Chapter 14: Ashes to Earth
Six months later.
The liquidation of Vane Holdings was complete. The corporate tower had been sold to pay off restitution claims, and the name Vane had been stripped from the city's financial districts. Cassandra had accepted a plea bargain involving forfeiture of her offshore accounts and a prison sentence, her social standing completely obliterated.
Julian sat in a modest courtroom in upstate New York. Because of his full cooperation, voluntary surrender of all assets, and key testimony against the corrupt board members, the judge sentenced him to three years of community restitution and probation, avoiding federal prison.
When he walked out of the courthouse, he owned nothing more than the clothes on his back and a small duffel bag.
Maeve was waiting for him by a modest station wagon at the curb.
May you like
"You look lighter," she observed as he put his bag in the back.
"I am," Julian said. For the first time in his life, his breath came easy. The heavy, claustrophobic pressure that had sat on his chest for twenty years had vanished.
