Chapter 4 – The Last Person Standing
Six months later...
Adrian Vale stood alone inside a federal courtroom.
Gone were the tailored Italian suits.
Gone was the confidence.
Gone were the bodyguards.
He wore a plain prison uniform as the judge read the verdict.
"Guilty."
Money laundering.
Financial fraud.
Conspiracy.
Domestic aggravated assault.
Witness intimidation.
Evidence tampering.
The sentence echoed through the silent courtroom.
Thirty-eight years without parole.
Vanessa received twenty-two years after accepting a plea deal.
Neither looked at the other.
Their partnership had ended the moment prison doors closed behind them.
Outside the courthouse, reporters crowded around me.
"Ms. Whitmore!"
"Do you have anything to say to your ex-husband?"
Cameras flashed endlessly.
For a long moment, I simply watched Adrian being led toward the prison transport vehicle.
He looked smaller than I remembered.
Broken.
Terrified.
Exactly the way he had tried to make me feel.
Finally, I answered.
"I don't hate him."
"Hate keeps you tied to the past."
"I already walked away."
Then I turned toward my father.
Together, we walked down the courthouse steps beneath a clear Texas sky.
Not as a billionaire and his heiress.
But as a father who had kept his promise...
...and a daughter who had finally reclaimed her life.
Behind us, the prison bus doors slammed shut.
May you like
Ahead of us...
Everything was finally beginning.
