Chapter 8 - Victoria’s Vengeful Deal
The preliminary hearing at the county courthouse was swarming with media. Local news crews, financial bloggers, and curious onlookers packed the wooden pews. The story of the discarded wife who inherited a fortune while her cheating husband landed in federal lockup had become a national sensation.
I arrived in an immaculate cream-colored tailored pantsuit, my dark hair styled in sleek waves, wearing a pair of dark sunglasses that I removed the moment I crossed the courtroom threshold. Daniel walked beside me, exuding quiet, lethal authority.
Across the aisle sat Brandon and Victoria.
Brandon looked completely shattered. His eyes were sunken, dark circles bruising his hollow cheeks, and his orange prison jumpsuit hung loosely on his shrinking frame. But Victoria was different. She had managed to secure a temporary release on heavily contested bail, and she sat at the defense table wearing a defiant smirk, dressed in an expensive black dress that she clearly hadn't paid for with legitimate earnings.
As the judge reviewed the opening exhibits, Victoria leaned back toward the gallery where several tabloid journalists were seated, whispering something to her publicist.
Daniel leaned over to me. “Her bail was posted late last night. Five hundred thousand dollars cash.”
I frowned. “Where did she get half a million dollars? Her accounts were frozen.”
“An offshore corporate guarantor registered in Panama,” Daniel said quietly, his brow furrowed in suspicion. “Someone with deep pockets is backing her, Clara. Someone who wants to use her as a proxy to attack you.”
Right on cue, Victoria’s attorney stood up. “Your Honor, my client, Miss Hale, is being subjected to malicious prosecution orchestrated by the plaintiff, Mrs. Vance-Hayes. We have filed a counter-claim alleging that the inheritance documents were obtained under fraudulent duress and that Miss Hale was merely an innocent financial consultant acting on Brandon Hayes’s instructions. Furthermore, Miss Hale has launched an independent defamation lawsuit seeking twenty million dollars in damages for targeted online harassment orchestrated by Mrs. Hayes.”
The courtroom erupted into whispers. Victoria turned slightly, shooting me a smug, venomous glare. She mouthed the words: *You won't win.*
I didn't flinch. I turned to Daniel, whose expression remained entirely undisturbed.
“Your Honor,” Daniel rose, his voice commanding the room with the force of thunder. “Before the defense attempts to rewrite history, we would like to present Exhibit G—a newly unsealed audio recording retrieved from Miss Hale’s personal encrypted cloud server by the forensic cyber-crimes unit.”
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Victoria’s smug grin instantly vanished.
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