When court resumed, the judge ordered full preservation of all financial records. Every piece of evidence was to be reviewed in detail. Alexander attempted to object, but he was immediately silenced. The instructions were firm and final.

His mother tried to step forward, calling me family. I met her eyes and said calmly that family protects each other, it doesn’t destroy them. She lowered her gaze and said nothing more after that.

Alexander turned toward me with anger building behind his eyes. He said I would regret everything I had done. For the first time that day, I smiled. “No,” I said. “The only thing I regret is trusting you.”

The silence that followed was heavier than any argument. Whatever control he once had was gone. The courtroom now moved on evidence, not his words. And that difference changed everything-