Chapter 9 - The Final Collapse
I didn't just block their numbers; I ensured they could never reach me again. I changed my legal surname from Vance to Horizon, severing the final string that tied me to their toxic legacy.
Back in New York, the final nail was driven into the coffin. Arthur was officially indicted for federal tax fraud. The trial was swift, humiliating, and highly publicized. The man who had cared so deeply about his image and prestige was paraded out of a courthouse in handcuffs on the evening news. He was sentenced to four years in a minimum-security federal prison.
Eleanor, unable to cope with the utter destruction of her social standing and her husband's imprisonment, packed her bags and moved in with her elderly sister in Ohio, living off a meager fixed income.
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As for Julian, the golden boy was completely shattered. He had no penthouse, no trust fund, no parents to bail him out, and no degree that any reputable firm would touch given the massive financial scandal surrounding his name. He was last seen working night shifts at a fulfillment warehouse, spending his breaks scrolling desperately through cryptocurrency forums, still chasing a phantom fortune that would never come.
They had tried to bury me. They didn't realize I was a seed.
