Chapter 12: The Trial of Elias Thorne
The trial began eight months later.
It was called the most important corporate criminal case of the century.
Elias faced charges involving unlawful surveillance, market manipulation, obstruction of justice, bribery, conspiracy, and attempted murder.
His attorneys argued that Helix had acted independently.
They claimed Elias had lost control years earlier.
The prosecution agreed with part of that statement.
Then it proved he had continued using the system after learning the danger.
Adrian Shaw survived the subway platform.
He had been wounded and taken into secret custody by Elias’s men, but federal agents found him after the Project Crown files were released.
He testified for four days.
He described Noah’s discovery.
The planted evidence.
The prison death.
The cover-up.
Samuel Pierce also testified after accepting a plea agreement.
He admitted infiltrating Lantern and stealing evidence.
He admitted helping manufacture the false custody case against Julianna.
The three doctors who signed the affidavits lost their licenses and faced charges.
The judge who approved the emergency order resigned.
Julianna took the stand on the final week.
Elias watched her from the defense table.
He looked smaller without the architecture of wealth surrounding him.
No penthouse.
No guards.
No cane.
Only a gray suit and a table bolted to the floor.
The prosecutor asked Julianna about the night of the attack.
She described the shattered glass.
Lily’s screams.
The security guards who initially restrained her.
The hidden camera.
Then the prosecutor asked the most difficult question.
“Did your father love you?”
The defense objected.
The judge allowed her to answer.
Julianna looked at Elias.
“I believe he felt something he called love.”
The courtroom became still.
“But he believed love gave him ownership. He believed being my father meant he could control my choices, my career, my child, and even my understanding of reality.”
She paused.
“That is not love. Love allows another person to remain human.”
Elias did not look away.
For the first time, he appeared unable to control how the world saw him.
The jury deliberated for two days.
Guilty.
On every major count.
Elias Thorne was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in federal prison.
As officers led him away, he stopped beside Julianna.
The courtroom guards tensed.
He looked at her without anger.
“You think you won.”
“No,” she said. “I survived.”
“The world will rebuild another Helix.”
“Maybe.”
“And another man like me will control it.”
“Then another person like me will stand up.”
Elias studied her face.
“You were never weak.”
“I know.”
May you like
The officers led him through the side door.
It was the last time Julianna saw her father in person.
