Chapter 6 - The Grand Jury Reckoning
Six months later, the federal courthouse in downtown Chicago was an absolute circus of media vans and reporters. The "Apex Syndicate" trial had become the largest academic and corporate corruption scandal of the decade.
I sat in the front row of the gallery, wearing a sharp, tailored black suit. My hair had grown out into a sleek, elegant bob, framing a face that had completely healed, both physically and emotionally.
Dr. Vance had taken a plea deal, turning state's evidence to avoid a life sentence. He had provided the prosecution with everything they needed to burn the syndicate to the ground.
Daniel sat at the defense table in a bright orange jumpsuit. He looked gaunt, pathetic, and terrified. He couldn't even look in my direction. Lorraine sat next to him, her roots showing grey, her posture hunched and defeated.
The judge, a no-nonsense woman with a reputation for merciless sentencing, looked down from the bench.
"Daniel Preston," the judge read, her voice booming over the microphone. "For the crimes of domestic assault, corporate espionage, and unauthorized access to federal systems, you are sentenced to fifteen years in federal prison, without the possibility of parole."
Daniel let out a loud, pathetic sob, dropping his head to the table.
"Lorraine Preston," the judge continued, shifting her cold gaze. "You were the financial architect of an operation that destroyed the futures of countless innocent students to line your own pockets, and you orchestrated a violent campaign of psychological abuse against your own daughter-in-law. You are sentenced to twenty-five years in federal prison."
Lorraine didn't cry. She just stared blankly ahead, realizing that she would spend the rest of her life in a concrete cell, stripped of her wealth, her status, and her power.
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As the bailiffs led them away, Daniel finally looked back at me. His eyes were begging for a shred of sympathy, a single tear of regret for the marriage we once had.
I gave him nothing. No smile, no frown. I just looked through him, exactly as one looks at an irrelevant line of broken code before deleting it forever.
