Chapter 9 - The Trap is Set
Monday morning arrived with a brutal, freezing rain that washed the Chicago streets in gray.
I walked into the towering downtown courthouse wearing a sharp, conservative black suit.
Zoe walked right beside me, holding a sleek leather briefcase.
We pushed through the heavy wooden doors of courtroom 4B.
Mark and Megan were already sitting at the plaintiff’s table.
They looked incredibly smug.
Mark wore a tailored suit, looking every bit the concerned, heartbroken father.
Megan sat behind him in the gallery, offering me a cold, venomous smile as I took my seat at the defense table.
The judge, a stern-looking woman with silver hair, slammed her gavel to quiet the room.
"Mr. Peterson is seeking emergency permanent custody," the judge stated, adjusting her glasses.
"He claims the mother is a violent danger to the child and suffers from severe psychiatric delusions."
Mark’s lawyer stood up immediately.
"Your Honor, we have video evidence of the mother attacking a family member with a deadly weapon in front of the child," the lawyer said confidently.
He handed a tablet to the bailiff, who placed it on the judge’s bench.
The judge watched the deepfake video.
Her face twisted in absolute horror.
She looked at me with pure, unadulterated disgust.
"This is incredibly disturbing," the judge said coldly.
"Mrs. Peterson, do you have any explanation for this barbaric behavior?"
Mark looked back at me, a victorious smirk playing on his lips.
I stood up slowly, picking up my own leather briefcase.
"Your Honor, I would like to submit my own piece of evidence," I said calmly.
I pulled a small tablet from my bag and handed it to the bailiff.
"That is the original, unedited security footage retrieved directly from the smart home servers," I stated loudly so the entire courtroom could hear.
Mark’s smirk instantly vanished.
Megan gasped loudly from the gallery.
The judge pressed play on my tablet.
She watched the real footage of Megan slapping Lily, and me simply defending my child.
"I also have certified metadata analysis proving the plaintiff's video was digitally manipulated using deepfake software," I continued.
The judge’s face turned bright red with fury.
She glared down at Mark.
"Is this a joke, Mr. Peterson?" the judge roared.
Mark began stammering, his face turning completely pale as he backed away from his own lawyer.
"Wait, I can explain," Mark choked out.
But before he could say another word, the heavy wooden doors of the courtroom swung violently open.
Two men in dark suits wearing FBI windbreakers marched down the center aisle.
"Mark Peterson," the lead agent barked.
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"You are under arrest for federal wire fraud, extortion, and the falsification of court documents."
Mark collapsed into his chair, utterly ruined.
