Chapter 5
The trial began on a Tuesday in March.
The courtroom was packed. Reporters. Investors. Former employees. Women from The 5:03 Project, sitting in the back row in support.
Daniel and Lorraine sat at the defense table. Daniel looked thinner. Worn. Lorraine was still trying to look expensive, but her clothes were rented—we'd found the receipts.
The prosecution went first. The financial evidence. The forged documents. The offshore accounts. The stolen investor money. The embezzlement.
Then the domestic violence. The security footage. The 5:03 AM incident. The bruises. The police reports. The witnesses.
I testified. For two days. Daniel's lawyer cross-examined me. Tried to break me. Tried to make me look like a liar.
I didn't break. I told the truth. And the evidence backed me up.
Then Daniel testified. It was a disaster. He lied. He got caught. He contradicted himself. The jury watched him unravel.
Lorraine testified too. She blamed Daniel. Blamed the investors. Blamed me. Said I'd entrapped them. Said the security camera was illegal.
The judge overruled. The camera was in my house. In my name. Legal.
The defense had nothing. No witnesses. No evidence. Just denials.
The jury deliberated for one day.
Guilty. On all counts.
Daniel: twelve years. Lorraine: eight years. Restitution: four million dollars.
The judge called them "greedy, manipulative criminals who abused the trust of everyone around them."
After the sentencing, I walked out of the courthouse. The sun was shining. Reporters shouted questions. I didn't answer.
My sister was waiting. Janet was waiting. Maria and the women from The 5:03 Project were waiting.
They hugged me. They cried. They cheered.
I looked up at the sky. Blue. Clear. Wide open.
May you like
It was over.
I'd won.
