Chapter 10 - Behind Cold Iron Bars
Upstate New York, Green Rock Maximum Security Correctional Facility.
Daniel Sterling sat on the thin, mildewed mattress of his six-by-eight solitary cell. The concrete walls were damp, sweating with moisture, and the air smelled of industrial disinfectant, human misery, and stale bread. His face was swollen purple from the beating he had received in the general holding yard two days earlier; an inmate had recognized him as the disgraced corporate abuser and showed him no mercy.
The heavy steel slot in his cell door slid open with a screech.
"Sterling. Inmate 48921. Stand facing the back wall, hands on your head," the guard barked.
Daniel scrambled to obey, trembling so hard his teeth rattled against each other. "Is... is it my bail? Did my mother post bail?!"
"No bail for you, golden boy. Legal visitor," the guard sneered, chaining Daniel’s wrists to a belly chain and locking heavy cuffs around his ankles.
Daniel was shuffled down a long, bleak corridor of iron bars and echoing screams into a sterile, windowless interrogation room. He expected his public defender. He prayed it was his mother.
Instead, sitting calmly behind the bulletproof acrylic partition was Julian Thorne.
Daniel blinked, stunned. "Julian? Julian Thorne?! Oh God, thank God! Did my father’s old connections reach you?! You have to help me! Elena has lost her mind, she’s trying to kill me in here! Thorne Industries can buy off the prosecutors! Pay them whatever they want, I’ll give you all my remaining equity!"
Julian sat motionless, his hands folded elegantly over the edge of the stainless-steel table. His eyes held the cold, calculating detachment of a reaper inspecting a condemned soul.
"Daniel," Julian said softly through the intercom. "Do you truly not know who I am?"
Daniel frowned, confused. "You're... you're Thorne’s CEO..."
"I am the man who loved Elena Vance long before you ever laid your filthy hands on her," Julian said, his voice flat, devoid of emotion, yet radiating lethal malice.
Daniel froze. All the blood drained from his battered face.
"When she chose an ordinary life seven years ago, she wanted peace. She wanted someone who loved her for who she was, not her family name," Julian continued, leaning forward until his face was inches from the glass. "I stepped aside because I thought she would be happy. And instead, you abused her. You let a common street grifter poison your mind, and you took a whip to the most precious woman in this world."
"No... no, Julian, listen to me—" Daniel stammered, hyperventilating, pressing his cuffed hands against the partition.
"There is no bail, Daniel. There are no corporate bailouts. Your public defender will resign tomorrow due to a sudden conflict of interest. The federal judge overseeing your case is my father’s closest confidant. You will be convicted of attempted murder. And every single week of your twenty-five years behind these walls, I will ensure the inmates remind you of what twenty lashes feel like."
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"You monster! You can't do this! I am Daniel Sterling!" Daniel screamed, slamming his chained fists against the acrylic divider. "Elena loves me! She will forgive me! Elena!"
Julian stood up, smoothed the front of his tailored blazer, and turned toward the exit. "She doesn't even remember your face, Daniel. To her, you are already dead."
