Chapter 18 - The Plea Deal
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The final, definitive chapter of the Bennett family’s catastrophic downfall concluded on a bleak, rainy Tuesday afternoon in downtown Chicago. I sat in Eleanor’s office, sipping hot tea while she reviewed the latest filings from the federal prosecutor’s office. I was not required to be in court, but Eleanor had insisted on keeping me completely informed of the criminal proceedings.
"Jason’s defense attorneys officially folded this morning," Eleanor announced, tossing a thick legal brief onto her desk with a deeply satisfied thud. "They realized they couldn't possibly win against the sheer mountain of forensic evidence the FBI collected. He accepted a massive plea deal to avoid a lengthy, humiliating public trial."
I looked out the window at the rain slicking the city streets, feeling a strange, profound sense of emotional detachment.
"What are the terms of the plea?" I asked calmly, my voice entirely steady.
"He pleaded guilty to fifteen counts of wire fraud and conspiracy," Eleanor read from the document. "He is sentenced to twelve years in federal prison, without the possibility of early parole. Furthermore, he is ordered to pay over twenty million dollars in absolute restitution to the defrauded investors. Whatever meager assets he had left are being completely seized by the government."
Twelve years. He would be locked in a federal cell for over a decade. By the time he was released, Lily would be a teenager who wouldn't even recognize his face on the street.
"And Diane?" I asked, curious about the matriarch who had orchestrated so much of the cruelty.
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"Diane was not federally indicted, but the civil judgments have utterly bankrupted her," Eleanor smiled sharply. "She is currently living in a tiny, rented apartment in a highly undesirable suburb, entirely socially exiled from the Chicago elite she used to desperately rule over."
I took a slow, deep breath, letting the finality of the news settle completely into my bones. The dragon was officially dead. The castle had crumbled into dust. The people who had tried to convince me that I was worthless were now completely ruined, while I was sitting in a beautiful office, running a highly successful empire. The ultimate justice had finally been served, and I didn't even have to lift a finger to deliver it.
