Chapter 9 - THE TRIAL OF PRIDE
"Drop the weapon, Sterling," Ronan ordered, his voice like iron.
Vivian panicked, raising her pistol toward Ivy’s chest. "If I can't have the Blackwood empire, no one will!"
Crack!
A single shot rang out. Vivian’s gun was knocked out of her hand as a sniper round fired by Malcolm from the ridge shattered the weapon. Vivian collapsed to the wet asphalt, clutching her bleeding fingers and sobbing in terror.
Arthur Sterling backed toward the helicopter, his face pale. "Ronan, listen to me! Your father was weak! He wanted to give half the biotech profits to charity! We built Blackwood Global into a titan!"
"My father built this company on honor," Ronan said, closing the distance in three powerful strides. He disarmed Sterling with brutal efficiency, slamming the traitor against the helicopter fuselage. "And you will spend the rest of your life watching that empire flourish without you."
Sirens wailed in the distance as federal helicopters with searchlights descended through the mountain fog, illuminating the timber mill in blinding white light.
Forty-eight hours later, the United States Grand Jury convened in a packed federal courtroom.
Ivy Lancaster took the witness stand. Dressed in a tailored navy suit, she presented the complete, unbroken chain of evidence: the original Lancaster patents, the offshore transactions, and the recorded confessions of Arthur Sterling and Julian Hail.
The jury returned a unanimous verdict within two hours. Julian Hail and Arthur Sterling were sentenced to life imprisonment for corporate espionage, racketeering, and attempted murder. Vivian Hail was sentenced to ten years in a federal correctional facility for conspiracy and hiring armed mercenaries.
As the judge struck the gavel, finalizing the total restoration of Lancaster Bio-Tech to Ivy, the courtroom erupted in applause from the press and public.
Ivy walked down the marble steps of the courthouse, where thousands of ordinary citizens, former employees, and hospital foundation workers cheered her name.
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She wasn't just an heiress who had reclaimed her father's fortune—she was the woman who had proven that integrity could topple the most corrupt titans in the country.
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