Chapter 18 - Shadows of the Past
While life at Briar Lake flourished, the final chapters of the legal drama surrounding Vanguard Bank and Julian Sterling reached their climax in a Chicago federal courtroom.
Marcus Vance called me late one Tuesday evening with the final verdict.
"It’s over, Ruth," Marcus said over the phone, sounding genuinely relieved. "The jury deliberated for less than four hours. Julian Sterling was found guilty on all counts of bank fraud, conspiracy, and wire tampering."
I closed my eyes, letting out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. "And his sentence?"
"Judge Henderson handed down a federal prison sentence of seven years, with no possibility of parole for the first four," Marcus reported. "Furthermore, the bank's board has stripped him of all remaining stock options and pension benefits. He's financially ruined, disgraced, and legally barred from ever working in banking again."
"A fitting end for a man who believed everything and everyone had a price tag," I remarked quietly.
"Indeed," Marcus agreed. "By the way, I ran into Vanessa's father down at the county courthouse last week. He told me Vanessa is currently trying to divorce a wealthy Miami real estate broker she met three months ago after discovering he's knee-deep in tax evasion lawsuits."
I let out a dry, humorless chuckle. "Some people never learn which lessons to study."
May you like
"True," Marcus sighed. "Anyway, the estate is fully secure, the trust is unassailable, and the marina is generating record revenue. You are officially untouchable, Ruth."
"I was never untouchable, Marcus," I said softly, looking out the study window at the moonlit lake. "I was just paying attention."
