Chapter 13 - The Criminal Trial
Victor’s criminal trial began fourteen months after the rainstorm.
The charges included wire fraud, bribery, forgery, theft, criminal endangerment, conspiracy, and assault.
The courtroom filled every day.
Prosecutors began with the money.
Then they presented the steel.
Maya Torres explained the warnings Victor ignored.
Engineers showed how the Ashland joints could have failed.
Residents from nearby buildings testified about emergency evacuations caused by similar materials.
Then the prosecution played Victor’s own voice.
People do not see steel after the walls are finished.
The jury listened differently after seeing photographs of cracked support plates.
Eleanor testified against her son.
Victor stared at her with disbelief.
“You taught me,” he whispered as she passed.
The microphone captured it.
She stopped.
“No.”
“I encouraged what was already there.”
Even Eleanor refused full responsibility when it became expensive.
Kendra testified next.
She described the affair and the fake vendors.
She admitted her own greed.
That honesty made her testimony stronger.
Then I took the stand.
Victor’s attorney asked about my hidden identity.
I answered every question.
Yes, I used my mother’s surname.
Yes, I asked my father not to reveal our relationship.
Yes, Hartwell executives quietly observed Victor.
Yes, some doors opened because of me.
“Then Mr. Hayes’s belief in his own success was manipulated.”
“Yes.”
“Would that cause emotional distress?”
“Possibly.”
“Could it cause anger?”
“Yes.”
“Could it cause financial insecurity?”
“Yes.”
His attorney stepped closer.
“Then you created the pressure under which these events occurred.”
“No.”
“I created a dishonest marriage.”
“Victor created fraudulent vendors.”
“I concealed my family.”
“Victor concealed defective steel.”
“I allowed him to believe I had no protection.”
“He decided that meant I deserved no respect.”
The distinction remained clear.
The jury convicted him on every major financial and safety charge.
They also convicted him of assault.
Victor received twenty-nine years.
The judge ordered restitution exceeding forty million dollars.
His future earnings would belong partly to the people he endangered.
As deputies led him away, he looked at me.
“You could have stopped this years ago.”
I nodded.
May you like
“Yes.”
“So could you.”
