CHAPTER 9 ā THE TRIAL THAT SHOCKED THE ENTIRE COUNTRY
Three months later...
The courtroom overflowed with reporters.
Every major television network covered the trial.
Business titan.
Political candidate.
Philanthropist.
Daniel Wright.
His public image had collapsed overnight.
The secret recordings.
The hospital attack.
Financial crimes.
Murder conspiracy.
Kidnapping.
Twenty-six years of lies.
One witness after another destroyed his carefully built reputation.
Detective Brooks presented surveillance footage linking Daniel to the hired assassins.
Financial investigators traced millions of dollars in secret payments.
Then Robert took the stand.
For nearly four hours, he told the jury everything.
The loss of Claire.
The disappearance of Ethan.
The empty coffin.
The decades of grief.
The courtroom was silent.
Finally...
Logan entered.
His arm remained in a sling.
The scar across his shoulder would never disappear.
Neither would the emotional ones.
Daniel stared at him in disbelief.
"You should've stayed dead."
Gasps echoed throughout the courtroom.
The jury heard every word.
Logan walked closer.
"No."
"You should have told the truth."
Then Joanna entered carrying their baby.
The little boy, now three months old, reached tiny hands toward Robert.
The old doctor smiled through tears.
For the first time in twenty-six years...
Four generations of the Wright family stood together.
Even the judge paused for a moment before speaking.
After eleven hours of deliberation...
The verdict arrived.
Guilty on all counts.
Daniel Wright was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
As deputies led him away in handcuffs, he turned back one final time.
His eyes settled on the baby.
Then he smiled.
A cold...
Terrifying smile.
"You think this is over?"
"I wasn't the one at the top."
The courtroom froze.
Detective Brooks slowly stood.
"What did you just say?"
Daniel laughed.
"You still don't know who ordered Claire's death."
He walked through the courtroom doors.
Leaving behind one final mystery.
Robert looked toward Brooks.
Brooks looked back.
Neither man spoke.
Because they both realized the same horrifying truth.
Daniel hadn't been the mastermind.
He had only been following someone else's orders.
May you like
And somewhere...
The real architect behind twenty-six years of tragedy was still free.
