Chapter 7 - The Collapse of the Empire
The trial—if it could even be called that—wasn't held in a public courtroom.
It was conducted behind closed doors in the executive boardroom of Sterling Corp, overseen by federal regulators, investigative journalists, and the remaining independent members of the board of directors.
Julian Cross sat beside Victor, but for the first time in his career, the brilliant lawyer didn't have a defense strategy. The evidence Aaron Reyes had provided was airtight: unredacted internal emails, audio logs of Victor demanding accelerated trials despite safety warnings, and financial records proving the systematic cover-up of the Geneva facility's destruction.
The public fallout was catastrophic.
Within forty-eight hours of the document leak, Sterling Corp's stock plummeted by 84%. Trading was halted twice. Institutional investors pulled billions in capital overnight, and federal prosecutors issued a formal indictment against Victor Sterling for criminal negligence, securities fraud, and conspiracy.
Victor didn't fight it.
He sat at the end of the massive mahogany boardroom table, his hands folded quietly in front of him, staring blankly at the polished wood. He didn't interrupt when the federal prosecutor read the charges. He didn't object when the board unanimously voted to strip him of his CEO title and voting shares.
When the meeting adjourned and the room slowly emptied, only Julian Cross remained, standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the grey city skyline.
"It's over, Victor," Julian said quietly, not looking back. "The federal attorney agreed to drop the maximum prison sentence if you plead guilty and forfeit all remaining personal assets to the victim restitution fund. You'll walk away with nothing."
Victor let out a dry, humorless laugh.
"Nothing," Victor repeated softly. "Funny... for forty years, I thought 'nothing' meant living in poverty. Now I realize it's just the weight of everything I built being lifted off my shoulders."
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Julian turned, eyeing him with a strange mix of pity and disbelief. "What about the girls?"
Victor stood up, buttoning his suit jacket for what might be the last time. "They're staying with my sister in Seattle. They're enrolled in a normal school. They're running, Julian. For the first time in their lives, they're running in the grass."
