Chapter 9 - The Prison Plot
The courtroom doors swung open, but the gravity of the verdict was entirely overshadowed by the digital earthquake happening on my tablet screen. As Lord Justice Alistair officially ruled in our favor—dissolving Aegis Prime, stripping Claire of all European assets, and transferring full ownership back to Carter Holdings—I barely felt the victory. My mind was entirely consumed by Roman’s desperate, last-ditch maneuver back in the United States.
Back in our private consultation room at the law firm’s London branch, Marcus Thorne hooked his laptop up to the display monitor, pulling up the docket filed in the U.S. Federal District Court of Northern Illinois.
"Explain this to me, Marcus," I demanded, crossing my arms as I stared at the dense legal jargon on the screen. "How can Roman file an emergency motion from a federal penitentiary claiming I conspired in his embezzlement?"
"It’s a classic cornered-rat strategy," Harrison explained, pacing the floor behind me. "Since he’s facing eight years with no parole eligibility until he serves at least eighty-five percent of his sentence, his defense team is throwing everything against the wall. He’s claiming that you—as the primary shareholder of the ancestral trust and his former domestic partner—had full knowledge of the financial reallocations and implicitly authorized them to lower your collective tax burden."
A bitter, incredulous laugh escaped my lips. "Tax evasion conspiracy? That’s absurd. I spent years managing galas and raising capital while he locked me out of the master financial servers until the night he left."
"It doesn't matter how absurd it is legally, Savannah," Marcus warned, clicking to a sub-document. "Federal judges are required to review any sworn affidavit submitted by an inmate alleging newly discovered evidence of coercion or co-conspiracy. If the judge grants an evidentiary hearing, you’ll be summoned back to Chicago to testify under oath. And Roman’s lawyers are hoping to weaponize the media circus to drag your name through the mud, forcing you into a humiliating settlement where you hand back voting shares just to make the public scandal go away."
Claire Bennett had lost her European empire, but Roman was trying to burn mine to the ground from the inside out. He wanted to destroy my reputation, undermine my company, and drag me down into the dirt with him. He still didn't understand the woman he had married. He thought fear was my primary motivator, forgetting entirely that survival had forged me into steel.
"Book our return flight to Chicago immediately," I said, my voice dropping an octave into absolute, chilling resolve. "If Roman wants a public battle, I will give him a war he can never escape."
Forty-eight hours later, our private jet touched down in Chicago under a heavy, brooding autumn sky. The media had already caught wind of Roman’s prison filing; flashbulbs popped like lightning storms as we stepped off the tarmac, reporters shouting questions about whether Carter Holdings was facing a hostile takeover from behind bars. I didn't stop, didn't flinch, and didn't offer a single word to the vultures. I climbed straight into my bulletproof SUV and headed directly to Harrison’s downtown office.
"Here is our counter-strategy," Harrison announced, slamming a thick leather binder onto the conference table as soon as we walked in. "Roman’s affidavit relies entirely on his word against yours regarding the financial awareness timeline. But remember what you downloaded on Christmas Eve from his home office computer?"
My eyes widened slightly. "The encrypted server logs."
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"Exactly," Harrison smiled grimly. "Every single keystroke, every administrator login timestamp, and every offshore transfer confirmation was logged with his personal biometric signature and IP address. He didn't just hide the money; he locked you out of the administrative privileges three years before the embezzlement even began. We don't just disprove his conspiracy theory; we prove perjury, tampering, and malicious prosecution."
"Let's file it," I said, leaning over the table. "File the complete digital forensic package with the federal court tomorrow morning. And request an immediate, expedited hearing. I want Roman standing in a public courtroom, forced to look me in the eye while his final lie is completely dismantled."
