Chapter 6 - The Fall of the House of Cards
The criminal trial was swift and brutal.
Because of the overwhelming evidence—the video footage, the audio recordings, and Ethan’s own financial records—their defense completely crumbled. The jury deliberated for less than two hours.
I sat in the front row of the gallery, flanked by Rachel and Marcus, as the foreman read the verdict.
"On the charge of Attempted Murder in the First Degree, we find the defendant, Margaret Vance... Guilty."
Margaret collapsed in her chair, weeping loudly, begging the judge for mercy, claiming she was an old woman who didn't know better. The judge was completely unmoved.
"On the charges of Conspiracy, Wire Fraud, Aggravated Assault, and Embezzlement, we find the defendant, Ethan Vance... Guilty on all counts."
Ethan didn't cry. He just stared straight ahead, his eyes hollow, finally broken.
The sentencing was handed down immediately. Margaret received twenty-five years in a maximum-security state penitentiary. Given her age, it was a life sentence. Ethan received forty years in federal prison for the financial crimes, to be served consecutively with a fifteen-year sentence for his role in the assault. He would be an old man before he ever tasted freedom again.
As the bailiffs led them away, Ethan stopped and looked over his shoulder at me one last time. There was no arrogance left. Only the pathetic, hollow shell of a man who realized he had underestimated the wrong woman.
"I'm sorry, Emma," he mouthed, a pathetic attempt to elicit sympathy.
I didn't nod. I didn't smile. I just turned my back on him and walked out of the courtroom, out into the bright, warm sunlight of the city.
The air had never felt so clean. The weight that had been pressing down on my chest for three long years was finally gone.
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"So," Rachel said, linking her arm through mine as we walked down the courthouse steps. "What does the brilliant, victorious, and newly single Emma Sterling do now?"
I looked up at the sky, taking a deep, painless breath. "She takes her life back."
