Chapter 6 - The Traitor's Confession
Judge Mercer accepted the small envelope from the bailiff.
She sliced it open with a silver letter opener, the sharp sound echoing in the tense silence.
"Who exactly signed this confession, Mr. Whitmore?" the judge asked.
Elias turned slowly toward the back of the courtroom.
The heavy wooden doors of the courtroom swung open before he could answer.
Trent, my sister's husband, walked back into the room.
He did not look angry anymore.
He looked completely calm, wearing a sharp suit and a confident stride.
Jasmine stared at her husband in absolute shock.
"Trent?" she whispered, her voice trembling. "What are you doing?"
Trent ignored his wife completely and walked straight to the witness stand railing.
"I signed it, Your Honor," Trent announced clearly.
Jasmine let out a horrifying shriek of pure betrayal.
"You bought my husband?!" Jasmine screamed at me, her face twisting in ugly fury.
I looked at my sister without a single ounce of pity.
"I didn't buy him, Jasmine," I replied coldly. "I just paid off the massive gambling debts you didn't know he had."
Trent nodded respectfully toward me.
"For the last six months, I have been wearing a wire inside my own home," Trent confessed to the court.
"I recorded every single meeting between my wife, her mother, and Julian."
Julian buried his face in his hands, letting out a pathetic, broken sob.
"The confession details their exact plan to forge my client's signature on the company transfer documents," Elias explained.
"It also provides the exact locations of the offshore accounts where the stolen money is hidden."
Judge Mercer finished reading the signed document and set it down heavily.
She removed her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose, clearly disgusted by the sheer magnitude of the greed.
"Mr. Julian," the judge said, her voice dropping to a dangerous, lethal tone.
Julian slowly lifted his tear-stained face from his hands.
"I am granting your wife an immediate, absolute divorce," Judge Mercer ruled loudly.
"I am also freezing every single asset connected to your name, your law firm, and your offshore accounts."
My mother collapsed onto the wooden bench, weeping loudly for her lost luxury.
"Furthermore," the judge continued, ignoring the crying women in the gallery.
"I am holding you in civil contempt of this court for submitting fraudulent financial disclosures."
The judge looked over at the two armed bailiffs standing near the walls.
"Bailiffs, take this man into immediate custody."
Julian screamed as the two large officers grabbed him by the arms.
"You can't do this to me!" he yelled, thrashing wildly against their grip.
"I am a respected attorney! I will ruin you, Maya! I will ruin your entire life!"
I slowly stood up, buttoned my elegant suit jacket, and looked him dead in the eye.
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"You have no life left to threaten me with, Julian," I said perfectly calmly.
The heavy steel handcuffs clicked loudly around Julian's wrists.
