Chapter 14 - The Trial of the Century
Six months later, the federal courthouse in downtown Manhattan was swarming with aggressive reporters.
The trial of Beatrice Sterling and Victor Vance had captivated the entire nation.
Hannah sat in the front row of the packed courtroom, wearing a sharp, elegant navy blue dress.
Her hand was completely healed, leaving only a faint, thin scar across her knuckles.
Ethan sat at the witness stand, looking incredibly handsome in a tailored charcoal suit.
He looked directly at Beatrice, who was seated at the defense table in a bright orange prison jumpsuit.
She looked haggard, exhausted, and completely stripped of her former arrogant glamour.
The federal prosecutor paced back and forth in front of the jury box.
"Mr. Sterling, can you please tell the court what you found in the hidden safe?" the prosecutor asked loudly.
"I found the original engineering reports for the Chicago warehouse," Ethan answered clearly and confidently.
"They definitively proved that Beatrice Sterling intentionally ordered substandard building materials."
"She purposely caused the roof collapse to sabotage my career and extort me for millions of dollars."
A loud, collective gasp rippled through the crowded courtroom gallery.
Beatrice slammed her hands down on the defense table, her face turning purple with rage.
"He is lying!" Beatrice screamed at the top of her lungs, completely losing her composure.
"I built that company!"
"He was just a stupid, entitled boy who didn't deserve a single dime of his father's money!"
The judge slammed his heavy wooden gavel down repeatedly.
"Order in the court!" the judge bellowed angrily.
"One more outburst like that, Mrs. Sterling, and I will have you gagged for the remainder of this trial!"
Victor Vance sat perfectly still beside her, burying his face in his hands in absolute defeat.
The forensic accounting evidence had been completely damning.
The prosecution had tracked every single stolen penny directly to Vance's offshore shell corporations.
The jury only took four short hours to reach a unanimous verdict.
Guilty on all forty-seven counts of corporate fraud, extortion, assault, and attempted murder.
The judge handed down two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
As the bailiffs dragged a sobbing, hysterical Beatrice out of the courtroom, she locked eyes with Hannah.
There was no fear in Hannah's eyes anymore.
She simply watched her abuser disappear behind the heavy wooden doors forever.
Justice had finally been served.
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Hannah walked out of the massive courthouse and took a deep breath of the crisp autumn air.
The dark clouds had finally cleared, and the sky was a brilliant, endless blue.
