Chapter 7 - The Downfall
The gavel fell, and it sounded like a death knell for Julian’s future.
The judge didn't just void the agreement; she eviscerated Julian. She granted me full, sole legal and physical custody of Ethan and Lily. Julian’s parental rights were stripped, deemed a financial and emotional risk to the infants.
But the family court was the least of his worries.
As we walked out of the courtroom into the marble hallway, two men in dark windbreakers were waiting by the elevators. The gold letters on their jackets read: FBI.
“Julian Vance?” one of the agents asked, stepping forward with a pair of steel handcuffs. “You are under arrest for wire fraud, corporate embezzlement, and tax evasion. Turn around and place your hands behind your back.”
Julian’s knees buckled. He actually began to weep right there in the hallway. “Clara, please! Please, I’m the father of your children! Don't let them do this!”
I stopped walking. I looked at the man I had loved, the man who had looked at our fragile babies and called them "little runts." I felt absolutely nothing but a cold, satisfying indifference.
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“You drained the accounts, Julian,” I echoed his words back to him, my voice carrying down the echoing corridor. “You’re on your own now.”
I didn't look back as they pushed him into the elevator.
