Chapter 6 - The Capture
The neon lights of the Las Vegas strip offered no protection for a fugitive on the run.
Julian was apprehended at the Bellagio poker room, sipping a free martini and surrounded by thousands in chips.
According to the FBI report, he tried to run, knocking over a cocktail waitress before being tackled by undercover agents.
When I saw his mugshot on the evening news, I felt a deep, visceral sense of closure.
His designer suit was rumpled, his hair was messy, and the arrogant smirk had been wiped clean off his face.
He looked exactly like what he was: a terrified, pathetic little boy who had played a game he couldn't win.
Robert called me the moment the news broke, his voice trembling with a chaotic mix of relief and despair.
"They caught him, Elena," he sobbed into the voicemail.
"My son is going to federal prison."
"I have nothing left."
I didn't call him back.
The divorce proceedings were finalizing, and Victoria had secured a massive settlement in my favor.
Since Robert's assets were tied up in bankruptcy, the judge ordered the liquidation of his remaining properties to pay my medical and emotional distress claims.
Robert was officially broke, moving out of our beautiful suburban home and into a cramped, one-bedroom apartment across town.
The empire he had built, the legacy he had prioritized over his wife, was reduced to ash.
Meanwhile, Julian was extradited back to Ohio to face a mountain of felony charges.
Wire fraud, identity theft, grand larceny, and elder abuse.
The prosecutor warned me that Julian's defense team would try to paint him as a victim of Robert's bad parenting.
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I didn't care what lies he told the jury.
I was going to sit in that courtroom every single day, and I was going to watch him fall.
