Chapter 131 Justice and Karma

Chapter 131 Justice and Karma
Authors POV

Greenville Central Courthouse looked like a chaotic war zone.

It had been a whole month of gathering evidence and investigation since the kidnapping incident.

Viola, Margaret and even Malcom had been arrested. They were locked in a cell until the trial, which was about to start.

Hundreds of reporters shoved aggressively against the police barricades, their camera flashing with blinding lights.

The entire city was completely obsessed with the news of the two powerful billionaire families. The Williams and The Graham's.

Inside the massive courtroom, the air was suffocating.

Viola was the first to be tried.

She sat at the defense table. Despite the fact that she would soon end up in jail, she still wore an expensive white designer suit, her chin raised arrogantly.

She refused to look at the jury as the lead prosecutor read the long list of horrific charges out loud.

Conspiracy to commit murder, Murder, Kidnapping, Attempted murder, Extortion, Severe embezzlement.

The whole hall was quiet as it was being read.

After that, Dandelion took the witness stand first.

She walked slowly, her pregnant stomach clearly visible beneath her dark blue maternity dress, she was five months gone now.

She sat down and looked directly at the jury. She boldly testified her own experience and gave evidence against Viola, completely captivating the entire room.

She described the terror of waking up in a dark, abandoned warehouse. She told them exactly how it felt to have an explosive strapped directly over her unborn baby.

Loud gasps and murmuring echoed in the courtroom.

Alexander took the stand next. He kept his eyes locked on Viola with a mean glare. He testified about the horrific car crash that took his mother's life years ago, exposing the conspiracy between Viola and Margaret.

And throughout the trial Viola was calm and unbothered, and it really made Dandy angry.

But when Tristan walked slowly to the witness box. His right arm was still bandaged from the gunshot wound, although the medical sling was now removed.

Dead silence fell over the courtroom.

Viola finally lost her calm composure. She glared hard at her son. As if she was silently demanding his loyalty, like expecting him to lie for her.

Tristan refused to look at her. He looked directly at the jury, tears shining in his tired eyes. He still couldn't believe his mom could go this far.

"I decided to testify about this.... myself. Because I wanted to look at my own mother in the eyes and ask why she handed the mechanic an envelope with money years ago," Tristan asked brokenly, as he looked directly at Viola now. "You paid him to tamper with the brakes on Flora's car which lead to both she and her friend's death. And you....you shot me when I tried to stop you from detonating the bomb attached to my sister-in-law."

The courtroom erupted into absolute chaos. The judge slammed his wooden gavel repeatedly, demanding order.

Viola was visibly fumming now. She looked like she would lounge at Tristan any second and tear him apart.

The jury took almost two hours to deliberate.

Then finally someone rose up.

"We find the defendant guilty on all counts," the jury representative declared, his voice ringing clearly across the silent room.

The judge did not hesitate. "Viola Graham, I sentence you to life in federal prison without the possibility of parole."

Two huge police officers grabbed Viola by the arms, pulling her roughly out of her chair.

The elegant calm Viola finally snapped. She trashed violently against the officers, her hair falling wildly across her face.

She turned her head, locking her furious eyes on Tristan sitting in the front row.

"You traitor!" Viola shrieked, her voice echoing with madness. "I did everything for you! You ungrateful, pathetic boy!"

Tristan sat still. His jaw clenched, as tears slipped down his cheeks, but he did not look at her. He kept his eyes facing forward. The doors swung shut as they dragged his mother away forever.
.......................

After another two hours break, the court room started filling up for the next trial.

Unlike Viola, Margaret looked disheveled. Her clothes hung loosely on her thin frame, and her hair was a complete mess. Her eyes were also red from crying. She knew today was going to be her.

Her defense lawyer paced in front of the jury, as he desperately tried to shift the whole blame onto Viola Graham.

He claimed Margaret was simply a pawn, that she was just manipulated by a smarter woman.

Dandy's prosecutor stood up and immediately objected to the claim,

He projected an image to the large screen.

It was the first printed email from Martha's envelope.

"The defense claims Margaret Williams was manipulated," the prosecutor stated loudly, pointing directly at the glowing screen. "But these emails prove Margaret initiated the entire murder plan. She approached Viola with the idea, but Viola executed it. And let's not forget she was the one who forged the fake clauses in Mrs Dandelion Graham's inheritance, illegally just to destroy her chances of inheriting her mother's company."

In the front row of the crowded courtroom, Maxwell Williams, Dandy's Dad, sat completely frozen.

He stared at the glowing screen. Reading the cruel things Margaret had written about Genevieve his late wife.

He finally saw the truth. Margaret was a cold blooded murderer.

He knew about her schemes of making Malcolm CEO, by using forged clause. But he had ignored it and pretended to be fooled, since Malcolm was his first child, out of wedlock with Margaret. But he never knew she had a hand in Genevieve's death.

Genevieve was his true love, even though he used to be a poor man she had accepted to marry him. But a few years after their marriage, he got drunk one day and had an affair with Margaret which led to her getting pregnant with Malcolm.

He had kept her and Malcolm a secret from Genevieve, until Genevieve gave birth to Dandelion a year after. That was when he revealed it to Genevieve. But Genevieve had refused to let him marry Margaret as a second wife, she had accepted Malcolm but would never accept Margaret.

After Genevieve died years later, Margaret had convinced him to marry her officially, promising to take care of little Dandy along with Malcolm.

Maxwell thought Dandelion would need a mother figure, so he agreed. Eventually Margaret had Mildred too.

Now it all made sense.

Margaret stood up from her chair. She looked at her husband desperately.

