Thomas entered the garden and stopped cold.

The trial of Robert Vane, Helen Vane, and their conspirators became the legal spectacle of the decade.

Over two weeks of intense courtroom testimony, the hidden, ugly underbelly of Vane Enterprises was laid bare for the world to see. Evidence of corporate sabotage, systemic embezzlement, illegal surveillance, and attempted child abduction flooded the news broadcasts every single evening.

Helen, unable to endure the public humiliation and stripped of every dollar she possessed, took a plea deal that resulted in five years in a federal penitentiary for fraud and conspiracy.

Robert, facing felony charges of attempted kidnapping, corporate murder-by-deprivation, and grand larceny, refused to plead guilty, clinging to his delusional belief that his prestige would protect him.

On the final day of the trial, Thomas stood on the witness stand.

The courtroom was dead silent as Thomas recounted the nights after his wife’s death—how Robert had locked the gates of the estate, how Helen had forced three young children to clean the floors of the mansion for scraps of bread, and how he had spent five years silently building Apex Global in the midnight hours while working twelve-hour manual shifts.

The jury deliberated for less than forty-five minutes.

"On the count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping: Guilty," the jury foreman read clearly. "On the count of grand corporate larceny: Guilty. On the count of criminal reckless endangerment: Guilty."

The judge, a stern woman with twenty years on the bench, looked down at Robert over her glasses.

"Mr. Vane," the judge said, her voice echoing off the wood-paneled walls, "you possessed wealth, power, and prestige, yet you displayed a level of cruelty toward your own flesh and blood that this court rarely witnesses. You are hereby sentenced to thirty-two years at the Mansfield Correctional Institution without the possibility of parole."

Robert’s head hit the defense table as the gavel slammed down.

BANG.