He Hit Me at a Private Auction—Then I Sealed the Entire Museum “Father…” I pressed the phone to my ear. “Seal the building.” My voice barely rose above a whisper.

Chapter 19: The Sentencing

Two weeks later, the media circus returned as a haggard, utterly defeated Julian stood before the stern judge to receive his final punishment. Given the extreme severity of the violent crimes, his arrogant lack of remorse prior to getting caught, and the compounding federal fraud charges pending against him, the judge looked down from the bench and showed absolutely no mercy. Julian Sterling was sentenced to twenty-five years in a maximum-security federal penitentiary, strictly without the possibility of early parole.

As the armed, heavy-set bailiffs forcefully grabbed his arms to take him away to begin his quarter-century sentence in a concrete cell, Julian turned frantically to look at Elara one last time in the gallery. He opened his mouth to speak, his sunken eyes wide with a desperate, pathetic need for a final connection—perhaps to offer a hollow apology, perhaps to hurl one last, venomous insult to soothe his bruised ego.

But he never got the chance. Before a single sound could leave his lips, Elara simply turned her back on him with profound elegance and walked gracefully out of the courtroom, completely denying him the one thing he craved most in the world: her attention.