Howard Marshall II bought Smith a $900,000 ranch in Tomball, Texas, and gave her $200,000 to furnish it. He also reportedly bought her a $650,000 home in Los Angeles.

The Marshall estate contends that Smith received a total of $6.7 million in gifts.

She acknowledged that she received $5,000 a week from her husband.

"It's very expensive to be me," Smith said, drawing laughter from the courtroom. "It's terrible."

Rusty Hardin, an attorney for E. Pierce Marshall, asked Smith if the stipend was "unusual behavior."

"I thought it was great behavior," Smith said.

"I bet you did," Hardin responded.

Smith said everything that everyone has been saying about her is completely untrue.

"I hear the things y'all say, the things Patty said, which is completely crap," Smith said on the stand.

Smith began to cry on the stand as she refuted Leonard's testimony and insisted that her marriage to the millionaire was for love, not money.

"He loved me unconditionally," Smith said. "He bought me things that I didn't even know about. He worshipped me. I've never had that before. I've never had the love this man gave me."

Smith met Marshall in 1991 while working as a topless dancer. She described him as a man who had given up on life but found renewed interest after watching her dance.

"He picked me out of this hole and saved my life and my son's life," Smith said, describing a relationship that was platonic except for the night they met, when he groped her at the club. "It was a very special love. I'll never, ever know true love like that again."

Smith said that from the beginning, E. Pierce Marshall didn't like her.

"He sat there and looked at me," Smith said. "If looks could kill, I'd be dead."

She said that E. Pierce Marshall worked to keep them apart.

"Pierce put armed guards for me not see my husband except for 30 minutes a day, so I had to go to work, and I couldn't be with my husband every days because Pierce stopped all the money," Smith said. "That's why I couldn't be with my husband. That's why I wasn't there when he died. I could have saved him again."

Smith took the stand around 11 a.m. Monday and is expected to be in court for the next couple of days.

News2Houston and Click2Houston.com will bring you continuing coverage of Smith's fight for millions.