Alle Kapitel von MY WAY TO THE BILLIONAIRE'S HEART : Kapitel 61 – Kapitel 70

"Ms. Sullivan, during cross-examination, Ms. Chen suggested you might be defending Carter Montgomery out of financial dependency. You stated your financial arrangement with him is no longer active. Is there anything else — any benefit, promise, or inducement — that Carter Montgomery has offered you in exchange for your testimony today?""No," Maeve said."Nothing?""Nothing." She looked at the jury. "In fact, Carter asked me not to testify at all. He was worried about what it would cost me personally. I chose to testify because I believe the truth matters more than my comfort. That's the only reason I'm here."Rachel nodded. "No further questions." She turned to Judge Hendricks. "Your Honor, at this time the prosecution would like to introduce Exhibit 47 — video evidence pertaining to a meeting between Thomas Sullivan and Jade Whitmore at the Whitmore County Correctional Facility."Patricia was already on her feet. "Objection, Your Honor. The defense has significant concerns about the

She used two exhibits. A waveform visualization and a metadata breakdown.The waveform showed no splicing. She explained what splicing looked like and why this didn't show it. The metadata showed every frame timestamp consistent with the facility's DVR system. She explained what inconsistent timestamps looked like and why these weren't that."In your professional opinion," Rachel asked, "is this footage authentic?""In my professional opinion," Dr. Reeves said, "this footage is authentic, unaltered, and accurately represents a conversation that took place in that visitor room on the dates indicated.""Could the audio compression have changed the meaning of any phrase in the recording?""No. The compression is minimal, consistent, and does not affect speech intelligibility. I reviewed the transcript against the audio four times. It's accurate."Patricia's cross-examination was brief and generated nothing new.Dr. Reeves stepped down.The courtroom had the quality of a room in which som

On the charge of conspiracy," Judge Hendricks said, and here she paused long enough that the room gathered itself, "the prosecution has presented, in addition to the above, a recorded video document capturing a conversation between the defendant and a third party in which the coordination of a deliberate attack on the complainant and on Carter Montgomery is discussed in explicit terms." She looked at the video screen, now dark, as if she could still see the footage on it. "The defense challenged the authenticity of this footage. The challenge was not supported. The footage is admitted. The charge of conspiracy proceeds to trial."She turned another page."On the charge of attempted kidnapping—" she paused again, "—the prosecution has presented zip tie restraints with the complainant's DNA, forensic evidence from the vehicle used in the incident, financial records linking the defendant to the individual who carried out the physical act, phone records documenting seventeen calls between

"Yes," she said. "I actually think I am."Her brother made a sound that might have been relief.Outside, the rain continued.Inside, in the quiet of the safe house, Maeve Sullivan sat with her phone pressed to her ear and talked to her brother about nothing important — the food stall he'd driven past the other day, whether their mother had tried the new medication, what the weather was like in Ohio — and let the ordinary weight of it settle around her like something she'd been missing without knowing she was missing it.When Carter came upstairs an hour later, she was still on the couch. Her brother had been replaced by Sarah, who had been replaced by a silence she didn't feel the need to fill.Carter stood in the doorway for a moment."Yamamoto released their statement," he said. "It's done.""I know.""The board meeting is confirmed for seven AM.""I know."He came and sat in the chair across from her. Not beside her. Across from her, which felt right — the correct distance for two

And you think they'll vote to remove you.""I think they've already decided and the meeting is the formal mechanism." He said it without bitterness. With the particular flatness of someone who has finished grieving a thing while it was still in the future. "Three of the major shareholders contacted my attorney before the hearing was over today. They want stability. They want someone whose name isn't currently on the cover of every newspaper in the country.""Sterling.""Possibly. Or someone new." He paused. "Someone whose father didn't steal three hundred million dollars from the pension fund."The sentence sat between them. She felt him feel it."Your father made those choices," she said."My father made those choices and I covered them for three years.""You're fixing them.""I'm trying to." He looked at the window. "Fixing things doesn't undo the period where they weren't being fixed. The people who lost their retirements still lost them for the years I stayed quiet. Linda still ha