Chapter 9 - The Aftermath
The following weeks are a chaotic blur of federal depositions and news interviews. The massive criminal syndicate run by my father and Daniel Pierce is entirely dismantled by the government.
My parents are denied bail and face decades in federal prison for racketeering, fraud, and money laundering. Tyler loses his basketball scholarship and takes a plea deal for his involvement in the highway ambush. Mrs. Alvarez is fired and stripped of her teaching license permanently.
Because I aided the federal investigation and testified against them, the government grants me full immunity. They also legally emancipate me, completely freeing me from my toxic family's control.
My viral fame transforms into a massive wave of public support and crowdfunding. Strangers from all over the world donate to a legitimate scholarship fund set up entirely in my name. I finally have enough money to attend Stanford without worrying about a single penny.
I spend the rest of the summer living in a safe house provided by the federal witness protection program. I read books, sleep eight hours a night, and slowly begin to heal from the trauma of my childhood.
On the day before I am scheduled to leave for college, my assigned FBI agent knocks on my door. He hands me a thick, sealed envelope recovered from a secret safe in Daniel Pierce's corporate office.
"We cleared this through evidence, and a judge ruled it belongs legally to you," the agent says.
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I sit on my temporary bed and carefully slice the envelope open with a pen. Inside is a certified trust fund document worth over ten million dollars. It was established sixteen years ago by Daniel Pierce, listing me as the sole, irrevocable beneficiary.
I stare at the massive sum of money, completely unable to comprehend why the man who tried to kill me would leave me a fortune.
