I found my niece barefoot outside the hospital, clutching her newborn while her husband’s message told her the home I had bought for her no longer belonged to her. He thought he had trapped an exhausted new mother with forged paperwork and threats—but the moment I saw what he had done, I called the one man capable of exposing every lie.

Six months later.

The high-profile criminal trial of State v. Derek and Lydia Vance concluded with a resounding verdict that made national news.

Derek Vance was convicted on all counts—extortion, grand larceny, conspiracy, and fraud—and sentenced to fifteen years in state penitentiary without the possibility of parole for the first eight years.

Lydia Vance received eighteen years for her role as the ringleader of the financial conspiracy, insurance theft, and child endangerment scheme. Marcus Vance, the bank officer, was stripped of his financial license and sentenced to four years in federal prison.

I stood on the steps of the courthouse after the sentencing, watching as the prison transport van drove away through the gates.

Garrison walked up beside me, lighting a cigar. "That's the end of them, Thomas. They'll spend the next decade staring at brick walls."

"It's what they earned," I said quietly. "How is the bank handling the public relations?"

"Apex Bank issued a formal public apology to Sarah and made a two-hundred-thousand-dollar donation in Leo's name to the Regional Children's Hospital," Garrison replied with a smirk. "They were desperate to avoid a shareholder revolt."