Chapter 106

In the evening I got a call from Tim. He informed me the defence had rested and tomorrow both him and the defence would do their closing statements and then the jury would be secluded for their deliberation.

“How long will it take?” I asked.

“I don’t know. It depends on if they all agree and if they need to discuss things or not. With the number of charges he is facing it will take at least thirty minutes just to go through and fill out all the paperwork. But it could go on for days,” Tim told me.

“I will be there,” I said.

“If you want I can just text you when they tell us the jury is ready,” he offered.

“No, I think I want to be there for everything. I need closure.” I spent a couple of hours going through my wardrobe. I wanted something that made me feel powerful. I had to believe the jury would see Simon for what he was and not be fooled by the defence tactics to put the blame on me. But in the back of my mind there was a worry. I texted Wictor, telling him I would be there the next day and asked him which of the top five outfits I should wear. By the time I went to bed, everything was planned out and I tried my best to not think about the next day. It wasn’t easy and sleep was hard to come by.

It was hard getting out of bed in the morning. My brain felt like it was filled with gravel and it took a shower and three cups of coffee before I felt human. I did feel better after getting ready. The cobalt blue pants suit made me feel brave. I had owned it for years but never been brave enough to use it, it was amazing, but it drew attention. It was the right choice for the day. I met up with Anthony and Wictor and we walked together to the court house.

“Looking amazing today, Hana,” Anthony told me.

“Thank you. I’m done hiding and I’m done feeling like I need others to feel safe.”

“You go girl, girl power!” Wictor said, and we giggled. When we got to the courthouse, we took seats behind the prosecutors. We were joined by Seymour. A couple of rows behind us, Hunter and Jason sat down. I gave them a quick smile and got smiles in reply. I was happy Jason had come with Hunter. No matter what Hunter said, Simon was his son and no matter what the outcome was, Hunter would be on the losing side in some sense. We all stood up as the judge entered the room and after he had discussed some formalities with both sides, we stood up again as the jury entered the room. It was different seeing everything from this point of view. The pressure to perform was not there, the need to listen to everything that was being said and trying to see the undercurrents. The closing statements were given. Tim did good, in my opinion. He focused on the hard evidence, the money trail, the documentations they had signed by Simon, the testimonies of people working at his club. I was barely mentioned other than in passing as the ex-wife who had suffered under my marriage. When it was Mr Steel’s turn, almost all of his statements were about me. He painted me as a juvenile delinquent that had seduced a poor, naïve and kind-hearted young man. How I had manipulated him to start a business and then I used my contacts in the underworld to involve the mafia. I took all my self-control not to roll my eyes so hard they would pop out of my head. When both sides had said their part, the judge gave the jury their instructions, and we all stood up as they left the room.

“What now?” I asked Tim as he turned around to us.

“Now we wait. We will get a notification when the jury is ready.” Wictor, Anthony, and I decided to go down to the cafeteria to wait it out. We weren’t the only ones. As we took our seats with our coffee and sad looking cupcakes, Hunter and Jason sat down a couple of tables over and at the other end of the small cafeteria, Mandy, her husband and an unfamiliar woman took their seats. I presumed the woman was the same one Simon had moved in with. Alone at one table, Amber was sitting. She was really showing, and I felt bad for her, sitting all alone. But not bad enough to invite her to join us. We did our best to talk about things outside of the case. At one point, Jason and I locked eyes. He looked down at his chocolate cupcake and made a face, showing he didn’t like it. I chuckled and agreed. The cupcakes were stale and dry. We were discussing if we would have another cup of coffee or if we should wait half an hour and grab some lunch when all our phones dinged. The jury was ready to decide. I looked up and met Hunter’s eyes. He looked determined, but I saw the worry behind it. Wictor took my hand as we walked back into the room. The jury entered and my heart was in my throat. I tried to read the faces of the juries as they walked in. They all looked solemn, but I didn’t know what that meant. When the verdicts from the jury was read, the courtroom was dead quiet except for the judge and the chairperson of the jury. The list of accusations was long. From tax fraud to selling of drugs to being complicit in human trafficking. For each of the charges, the jury found Simon guilty. With each guilty, my heart became lighter and relief flooded my system. Not only was Simon getting what he deserved, the jury had listened to the lies about me and they had believed me and my story. I felt empowered. When all the charges had been read and the judgement had been announced, the judge talked to the jury, did a poll of their voting and other formalities. Wictor was squeezing my hand so tight that I thought it might fall off. But I didn’t mind, I squeezed right back and tried not to smile as a lunatic as Simon’s mother cried loudly. The judge told us the sentencing would take place in two days to let the victims that wanted to leave a statement have time to prepare it. The court was then adjourned and we were free to leave, free to go outside and celebrate. We had barely left the courtroom before Wictor pulled me into a bear hug. I smiled at him and then looked at Anthony and Seymour.

“I’m going to take you all out to lunch, my treat,” I told them. I saw Hunter and Jason standing a little to the side. “Talk among yourself and decide where you want to go, no holding back. I will be right back.” I walked over to Hunter and Jason. “How are you holding up?” I asked Hunter.

“I’m okay,” he said. I nodded. I didn’t have any right to prod. If he wanted to put up a wall, he was in his right to do so.

“Good. Take care of yourself,” I told him and gave his arm a quick squeeze. “And Jason, you know where to come if you want a decent cupcake. Just give me a heads up and I’ll have a batch ready for you.”

“You know I will take you up on that,” Jason said with one of his boyish grins that made him look innocent. I walked back to my group, and we headed to the Mexican restaurant near my apartment. As we were waiting for our food, my phone rang and I excused myself.

“Hana, I have news,” Anya said.

“I’m having a good day, so if it’s bad news, could you call back tomorrow?” I asked, only half joking.

“Well, I’m a busy woman, so it’s lucky I have good news then. The seller accepted our first offer. It bugs me as it means I could have gone lower. But what is done is done.”

“Wait, what? They accepted?”

“They did. Two hundred thousand under the original price. I guess it’s something at least,” Anya told me.

“You have made a wonderful day, magical. Thank you, Anya!”

“Don’t mention it, I get a good commission out of it. I will send you the paperwork and you can look it over. Call me when you are ready to book a signing,” she told me and we hung up. I walked back inside and I couldn’t stop smiling. The three men were talking between themselves as I sat down.

“What’s up with you?” Wictor asked.

“I’m just happy,” I told him. The other two men looked at me.

“This is more than the little toad getting his just desserts. This is big,” Wictor told me. I laughed.

“It is. Remember that place we looked at for my bakery before all of this happened?” I asked him. He nodded. “I saw it was still for sale and I asked Anya to place an offer. It was her calling just now to let me know they accepted the offer. I’m going to start my own bakery!” I told them. There was a wave of congratulations and hugs.

“Do you have a lawyer?” Seymour asked as we all sat down.

“No, I haven’t got that far yet.”

“I offer my services,” he told me.

“You? But I’m not a client of Hunter and Jason anymore,” I said. He shrugged.

“I may pick up clients on my own as long as they don’t go against HopGar Securities interests. As long as you don’t intend to start a security agency out of that bakery, or my bosses go insane and decide to start a chain of cupcake stores, I’m good.” The thought of Hunter and Jason opening up a cupcake store made me giggle.

“Then you have got yourself a client,” I said, holding out my hand. We shook and the rest of the lunch was spent laughing and making plans.