Chapter 39 - The Justice Fund
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A month later, the court-ordered asset liquidation of Vance Global and Owen Sterling’s seized offshore accounts was completed. Under the federal whistleblower rewards program, my firm was awarded a percentage of the recovered funds—a check totaling eight point five million dollars.
I didn't buy a luxury yacht. I didn't buy a mansion in Aspen.
I sat down with Naomi Price and my legal team to establish The Clara Rowan Foundation for Financial Independence.
"We're depositing six million dollars directly into a perpetual endowment," I explained during the signing ceremony in my conference room.
"The fund will provide emergency grants, housing assistance, and free legal/forensic accounting services to women escaping abusive relationships."
"Clara, this is incredible," Naomi said, wiping a tear from her cheek as she signed as a board trustee.
"You're giving these women the exact tools they need to break free."
"Money is control, Naomi," I said softly, capping my signing pen.
"When an abuser takes away a woman's financial independence, he takes away her options. This foundation will give them back their options, their dignity, and their freedom."
Later that afternoon, I received a official letter from the Department of Corrections. Julian Vance had been sentenced to twenty-five years in federal prison. Owen Sterling had received twelve years without the possibility of parole.
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I slid the letter into a thin folder, marked it as Resolved, and placed it inside a locked storage cabinet in the archive room.
I didn't need to read those names ever again. Their sentences were just numbers on a page, but the lives my foundation would save were real, bright, and infinite.
