Chapter 8 - A NEW HORIZON
The trial was long and exhausting, a public display of the corruption that had plagued the Cole estate for years. But throughout it, Nathan stayed strong. He stood for his testimony, using a cane but standing nonetheless—a symbol of his resilience.
Grant Mercer was sentenced to multiple life terms, his influence evaporated, his name scrubbed from the legacy he had tried so hard to steal. The organization Nathan had built was dissolved, and its assets were placed into a trust dedicated to educational programs for children—a nod to the future Sophie would never have.
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On the day of the sentencing, Nathan felt a weight lifted that he hadn't known he was carrying. He walked out of the courthouse, the sun warm on his face.
He didn't go back to the estate. He sold it. He wanted no more ghosts, no more marble hallways filled with echoes of the past. He bought a smaller, humbler home in the suburbs, one where the doors didn't need locks and the windows opened to a garden where Lucy could play.
