Chapter 5 - The Final Stand
Two weeks later, the preliminary injunction hearing was held at the King County Superior Court.
The courtroom was packed to maximum capacity. Journalists, university students, and curious onlookers lined the benches.
My father sat at the defense table, looking noticeably thinner. His skin was sallow, and his expensive suit now looked slightly too big for him. Beside him, his high-priced corporate lawyers whispered frantically among themselves. Eleanor sat behind him in the gallery, wearing dark sunglasses to hide from the courtroom cameras.
Ethan was nowhere to be seen.
"The plaintiff may proceed," the judge announced, gesturing toward Victoria.
Victoria stood up, adjusting her glasses. "Your Honor, we are requesting a freeze on all assets related to Bennett Tech’s new AI optimization suite, as well as an immediate return of the $150,000 stolen from Emily Bennett's trust fund."
My father's lead attorney, a ruthless man named Arthur Pendelton, stood up confidently. "Your Honor, this is a clear case of family drama being weaponized to extort a successful business. The audio recordings provided by the plaintiff are highly suspect and have not been verified by an independent expert. Furthermore, the IP of the neural network was developed under a standard family agreement. My client funded his daughter's life; it is only natural that her research would belong to the family firm."
"A family agreement?" Victoria countered, her voice ringing through the courtroom. "We have a signed affidavit from the Dean of Computer Science at University of Washington, stating that Emily Bennett received zero financial assistance from her parents during her four years of study. We also have the bank records proving her trust fund was liquidated without her knowledge or consent."
"That was a loan!" Eleanor shouted from the gallery, unable to contain herself. "We were going to pay it back!"
"Order in the court!" the judge barked, slamming his gavel. "Mrs. Bennett, one more outburst and you will be removed."
Victoria turned back to the judge. "Your Honor, we would like to call a surprise witness to the stand. Someone who has agreed to testify under oath in exchange for immunity from prosecution regarding the financial fraud at Bennett Tech."
A murmur of confusion rippled through the room. I looked at Victoria, surprised. She hadn't told me about a new witness.
The heavy wooden doors at the back of the courtroom opened.
My heart stopped.
Walking down the aisle, wearing a cheap, poorly fitting suit and looking utterly terrified, was my brother, Ethan.
"Ethan?" my mother gasped, her sunglasses slipping down her nose. "What are you doing?"
"Richard, do something!" Eleanor hissed, grabbing my father's shoulder. But Richard could only stare in horror as his golden boy walked straight to the witness stand.
Ethan took the oath, his voice trembling as he swore to tell the truth.
Victoria approached him. "Mr. Bennett, please state your role at Bennett Tech."
"I... I was supposed to be the lead developer for the new AI suite," Ethan said, his eyes scanning the floor, refusing to look at me or our parents.
"Did you write the code for that suite, Ethan?"
Ethan swallowed hard. He looked at our father, who was glaring at him with a look of pure, murderous rage. Then, Ethan looked at the judge.
"No," Ethan whispered. "I don't even know how to code in Python. I failed my introductory computer science classes three times. My dad paid the professors to pass me."
The courtroom erupted. The judge hammered his gavel repeatedly, but the noise was deafening.
"Why did you agree to take credit for Emily's work?" Victoria asked, her voice calm amidst the storm.
"Because my dad told me if I didn't, he would cut me off," Ethan confessed, a tear slipping down his cheek. "He said Emily was just a girl, that she didn't need a career because she'd just get married. He said I was the future of the family name. But... but when the FBI started asking questions about the financial transfers last week, my dad told me to take the fall. He wanted to blame the trust fund liquidation on me. He was going to let me go to prison to save his own skin."
Eleanor let out a strangled shriek and fainted onto the courtroom bench.
Richard sat frozen, his face completely pale. He looked like a man who had finally realized that the cage he had built for his daughter had ended up trapping him instead.
"I have the emails," Ethan added, pulling a stack of printed documents from his jacket. "My dad instructing the accounting department to falsify the records and frame me and Emily. It was all him. Everything."
The judge looked down at the defense table with deep disgust.
"In light of this testimony," the judge ruled, his voice booming over the chaos, "I am granting the immediate freeze on all Bennett Tech assets. Furthermore, I am referring this matter to the District Attorney's office for immediate criminal prosecution of Richard Bennett for grand larceny, corporate fraud, and child abuse."
I looked at my father.
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For the first time in my life, he didn't look big. He didn't look scary. He looked small, broken, and utterly defeated.
And I felt nothing but peace.
