Chapter 24: Rock Bottom for Him
231 words
The lie about the speed was the final nail. The jury didn't need long. I sat in the front row, twisting a button on my coat until the thread snapped. This was it. Phase 2 Climax. The end of the nightmare.
The foreman stood up. She was a middle-aged woman with kind eyes who had frowned deeply during Preston's testimony.
"We the jury find the defendant, Preston Sterling, guilty of gross negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress," she read.
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. But she wasn't done.
"We award the plaintiff $50,000,000 in compensatory damages," she continued. The room went silent. "And... considering the malice displayed... an additional $20,000,000 in punitive damages."
Preston put his head in his hands. His lawyer simply closed his briefcase, knowing any jury verdict appeal would be futile with the perjury on record.
Seventy million dollars. It was a number so large it felt abstract. But the look on Preston's face—total, absolute ruin—was very real.
"Debt collection high value protocols start immediately," Vance whispered to me, his voice thick with satisfaction. "We don't wait for the check. We take it."
I looked at Preston one last time. He wasn't a titan of industry anymore. He was just a man who had crashed into the wrong woman.
"Judgment enforcement begins tomorrow," Vance promised. "You might want to see this."
End of Chapter 24
