Chapter 25 - THE RECORDING BEFORE THE SLAP
The remaining audio removed every claim of spontaneity.
Richard told Victoria not to touch my stomach.
He did not tell her not to touch me.
Owen instructed Caleb’s camera signal.
Victoria ordered staff to remain outside.
Richard placed the biometric pad inside his cuff-link case.
Then I entered.
The recording captured my refusal.
Richard’s pressure.
Victoria’s insult.
The first slap.
Richard’s warning about makeup.
My attempt to leave.
The vase breaking.
The shove.
The room heard my voice:
“Please! Stay away from my baby!”
Victoria watched the jury instead of me.
Her defense changed.
She admitted striking and shoving me but claimed Richard and Owen created a crisis in which she believed federal sabotage would destroy thousands of employees.
“She acted under extreme pressure,” her attorney said.
Pressure explained context.
It did not erase preparation.
Victoria testified.
She described growing up beneath Richard’s status as the expected Carrington heir. She built the company’s event and finance network while he received public credit.
Owen offered Alpha as a way to make her indispensable.
Richard benefited and later blamed her when the plan failed.
Some of that was true.
Then the prosecutor asked:
“Did Elena deny you credit?”
“No.”
“Did Elena block your career?”
“No.”
“Did Elena design Alpha?”
“No.”
“Why did you strike her?”
Victoria looked directly at me.
“Because she stood there with Marcus Vance’s protection and acted morally superior after living on our money.”
“You knew the company in her name was false.”
“Yes.”
“You knew she had not authorized Alpha.”
“Yes.”
“You knew she was pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“You planned medical confinement.”
“I planned privacy.”
“In a locked neurological facility?”
“She would have been safe.”
“Unable to call her attorney.”
“She was destroying everything.”
The words exposed her belief.
My refusal was destruction.
Her control was safety.
Owen did not testify.
His defense argued the payments were authorized consulting fees and the convoy attack was an unsanctioned operation led by Ross.
Ross testified under a plea agreement.
Messages and equipment supported him.
The attempted murder team identified Owen as the person who supplied Dad’s route.
The jury deliberated six days.
During that time, I took Grace to the park.
I refused to sit outside the courthouse turning suspense into another prison.
Dad pushed her stroller only after asking.
He had begun therapy after retirement.
He spoke less about enemies and more about choices.
“I thought protection meant carrying danger alone,” he said.
“So did Richard.”
Dad flinched.
The comparison was painful.
It was also accurate.
Both men withheld truth because they believed they could manage consequences better than I could.
One committed crimes for power.
The other served the law and failed me through secrecy.
Difference mattered.
Similarity taught us something.
The jury returned on a rainy morning.
Victoria was convicted of Alpha conspiracy, export fraud, identity theft, aggravated assault, medical coercion, witness tampering, and obstruction.
She was acquitted of one attempted-kidnapping charge because the transport had been canceled before direct confinement occurred and Aaron Pike’s intent remained uncertain.
Owen was convicted of bribery, conspiracy, evidence theft, attempted murder, espionage-related offenses, and obstruction.
Ross was convicted under his plea.
The jury separated completed acts from planned ones.
Richard’s earlier plea remained.
The convictions answered criminal questions.
They did not restore employees’ pensions, patients’ trust, my marriage, or Dad’s career.
Sentencing and restructuring still waited.
As marshals led Victoria away, she looked at Richard.
“You chose her after all.”
May you like
Richard answered quietly.
“No. I chose the company first. That is why all of this happened.”
