Chapter 8 - The Price of Treason
The trial of Carter and Evelyn Vale was swift and unmerciful. The federal prosecutors used the digital footprints left on Evelyn's computer to trace the exact software used to create the fake paternity document, while the internal emails on Carter’s private server revealed their plan to dump me in poverty so I wouldn't have the financial resources to sue for my intellectual property.
Evelyn was sentenced to seven years in a federal penitentiary for perjury and fraud. Carter received twelve years for corporate espionage, federal procurement violation, and criminal conspiracy.
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Lila was forced to return every asset Carter had purchased for her using corporate funds, leaving the city in disgrace, her reputation completely ruined.
On the day of the sentencing, I stood outside the courthouse holding Leo in a warm wool carrier. Carter was led past the glass hallway in chains, his designer suit replaced by a bright orange jumpsuit. He looked out the window, his eyes catching mine, then falling down to the baby sleeping peacefully against my chest. He closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face as the guards pushed him toward the transport van. He had traded his family for a billion-dollar illusion, and now he had neither.
