Chapter 14 - THE TRIAL
Julian’s criminal trial began eleven months after the party.
I wore blue.
Not intentionally.
Then I realized.
Same color.
Different dress.
Camilla pleaded guilty before trial.
James too.
Marcus too.
Nina testified under immunity for certain counts.
Julian went alone.
He looked older.
Still handsome.
Annoying.
The prosecution started with money.
Vendor fraud.
Digital signatures.
Fake guarantee.
Medical leak.
Board manipulation.
Then the home footage.
Camilla entering my office.
Julian holding the door.
The jury watched him kiss her beside the hydrangeas.
I looked at the floor.
I did not need to see it again.
Then came the party video.
His hand hitting my shoulder.
“Go home.”
“She belongs beside me tonight.”
My own face on screen.
Still.
Humiliated.
Calm.
I hated that people called the calm “strength.”
I had been in shock.
Strength came later.
The prosecutor asked me.
“Why did you stay?”
“For the announcement.”
“Why not leave after he struck you?”
I thought.
“Because I was tired of moving out of the way.”
That was the closest thing to a speech I gave.
Julian’s lawyer attacked the acquisition.
My secrecy.
My wealth.
My anger.
All fair topics.
Then he asked.
“Isn’t it true you enjoyed becoming his boss?”
I almost smiled.
“For a minute.”
The jury shifted.
“What happened after?”
“We found the fraud.”
“And then?”
“It stopped being funny.”
He moved on.
Camilla testified.
Red gown gone.
Plain gray suit.
She admitted stealing my jewelry.
Planting the forged bank statement.
Helping leak therapy notes.
Then she said.
“I thought if Audrey looked unstable, no one would care what Julian did.”
The prosecutor asked.
“Why?”
Camilla looked at me.
“Because that’s what worked on me.”
Silence.
Julian had spent years telling Camilla her career depended on him.
That nobody respected her.
That other women hated her.
He kept her insecure enough to be useful.
Again.
Explanation.
Not excuse.
Then Nina testified about Noah.
Julian closed his eyes.
The jury convicted him on most counts.
Not every one.
The unlawful medical access charge failed because the government could not prove he personally ordered the hack.
The conspiracy count held.
Fraud held.
Identity theft held.
Obstruction held.
Evidence fabrication held.
At sentencing, he asked to speak.
He looked at me.
“I loved you.”
I believed he believed that.
That was the tragedy.
He had loved me in the shape he preferred.
The judge sentenced him to twelve years.
Then came the company’s annual meeting.
May you like
The first one without him.
