Chapter 18 - The Final ReckoningThe sentencing hearing at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse was short, solemn, and brutal.
The courtroom was packed with former business associates, media reporters, and curious observers, but the family rows were entirely empty. The DeLuca name had been erased from corporate registries, and the Mercer family had scattered to the wind to avoid creditors.
Dominic stood beside his court-appointed attorney, shivering uncontrollably as Federal Judge Miriam Vance adjusted her glasses and looked down from her elevated bench.
"Dominic DeLuca," Judge Vance declared, her voice echoing clearly off the wood-paneled walls. "Your actions were not merely a crime of financial desperation. They represented a calculated, malicious betrayal of your family, your wife, and your corporate obligations, executed with breathtaking arrogance."
Dominic closed his eyes, fresh tears leaking past his lashes.
"On the counts of federal wire fraud, corporate espionage, and grand larceny," Judge Vance announced, bringing her heavy wooden gavel down with a loud, echoic CRACK, "you are sentenced to fifteen years at the Federal Correctional Institution in Pekin, without the possibility of early parole."
A collective murmur swept through the gallery.
In the row behind the defense table, Jessica Mercer—brought in from her own holding cell to hear her co-conspirator's verdict before her own trial—let out a choked, hysterical sob. She was sentenced twenty minutes later to twelve years for her active role in the offshore wire transfers.
As the armed federal marshals stepped forward to lead Dominic away, he turned his head back toward the gallery one last time.
May you like
His eyes found mine sitting in the front row, flanked by my father and Arthur Sterling.
I didn't smile. I didn't glare. I simply met his gaze with absolute, calm indifference, holding my head high as he was pulled through the heavy steel door, which slammed shut with a finality that echoed like thunder.
