Chapter 18 - What Lauren Lost
Lauren pleaded guilty six weeks later.
Her cooperation reduced her sentence, but it did not erase it.
She surrendered the Hamptons house, her hidden accounts, her jewelry, and every share she held in NexusCore.
The court sentenced her to three years in federal custody, followed by supervised release.
She would not see Owen grow up from the home she bought with stolen money.
Before she entered custody, she asked to meet me.
We sat across from each other inside a quiet courthouse room.
She looked smaller without the designer clothes and practiced confidence.
“I hated you before I knew you.”
She said.
“Matthew made your life sound like an insult to mine.”
“He said you had everything and appreciated nothing.”
“And you believed him.”
“Yes.”
“Because it gave you permission.”
Lauren lowered her eyes.
“Yes.”
Her honesty no longer surprised me.
“I heard the first strike.”
She whispered.
“I could have called the police.”
“I could have disconnected.”
“I could have screamed loudly enough for you to hear me.”
“I did nothing.”
“You told him to prove himself.”
“I know.”
Tears moved down her face.
“I will hear that recording for the rest of my life.”
I did not forgive her.
Forgiveness offered too quickly would have been another form of dishonesty.
“I hope you hear something else too.”
I said.
“What?”
“The moment you finally told the truth.”
“That does not cancel what came before.”
“But it determines what comes after.”
Lauren looked through the window where Owen waited with her sister.
“Will you make sure the company fund pays for his counseling?”
“It already does.”
“Why?”
“Because he is a child.”
“And because I know what it feels like when adults build a war around you.”
Lauren pressed her lips together.
“Matthew said you were weak.”
“He needed me to believe that too.”
A guard entered.
Lauren stood.
At the door, she turned back.
“He never loved me.”
“No.”
I said.
“He loved being admired.”
Victor Dane was convicted after a longer trial.
The evidence tied him to my mother’s poisoning and to two other unexplained illnesses involving former business partners.
He received a life sentence.
Matthew refused every plea offer.
He insisted a jury would understand him.
The jury deliberated for less than four hours.
He was convicted on every major count.
Before sentencing, he asked to speak.
The judge allowed it.
Matthew turned toward me.
“I built you.”
He said.
I met his eyes.
“No.”
“You only taught me what I was capable of surviving.”
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The judge sentenced him to forty-two years.
For the first time since our wedding, Matthew left a room without anyone following him.
