Chapter 24
The day of Garrett Hale's first hearing, the city sky was a bleak gray, pouring heavy rain down onto the marble steps of the federal courthouse. Camera flashes popped incessantly, creating a chaotic halo of light as the armored convoys pulled into the secure area. Brooke stepped out of her gleaming black Rolls-Royce, flanked by Marcus and a dense wall of bodyguards. She walked with her head held high, exuding an aura of authority, coldness, and invulnerability, much like a queen attending an execution.
Inside the vast courtroom, the air was thick with tension. When Garrett entered, he was wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, his wrists tightly cuffed. But instead of displaying the despair of a man who had lost everything, his face bore a look of manic arrogance, his wild eyes sweeping the room until they met Brooke's. He smiled—a provocative, sick smile.
Standing beside him was not a court-appointed public defender, but Victor Sterling—an old fox of criminal law, infamous for exploiting the most ruthless legal loopholes to free notorious crime bosses. Sterling stood up, straightened his tie, and boldly declared his client completely innocent of all charges. The courtroom erupted in murmurs and explosive whispers. Denying the charges so blatantly when the evidence from the encrypted servers was so clear was a suicidal move, unless Sterling held a trump card that could flip the board.
Sterling submitted a thick stack of documents, motioning for the court to dismiss all digital evidence. His argument was razor-sharp: those hard drives had been collected illegally, the evidence tampered with by private mercenaries orchestrated by Marcus Vance. Sterling painted a brilliant picture, turning Garrett from the mastermind into an innocent victim of corporate extortion, forced to surrender his power under the threat of violence. He promised to bring "live" witnesses to the formal trial to expose the Vance family's conspiracy.
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Sitting in the front row, Brooke's fingers gripped her designer handbag. Marcus whispered into her ear, his voice ice-cold: "He's deliberately trying to flip the board. He's stalling for time to let the legal system freeze the corporation's assets, creating opportunity and space for the Black Lotus to attack from the outside."
But Brooke merely offered a faint smile, a smile harboring destruction. "He thinks a legal motion can make me back down. He's gambling his life on this delusional hand, and I will personally tear up every single card, every last shred of hope he has left."
