Chapter 6 - The Arraignment
Two weeks later, the federal district courthouse in downtown Manhattan was packed to absolute capacity.
The media circus outside rivaled presidential inaugurations. Flashbulbs popped blindingly as Adrian and Celeste Cole were led up the courthouse steps in orange jumpsuits, their wrists cuffed, their heads bowed low to avoid the cameras.
I sat in the secure private viewing gallery behind frosted glass, flanked by Gabriel and my legal team.
When Adrian entered the courtroom, his eyes scanned the gallery frantically until they landed on the glass partition. He stopped dead in his tracks, staring up at me with a look of desperate, hollow disbelief. The arrogant, untouchable corporate climber was completely gone, replaced by a broken man facing fifteen years in a federal penitentiary.
Judge Harrison, a notoriously stern jurist with zero tolerance for white-collar crime and domestic abuse, adjusted his glasses as he reviewed the final sentencing recommendations.
“Mr. Adrian Cole and Mrs. Celeste Cole,” Judge Harrison’s voice boomed through the courtroom microphones, cold and absolute. “The financial audits, digital wire logs, audio recordings, and testimonies presented by the prosecution establish an egregious, premeditated pattern of corporate embezzlement, felony fraud, and domestic assault.”
Adrian swallowed hard, his throat dry as sandpaper.
“Given the severity of the charges and the deliberate abuse of trust, this court rejects all motions for leniency,” the judge declared, striking his gavel with a sharp, echoing crack. “Adrian Cole, you are sentenced to twelve years in a federal correctional facility. Celeste Cole, you are sentenced to ten years for complicity, extortion, and historical child abduction concealment.”
The gavel fell a second time, sealing their fate.
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Adrian let out a ragged gasp as the marshals hoisted him to his feet and led him away through the side doors.
Karma had not just caught up with them; it had arrived in a bullet train.
