“Maybe,” I said. “But I’ll do it with a clear conscience. Can you say the same?”

Chapter 6: The Restoration

The months that followed were a blur of depositions, physical therapy, and restructuring.

The fall of Ethan Vale was spectacular. With the footage from the kitchen camera and the meticulous trail of breadcrumbs I’d left in the company’s ledgers, the prosecution had an open-and-shut case.

Ethan tried to fight. He hired a dream team of lawyers who tried to paint me as a manipulative, vengeful wife who had staged the assault. But the data didn’t lie.

The ghost companies were registered to IP addresses at our home. The signatures on the fraudulent transfers, forged to look like mine, were traced to Ethan’s own digital pen.

In the end, he pleaded guilty to avoid a thirty-year sentence and received twelve years. Beatrice received four for her role in the money laundering.