Chapter 18 - THE RECONSTRUCTIONSix months after the courtroom showdown, the skyline of downtown looked different from the floor-to-ceiling windows of my new corporate office.
Lancaster Consulting & Asset Recovery was officially fully operational, occupying an entire floor of the city's premier commercial high-rise. We specialized in protecting independent investors, homeowners, and families from predatory financial abuse—turning my personal nightmare into a fortress of professional defense for others.
My parents were now living in a quiet, comfortable senior assisted-living community on the outskirts of the city, funded entirely by the modest housing stipend managed through our legal trust. We didn't speak often—there were too many ghosts, too many unspoken regrets, and too much permanent damage to ever truly rebuild what had been broken. But they were safe, housed, and out of the toxic orbit of Derek’s destruction.
As for Derek?
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Federal prosecutors had built such an airtight case that his defense team had been forced to accept a plea deal resulting in a mandatory ten-year sentence in a medium-security federal correctional facility in upstate Oregon. No parole for at least eight years.
No more golden child. No more secret bailouts. Just the cold, quiet reality of a prison cell.
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