Chapter 5 - The Legal Slaughter
The next morning, the legal execution of Dominic Cross began in earnest.
Victoria Sterling stood before a federal judge in downtown Chicago, presenting a mountain of encrypted data logs, financial wire transfers, and the video surveillance footage from Saint Aurelia's NICU ward.
Dominic’s defense attorney, a low-tier civilian lawyer he had scraped together using the last remaining cash from his pocket, sat beside his client, his face covered in a cold sweat. He knew there was absolutely no defense against the legal armada the Vance family had deployed.
"Your Honor," Victoria Sterling stated, her voice sharp and authoritative, echoing through the grand courtroom. "The defendant, Dominic Cross, systematically executed a premeditated plan to defraud his heavily pregnant wife of her legal inheritance. He used her medical incapacitation during an emergency premature delivery to empty her accounts, cancel her medical access, and attempt to abandon her and their newborn twins in a critical care facility. This is not a standard divorce asset dispute. This is a targeted criminal enterprise."
The judge, a severe woman with a reputation for absolute intolerance toward corporate fraud, glared down at Dominic over her glasses. "Mr. Cross, your corporate banking privileges are hereby revoked. A temporary federal receivership will be placed over Cross Medical Supplies. Every asset, every piece of inventory, and every corporate account will be frozen until a full forensic audit is completed."
Dominic stood up, his voice cracking with desperation. "Your Honor! If you freeze my company, I can't fulfill my medical supply contracts! The city hospitals will sue me! I'll be completely bankrupt!"
"Then you should have thought about that before you attempted to bankrupt the mother of your children, Mr. Cross," the judge snapped, slamming her gavel down with a sound like a gunshot. "Motion for immediate asset freeze granted. The defendant is barred from leaving the state pending the outcome of the FBI wire fraud investigation."
As Dominic was led out of the courtroom, he saw Audrey sitting in the front row of the gallery. She was accompanied by two private nurses and her grandfather. She looked stunning, wearing a sharp tailored suit, her face calm and serene. The exhaustion of the delivery was fading, replaced by the regal dignity of her true lineage.
Dominic broke away from his lawyer, trying to reach the wooden railing separating them. "Audrey! Please! Tell your grandfather to stop! I’m sorry! I’ll do whatever you want! I’ll give you full custody! Just don't destroy my life!"
Audrey stood up slowly, looking down at him with an expression of complete, detached peace.
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"You didn't just try to destroy my life, Dominic," Audrey said softly, her voice carrying across the silent courtroom. "You endangered Liam and Chloe. You thought because I had no family in sight, I was weak. You forgot that a mother will do whatever it takes to protect her children. And a Vance... always finishes the job."
She turned her back on him, walking out of the courtroom flanked by her grandfather, leaving Dominic to be dragged away by the court marshals.
