Chapter 27 - The Verdict
Victor Langford's trial began almost three years after the first photograph arrived.
By then, the world had moved on from the original airfield scandal.
New scandals.
New billionaires.
New headlines.
Emilia preferred it that way.
Justice performed for an audience could easily become entertainment.
The courtroom heard from Denise.
Claire.
Lydia.
Former security employees.
Financial officers.
And Seraphina.
Victor testified in his own defense.
That surprised everyone.
He was still charismatic.
Still controlled.
He described himself as a demanding businessman whose methods had been exaggerated by disgruntled employees.
Then the prosecutor showed him the internal list.
Resolved.
Victor claimed he did not know what it meant.
The prosecutor displayed an email he had written.
Resolve her before Friday. Her children make her vulnerable.
Victor’s face changed.
Only once.
But jurors saw it.
After seven weeks, the jury returned.
Guilty on most major counts.
Not all.
Enough.
Victor stood without expression.
Emilia felt no triumph.
Carter squeezed her hand.
Outside, reporters shouted questions.
She walked past them.
Claire did too.
So did Lydia.
Marta stopped.
One reporter asked how she felt.
Marta considered.
“Hungry.”
The reporter blinked.
Marta smiled.
“We have been in court for six hours.”
Everyone laughed.
That became Emilia’s favorite moment of the entire case.
Not Victor losing.
Marta living.
They went to a small restaurant.
No private dining room.
No security perimeter beyond what was necessary.
Rachel ordered fries for the table.
Lydia complained about her upcoming exam.
Claire showed photographs of her daughter.
June criticized the coffee.
Carter listened.
Emilia looked around.
Years earlier, these people had existed on separate lines of a secret list.
Now they were sitting together.
May you like
Victor had believed information gave him power over people.
He had never understood what happened when those people shared information with one another.
