Chapter 8
The morning of the federal trial arrived with a media circus outside the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse. Hundreds of journalists, television crews, and curious onlookers crowded the granite steps in downtown Manhattan.
Sarah arrived in a sleek black town car, stepping out with calm, unyielding grace before the cameras flashed. She wore a tailored charcoal pantsuit, projecting the absolute epitome of corporate power and unshakable authority.
Inside the packed courtroom, Victoria sat at the defense table wearing a standard, shapeless gray prison jumpsuit. Her long dark hair was unstyled, and her face bore the heavy, exhausted lines of someone broken by reality.
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She avoided looking toward the gallery where Sarah sat in the front row with her legal team. The federal prosecutor stepped up to the podium, adjusting his microphone to deliver the opening statement of the trial.
"Members of the jury, this case is not about simple financial misfortune; it is about calculated, systematic deception," he began. The courtroom fell into an intense, breathless hush as the damning evidence was laid out before the jury.
