Chapter 2 - The Red Ledger
"What is the meaning of this?!" my father Arthur roared from the gallery, half-rising from the mahogany bench. "Eve, you deceitful little—"
*BANG!*
Judge Holloway’s gavel crashed down like a rifle shot. "One more word out of the peanut gallery and I will have the bailiff throw you in a holding cell for direct criminal contempt! Sit down and shut your mouth, sir!"
Arthur sank back down, trembling with rage. Helen looked like she was about to faint, clawing at Rosalind’s arm.
"Now," Judge Holloway leaned forward, resting her chin on steepled fingers. "Ms. Sterling. You have five minutes to explain why your firm dumped eighty pounds of paperwork onto my clerk’s desk fifteen minutes before docket call."
"With pleasure, Your Honor," Victoria said, opening the first binder. "Mr. Lewis and his counsel have filed for exclusive control of Lewis Construction Solutions under the claim that Julian Lewis served as its primary operator, chief visionary, and majority financial guarantor. They have also demanded the family residence and sole custody on the grounds that my client is an unfit, emotionally volatile mother."
Victoria turned slightly, pinning Julian with an icy stare.
"What Mr. Lewis failed to disclose to this court—and what he desperately tried to bury before this morning's hearing—is that over the past fourteen months, Mr. Lewis has systematically embezzled four point two million dollars from Lewis Construction Solutions."
A dead silence smothered the courtroom.
"That's a lie!" Julian yelled, jumping to his feet. "She's fabricating numbers! I built that company!"
"Mr. Lewis, sit down!" Holloway warned.
"I have the forensic trail right here, Your Honor," Victoria continued, completely unflustered. "Exhibit A: Thirty-two separate wire transfers initiated by Julian Lewis from LCS operating reserves to a shell entity registered in Delaware named 'Rosebud Holdings LLC.' And who, you might ask, is the sole registered agent and beneficiary of Rosebud Holdings?"
Victoria turned her head toward the gallery.
"Rosalind Vance. Eve’s younger sister."
Rosalind whimpered, burying her face in her hands. "Mommy..."
"Exhibit B," Victoria pressed on, handing a stack of glossy photographs to the bailiff. "While my client was working eighty-hour weeks securing municipal infrastructure contracts to keep six hundred blue-collar workers employed, Mr. Lewis was using corporate credit cards to fund a seven-hundred-thousand-dollar penthouse lease on Michigan Avenue, a two-hundred-thousand-dollar Aston Martin Vantage registered under Rosalind Vance's name, and jewelry purchases at Cartier totaling one hundred and forty thousand dollars."
Judge Holloway examined the receipts, her expression turning thunderous. "Mr. Albright. Were you aware your client was funding his mistress with corporate funds currently subject to a marital asset freeze?"
Albright looked like he was about to vomit. "Your Honor... my client adamantly denies—we were not advised of these specific corporate transactions—"
"Oh, it gets much worse," I interjected calmly, meeting Julian’s panicked stare. "Because Julian didn't just steal from me. He stole from the city."
Julian gripped the edge of his table, his knuckles whitening.
"Two weeks ago," I said, "I discovered that Julian had been forging my signature on quality-control affidavits for the South District Bridge retrofitting project, diverting high-grade structural steel funds into Rosebud Holdings while using sub-grade, uncertified rebar."
Judge Holloway pushed her glasses down her nose. "Are you telling me this man compromised public infrastructure to pay for your sister's sports car?"
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"I have already handed the un-redacted metallurgical reports and Julian’s forged signatures to the United States Attorney's Office, Criminal Division," I stated calmly. "They opened an active indictment file at eight o’clock this morning."
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