Chapter 7 - The Trial of Accountability
Two months later, the New York State Supreme Court was packed to capacity for the trial of State v. Ethan Hayes.
Media outlets from across the country sat in the gallery, eager to cover the trial of the former tech CEO who had dared to abuse the daughter of Vincenzo Romano.
Sophia sat at the front of the court, wearing a sharp charcoal suit, flanked by Marco and her legal team. Beside her sat Don Vincenzo, his presence alone chilling the air in the courtroom.
Ethan sat at the defense table in handcuffs and leg shackles, looking gaunt, defeated, and broken.
When the prosecution called Khloe Vance to the stand, Ethan glared at her with pure venom.
Khloe took the stand wearing a modest grey dress, looking pale and nervous. Under oath, she detailed everything—Ethan’s plan to use her father for funding, his open contempt for Sophia, and the brutal attack on the night of their wedding anniversary.
"He grabbed her by the hair," Khloe testified, wiping away fake tears. "I begged him to stop, but he threw her down the stairs. When she screamed that her leg was broken, he laughed and said she was performing. Then he dragged her into the dark basement and locked the door."
Ethan’s public defender attempted to object, but the prosecutor immediately played the recovered high-definition security footage on the courtroom monitors.
The graphic video left the jury gasping in horror. The sound of the crack as Sophia's leg hit the post, followed by Ethan’s cold, cruel sneer—"Get up. Stop performing."—echoed through the silent courtroom.
The jury deliberated for less than twenty minutes.
When they returned, the foreperson delivered the verdict:
"On the count of Aggravated Domestic Assault: Guilty." "On the count of First-Degree Kidnapping: Guilty." "On the count of Unlawful Imprisonment: Guilty."
The judge slammed her gavel down with thunderous finality.
"Ethan Hayes," the judge stated, her voice full of disgust. "Your cruelty, arrogance, and total lack of human empathy are staggering. You abused a woman who gave you everything, broke her body, and left her in the dark like trash."
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The judge delivered the sentence: Twenty-two years in a state penitentiary without the possibility of early parole.
Ethan collapsed onto the defense table, sobbing hysterically as court officers unceremoniously hauled him away in chains, taking him away to spend his youth behind steel bars.
