Chapter 8 - The Price of Treason
While love and life were being restored in the hospital room in San Francisco, justice was being meted out with absolute finality in the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles.
Special Agent Miller stood at the prosecution table, surrounded by stacks of black binders containing five years of audited financial statements, medical records from St. Jude, and full digital recordings of Preston and Camilla's confessions.
Sitting across the room at the defense table were Preston Cross and Camilla Vance, both wearing orange state prison jumpsuits, their hands and ankles bound by heavy steel shackles.
Preston looked ten years older than he had three days ago. His hair was messy, his eyes were sunken and bloodshot, and his arrogance had been replaced by a hollow, terrifying realization of his fate. Camilla sat beside him, staring blankly at the floor, her spirit completely broken.
The heavy doors at the back of the courtroom opened.
Dario walked in, dressed in a sharp tailor-made black suit, carrying Elsie on his hip, followed by Marcus and a team of high-profile legal councilors.
Preston looked up as Dario entered. He tried to speak, his lips moving to form his brother's name, but Dario didn't even grant him a single glance. Dario sat down in the front row of the gallery, setting Elsie on his lap, his posture commanding, calm, and utterly unshakeable.
The judge slammed her gavel down on the wooden bench. "Court is now in session. In the matter of the State v. Preston Cross and Camilla Vance."
Agent Miller stood up, addressing the bench in a clear, ringing voice that carried across the quiet courtroom.
"Your Honor, the State moves for immediate sentencing following the formal guilty pleas entered by both defendants on all thirty-seven counts, including attempted murder, kidnapping, corporate embezzlement, obstruction of justice, and human trafficking under medical pretense."
The judge looked over her glasses at Preston and Camilla, her face filled with intense disgust. "Before I hand down the court's sentence, do either of the defendants have anything to say?"
Preston stood up slowly, his shackles clanking against the wooden floorboards. His voice trembled as he looked toward the judge. "Your Honor... I lost my mind because of the company's financial pressure. I didn't want Elena to die... I kept her alive at St. Jude because I hoped one day... one day I could fix everything..."
"Silence!" the judge snapped, slamming her gavel down hard. "Do not sit in my courtroom and attempt to frame five years of torturous captivity as an act of mercy, Mr. Cross! You turned your sister-in-law into a prisoner in a drug-induced hell so you could steal her daughter's inheritance!"
The judge turned to her sentencing documents, signing her name across the official state decrees with a sharp black fountain pen.
"Preston Cross," the judge declared, her voice cold as steel. "For the charge of attempted murder, kidnapping, and grand corporate fraud, I sentence you to consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. You will spend the remainder of your natural days at the Maximum Security Penitentiary in Pelican Bay."
Preston's knees buckled. He collapsed back into his chair, hiding his face in his shackled hands as he began to weep hysterically.
"Camilla Vance," the judge continued. "For your role as an active accomplice, corporate forgery, and obstruction of justice, I sentence you to thirty-five years at the Central California Women's Facility, with no eligibility for parole until twenty-five years have been served."
Camilla covered her mouth, a silent scream escaping her lips as federal marshals stepped forward, grabbed both defendants by the shoulders, and began dragging them toward the heavy iron doors at the rear of the courtroom.
As Preston was pulled past the gallery, he looked at Dario one last time, his eyes filled with desperate, pitiful pleading. "Dario... please... brother... forgive me!"
Dario stood up, holding his daughter's hand tightly. He looked Preston straight in the eyes, his expression cold and clear.
May you like
"You have no brother," Dario said softly.
The heavy iron doors slammed shut, cutting off Preston's cries forever.
