Chapter 13 - THE TRIAL OF ILLUSIONS
Three days later, the city's central courthouse was swarmed by hundreds of reporters, photographers, and television crews. The downfall of the Vance family had become the biggest media circus of the decade.
Inside courtroom 4B, the atmosphere was suffocating.
Eleanor Vance sat at the defense table, wearing a dark grey designer suit, her hair immaculately styled, her expression stoic and distant. Sitting beside her was Sterling, who looked visibly stressed as he shuffled through stacks of motions.
On the witness stand sat Gareth, wearing a dull orange prison jumpsuit that starkly contrasted with his pristine tuxedo from three days prior. His hands were restrained in front of him, his face pale and sunken.
"Mr. Vance," the prosecutor asked, walking slowly in front of the jury box. "Did your mother, Eleanor Vance, explicitly instruct you to plant the platinum watch in your niece's backpack on the afternoon of your wedding?"
Gareth looked across the room at his mother. Eleanor stared straight ahead, refusing to meet his eyes, her chin held high in cold defiance.
"Yes," Gareth answered, his voice trembling slightly before gaining strength. "She told me that if we didn't discredit Marissa before the board meeting, we would both lose everything. She supplied the watch, and she told me to make sure the scene was public so the media would pick it up."
A chorus of furious murmurs broke out among the press gallery in the back of the courtroom. The judge slammed his gavel down three times, demanding order.
"And what was the ultimate goal of this frame-up?" the prosecutor continued.
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"To trigger the guardianship clause in my father's trust," Gareth testified, looking down at his wrists. "It would strip Marissa of her voting rights, giving Mother full operational control over the port accounts."
In the second row of the gallery, Marissa sat quietly, holding Lily’s hand tightly in her lap. She watched as her brother destroyed their mother on national television, feeling no triumph, no relief—only the cold satisfaction of justice finally catching up with the monsters who had raised her.
