Chapter 13 - Justice Without Mercy
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Six months later, the summer sun baked the white stone steps of the Southern District Federal Courthouse in Manhattan.
The trial of Grant Varelli had concluded with lightning speed.
Facing ninety-six counts of grand larceny, corporate embezzlement, and wire fraud, Grant had taken a plea deal that sentenced him to fourteen years in federal prison.
Sabrina Cole had been handed five years at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, all her jewelry and luxury assets seized and auctioned by the government to repay the defrauded children’s clinic.
As reporters shouted questions outside the court, Silas Varelli walked down the marble steps alone.
He looked ten years older.
His hair was streaked with gray, his face lined with quiet exhaustion.
He had survived the financial scandal, but the heart of his enterprise was gone.
Without Laurel's quiet oversight, his empire was just another cold corporation run by lawyers and consultants who charged him by the hour.
A crowd had gathered near the entrance of the adjoining plaza.
Camera flashes lit up the midday shade.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was taking place for the newly renovated Hope Harbor Financial Foundation, an independent audit and advisory firm dedicated to protecting non-profit endowments from corporate greed.
Silas stopped by the brass railings and looked across the courtyard.
Standing at the podium was Laurel.
She wore an elegant emerald silk suit, her hair flowing freely around her shoulders, radiant in the summer light.
Beside her stood Celeste Varelli, smiling with fierce maternal pride as she held Laurel's hand.
His own mother had invested ten million dollars of her personal trust into Laurel's new firm.
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His mother had chosen Laurel over him.
And Silas knew, deep in his aching chest, that his mother was right.
