Chapter 13: The Verdict
The jury deliberated for fourteen hours.
Sophia spent the waiting period inside a private courthouse room with Olivia and Eleanor.
Benjamin remained at home with his nurse.
Sophia checked her phone repeatedly, studying photographs of him playing on the library rug.
At 4:36 p.m., the clerk announced that the jury had reached a verdict.
Everyone returned to the courtroom.
Nathaniel stood beside his attorney.
For the first time since Sophia had known him, he looked genuinely afraid.
The foreperson rose.
Guilty of wire fraud.
Guilty of conspiracy.
Guilty of theft involving charitable funds.
Guilty of falsifying business records.
Each word landed with finality.
Nathaniel closed his eyes.
Camille, who had received a reduced charge for cooperation, sat in the rear of the courtroom. She lowered her head.
Sophia felt no triumph.
Only exhaustion.
Outside, reporters shouted as Olivia guided her toward a waiting car.
One question rose above the others.
“Mrs. Cross, do you forgive your husband?”
Sophia stopped.
Cameras turned toward her.
She considered walking away.
Instead, she faced them.
“Forgiveness is personal,” she said. “Accountability is public. Today was about accountability.”
Then she entered the car.
At sentencing two months later, the judge ordered Nathaniel to serve several years in federal prison, repay recoverable funds, and surrender assets linked to the scheme.
The Malibu estate was sold.
Camille’s condominium was seized.
Luxury jewelry was auctioned.
Cross Global established a restitution fund and adopted new oversight rules.
The Bennett Hope Foundation recovered most of what had been taken.
Nathaniel addressed the court before sentencing.
He spoke without notes.
“I told myself I was borrowing money I would replace. I told myself my marriage was already broken. I told myself no one would be harmed.”
He looked toward Sophia.
“But every lie required another person to pay for it.”
Sophia listened without moving.
“I betrayed my wife,” he continued. “I endangered my son’s future. I used people who trusted me.”
The judge thanked him and imposed the sentence.
As officers escorted Nathaniel away, he turned once.
Sophia stood beside Eleanor.
Their eyes met.
There was no hatred in Sophia’s expression.
That hurt him more.
Hatred would have meant he still occupied part of her heart.
What he saw instead was distance.
May you like
Nathaniel had finally become what Sophia had spent years fearing he would make her feel.
Nothing.
