Chapter 9 - The Final Nail
The trial of Adrian Vale was a media sensation.
The public devoured the story of the arrogant CEO brought down by his unassuming wife.
Adrian sat at the defense table, looking pale, thin, and entirely defeated.
His lawyer offered no real defense, unable to combat the mountain of evidence Claire had provided.
The prosecution’s star witness was the final nail in the coffin.
Savannah Reed walked into the courtroom looking like a completely different person.
She wore a modest dress and spoke clearly into the microphone.
"Yes, Mr. Vale bragged to me about hiding company money," Savannah testified under oath.
"He bought me a two-hundred-thousand-dollar necklace and billed it as corporate software research."
The jury gasped.
Adrian closed his eyes, knowing it was entirely over.
The jury deliberated for less than four hours.
Guilty on all forty-two counts.
The judge slammed his gavel down, sentencing Adrian to twenty-five years in federal prison without the possibility of parole.
As the bailiffs dragged him away, Adrian looked back at the gallery.
Claire was not there.
She hadn't even bothered to show up for his sentencing.
He was no longer a threat to her.
He was simply a minor inconvenience that she had finally permanently removed.
Savannah, however, was smiling from the back row.
May you like
She collected her final payout from the Whitmore Trust that afternoon and vanished to Europe.
Adrian was locked in a concrete box, entirely forgotten by the world he once thought he ruled.
