Chapter 37 - The Final Sentence
The criminal sentencing for the kidnapping conspiracy was a separate, deeply satisfying affair. I sat in the back of the federal courtroom, flanked by Elias, watching the final act of the tragedy play out.
Derek and Vivian were brought into the courtroom together, both wearing the humiliating, shapeless jumpsuits of the incarcerated. They did not look at each other. The bond between the narcissistic mother and her entitled son had been entirely shattered by mutual betrayal and cowardly finger-pointing.
The federal judge looked down at the pair with visible disgust.
"You used family as a weapon," the judge stated, his voice ringing through the silent gallery. "You weaponized the courts, you hired illegal investigators, and you attempted to steal a child from her mother out of pure, malicious spite. Society has no place for this level of calculated cruelty."
Derek was sentenced to fifteen years in federal prison for attempted kidnapping, assault, and severe probation violations.
Vivian, who had pled guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud in a desperate attempt to reduce her sentence, received eight years. Given her age, it was effectively a life sentence.
As the bailiffs stepped forward to escort them out of the courtroom, Derek stopped. He turned his head, his hollow, defeated eyes scanning the gallery until he found me sitting in the back row. He stared at me, perhaps waiting for a sign of pity, a flicker of the submissive woman he had once controlled.
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I gave him absolutely nothing. My face remained a mask of cold, unbreakable stone. I simply stared back at him, letting him see the quiet, terrifying power of a woman who had survived the fire and emerged forged in steel.
He lowered his head and was led away through the heavy wooden doors, disappearing into the dark, concrete bowels of the justice system forever.
