LOGINThe courtroom was already full long before the judge took his seat. It was the kind of fullness that carried weight, not noise.Every bench occupied, every aisle watched, every breath measured. People did not come this morning for speculation. They came for confirmation.Sarah sat upright, hands resting lightly on the table before her. Mr. Briggs leaned in occasionally, whispering instructions, but she barely heard him.Across the room, Tiana sat with her lawyers, posture composed, chin lifted just enough to suggest defiance rather than fear.Only someone who knew her well would notice how still she was. Not calm. Still.James sat behind the prosecution line, shoulders hunched, hands clasped as if in prayer though no words left his lips. His eyes stayed fixed on the floor.When the judge entered, the room rose and settled again into silence."The court will now proceed with the presentation of the sealed evidence," the judge said. "Prosecution, you may begin."The federal prosecutor s
The courtroom felt different the moment Tiana was called to the stand. There was no collective intake of breath like there had been with James, no sense of a man about to unravel.Instead, there was anticipation.The kind that made people sit straighter, adjust their clothes, glance at one another as if to confirm they were about to witness something deliberate.Tiana walked to the witness stand with measured steps, her back straight, her face calm in a way that felt intentional rather than natural. She did not look at James as she passed him. She did not look at Sarah either.Her eyes stayed forward, focused, almost serene. When she raised her hand to take the oath, her voice was clear, steady, unshaken. It was the voice of someone who had already decided how this story would be told.Once seated, she adjusted herself lightly, crossing her hands on the table, as though this were a boardroom meeting rather than a criminal trial. The prosecutor began, outlining basic facts, but Tiana d
The courtroom fell into a silence so thick it felt physical, like a weight pressing down on everyone present.When James stood from his seat and walked toward the witness stand, the sound of his shoes against the polished floor echoed louder than it should have.Every camera lens adjusted. Every pen paused. Every breath was measured. This was the moment everyone had been waiting for, though no one could agree on what they expected to see; redemption, denial, collapse, or something far uglier.James sat, adjusted the microphone with trembling fingers, and raised his right hand to swear the oath. His voice, when he spoke, sounded steady enough, practiced even. He had rehearsed this.He had gone over answers with his lawyer, memorized phrases that were safe, neutral, clean. Corporate language. Legal phrasing. Distance without refusal. Survival without confession.The prosecutor began gently, asking about his role at Striker Holdings during its early expansion years. James answered smooth
James did not plan the meeting. That was the lie he kept telling himself as he sat in his car across the street from a quiet café tucked between two supermarket stores and a closed florist.The place was forgettable on purpose, the kind of spot people used when they did not want to be remembered. Rain streaked down his windshield, blurring the world outside into pale gray smudges.He could have driven away. He should have driven away.Every warning the prosecutor had given him echoed in his head, loud and unforgiving. Do not contact her. Do not contact anyone from her legal team. Do not try to fix this yourself.But James had never been good at living inside rules when fear had its claws in him.The truth was that James had been wrestling with this decision for three days. Each night, he would lie awake staring at the ceiling of his apartment, running through scenarios in his mind.Each morning, he would wake up more desperate than the day before.The pressure of choosing between his
The visiting wing of the federal detention center always smelled like disinfectant and old metal, a sterile mix that never quite hid the despair soaked into its walls.James had been there many times since Tiana’s second arrest, but walking through those doors with Melissa beside him felt entirely different.The air felt heavier, the fluorescent lights harsher, as if the building itself was aware that a child had stepped into a place built for broken adults.Melissa held her backpack tight against her chest, her small fingers gripping the straps like they were the only thing keeping her steady.She had not said a word since they left the house. James kept glancing at her from the corner of his eye, trying to read her face, trying to guess what she was thinking, but she kept her gaze fixed on the floor as they walked.“You don’t have to stay long,” James said softly, breaking the silence. “We can leave whenever you want.”She didn’t answer.They were led into the visiting room, where a
The announcement came early in the morning, breaking through every major news channel like a thunderclap that no one could ignore."Federal prosecutors have officially set the trial date for Tiana Striker and her alleged co-conspirators," the anchor announced, her voice carefully neutral even though her eyes burned with curiosity. "This case, which involves attempted murder, corporate sabotage, and a seven-year-old warehouse arson that nearly killed business mogul Sarah Williams, is already being described as one of the most consequential trials of the decade. The trial is scheduled to begin six weeks from today."In a small coffee shop in downtown Manhattan, three strangers sat at the same table, all watching the same screen mounted above the counter."Did you hear that?" a middle-aged man said, shaking his head slowly. "They finally fixed a date. I told you this thing was not going to disappear."A woman across from him snorted. "Disappear? With how rich and powerful these people ar







