CHAPTER 12: THE SHOWDOWN
The hearing was scheduled for 9 AM.
Karen was there, along with Richard and a team of lawyers. They looked confident, arrogant, like they'd been here before.
But they didn't know what we had.
Daniel and I sat together on the plaintiff's side. My children were with a nanny, safe and away from the madness.
"This is the moment," Daniel whispered.
"I know."
"Are you ready?"
"I've been ready for three years."
The hearing began. Karen's lawyer argued, obfuscated, attacked. But they couldn't dodge the evidence.
We had financial records.
We had emails.
We had testimony.
And we had the truth.
"Karen Mitchell," the judge said, "you are charged with fraud, embezzlement, and conspiracy to commit murder."
Karen's face went pale.
"Your Honor, this is absurd."
"Absurd is the amount of evidence against you," the judge said.
The hearing continued for five hours.
At the end, Karen was taken into custody.
Richard was arrested in the hallway.
"Daniel, you can't do this to your own brother," Richard shouted.
"I'm not doing this," Daniel said. "You did it to yourself."
I walked over to Karen.
"You took everything from me," I said. "But I got it all back."
"You'll never be safe," Karen said. "I have friends. I have power."
"Not anymore."
She looked at me with pure hatred.
"I'll find a way."
"No," I said. "You won't."
May you like
I walked away, with Daniel's hand in mine.
And I didn't look back.
