Chapter 7 - The Deposition
The legal battle was swift and brutal. Julian’s finances, already strained by his lavish lifestyle and his desperation to keep Sarah wrapped in luxury, imploded under the weight of Harrison Sterling’s legal assault.
I sat in a sterile conference room for Julian’s deposition.
He looked ten years older. The arrogance had been completely hollowed out of him. He wore a cheap suit, his posture slouched. When Harrison produced the emails between Julian and his doctor friend—emails explicitly discussing how to alter my lab results to show diminished ovarian reserve—Julian’s lawyer put his head in his hands.
“Mr. Hayes,” Harrison said smoothly, pacing the length of the conference table. “You knowingly inflicted severe emotional distress on my client for six years. You gaslit her into believing she was the cause of your childless marriage, all while hiding your own medical diagnosis of severe oligospermia. Is that correct?”
Julian stared at the table. “I… I was protecting my pride.”
“Your pride?” Harrison scoffed. “At the cost of her sanity? And when you discovered Miss Collins was pregnant, despite your diagnosis, you assumed a medical miracle rather than the glaringly obvious conclusion that she was sleeping with your brother?”
Julian’s face flushed a deep, violent red, but he didn't answer.
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“Let the record show the defendant remains silent,” Harrison smirked.
The settlement was astronomical. The fertility clinic, terrified of losing their license and facing a massive public trial, settled out of court for a staggering sum, most of which went straight into a foundation I set up for women’s reproductive health. Julian, completely bankrupted by the legal fees and the restitution he owed me, was forced to liquidate his assets. His house, his cars, his expensive watches—all gone.