"Maxwell, please....You have to help me! Tell them I am innocent!" Margaret pleaded, reaching her shaking hands out toward him. "

Maxwell looked at her for a long time His face was completely devoid of any emotions. He stood up slowly, turned his back to her, and walked out of the courtroom without saying a single word.

Margaret collapsed into her chair, sobbing loudly. She was completely destroyed, Malcolm would be tried next and Mildred didn't even attend.

Mildred was too afraid to sit in a court room due to her guilty conscience tugging at her, she felt that she might be exposed for having a hand in Dandy's scandal.

The jury once again whispered amongst themselves.

"Margaret Williams is found guilty on all charges of conspiracy, severe fraud, accomplice and mastermind to murder. I here by sentence you to fifty five years in a maximum security prison." The judge slammed the gavel down loudly.

Both Alexander and Dandelion, along with Lilian and the rest that were present, felt relieved

Those two evil vicious women got what they deserved. Not even bribe would help them out of prison, Alex had made sure of that.

They would never see the outside world ever again.

.............

After another two hour break it was finally Malcom Williams turn.

During the last month of investigation and gathering evidence. A team of federal investigators had conducted an audit of Williams Corporation.

The financial documents Alexander had handed over for investigation against Margaret, led to exposing of a massive web of corruption within Williams Corp.

Malcolm had almost drained the company accounts completely, embezzling over sixty million dollars to fund his luxurious lifestyle along with few members of the board who supported him.

So the board of directors for Williams Corp had called an emergency meeting. They immediately voted to remove Malcolm as CEO and press charges. They also removed the ones that were supporting Malcolm.

And not even Maxwell could stop them, afterall he wasn't the only shareholder in the company and the case had already gotten to court.

As soon as they had made that decision, that same day of deciding, Malcolm was violently dragged off a massive, multi million dollar luxury yacht, from Greenville's marina.

Flashing cameras of the paparazzi had flooded the marina.

He was wearing an expensive silk shirt and an expensive Rolex watch the day they arrested him.

Dozens of paparazzi captured his humiliation as the cops handcuffed him and shoved him roughly into the back of a waiting squad car.

The wealthy, arrogant Malcolm Williams was humiliated publicly, stripped of his position as CEO of Williams Corp.

After the listing of charges from the prosecutor, the jury didn't waste anymore time deliberating. It was Clear that he squandered the company's money and stolen inheritance.

The judge eventually sentenced him to ten years in federal prison. And Dandelion was given permission to reclaim her mother's company, if she still wanted.

She couldn't help but shed tears of joy, she finally got back her mom's legacy and hard work, which had almost been destroyed.

She and Lilian shared a tight hug, as Dandy cried her eyes out, the pregnancy hormones made her crying worse.

.....,...........,.

Everyone started leaving the courthouse.

Tristan walked slowly down the stairs, and almost immediately he was completely surrounded by a large crowd of shouting reporters shoving microphones toward his face.

"Mr. Graham!" a reporter shouted over the loud noise. "How do you feel about your mother spending the rest of her life behind bars?"

Tristan stopped walking. He looked at the flashing cameras.

He took a slow, deep breath.

"Honestly....I am really sad," Tristan admitted. "But it also means I am free now. Finally free of my mother's greed. I just hope she learns her lesson and turn a new leaf."

Then he turned and walked toward his waiting car.

A few minutes later, Dandelion stepped out of the glass doors.
Alexander walked right beside her, his hand resting protectively on her back. They were still strained but Dandy had to ignore it because of the large crowd of reporters.

The reporters rushed forward immediately, shouting questions about the trials.

"Mrs. Graham!" a journalist called out. "How do you feel about the judgment today? Does this finally bring you peace and the justice you deserve?"

Dandelion stopped on the top step. She looked really radiant, her dark hair was shining in the sunlight.

She rested her hand gently on her stomach, completely unbothered by the cameras, she was used to them anyways.

"I am so glad they are all paying for their crimes," Dandelion said with a bright smile, "I am satisfied with the judgment. My family can finally move forward, and our late mothers can finally rest well."

She offered another polite smile before Alexander guided her safely down the stairs and into the back of their black Audi.

.............

Later that evening, the Graham Estate was really peaceful.

Dandelion sat on the soft sofa in the living room, her feet resting in Lilian's lap. She gently massaged Dandy's tired ankles, completely focused on making her comfortable.

Lilian had been staying over lately, to keep dandy company and also help her with things. In fact she had become so clingy she would follow Dandy everywhere.

And when Dandy tried to complain Lilian would insist, saying she wants the baby to look like her. She had apparently read an article that said a baby might look more like the person who stays closer. Dandy found it absurd but didn't complain further.

The large television mounted on the wall played the evening news at a low volume.

The news anchor sat behind a polished desk, with a serious expression on her face.

"The unforgettable trials between the two prestigious families, The Graham's and The Williams, have completely shaken Greenville," the news anchor reported, images of Viola, Margaret, and Malcolm flashing quickly across the screen. "But legal experts confirm there is only one person left who has not been proven guilty."

A photograph of Mildred suddenly appeared on the screen.

"There is an active case building against Mildred Williams for suspected accomplice involvement in the massive scandal and the vicious defamation of Mrs. Dandelion Williams Graham," the reporter continued. "The court is patiently waiting for strong evidence against Miss Mildred Williams."

Dandelion stared at the screen silently. Mildred was the last piece of the toxic puzzle. She was the one who had helped Chase ruin her acting career, if only there was a way she could prove it.

Lilian stopped rubbing her ankle. She looked at the television, her eyes darkening in disgust.

"I guess there's one last score to settle..... don't worry Dandy she'll definitely get her own share of karma."
Lilian said with determination as she glared at the image of Mildred.