Chapter 16 - THE TRIAL OF ETHAN COLE
The trial began seven months later.
Charles accepted a plea agreement and agreed to testify against his son.
Ethan called the decision cowardice.
Charles called it survival.
Neither man expressed remorse for Thomas Whitmore.
Leonard Shaw described how Ethan delivered the payment for the damaged brake line.
Daniel explained the financial conspiracy.
Marcus admitted providing Ethan access to the hotel.
Olivia entered the courtroom on the fifth day.
Her pregnancy was visible.
She did not look at Mary.
She testified for nearly six hours.
Ethan’s attorneys portrayed her as a jealous lover seeking revenge.
Olivia admitted every lie she had told.
She admitted betraying Mary.
She admitted helping steal the proxy.
Then Rebecca asked why Olivia finally surrendered the phone.
Olivia looked toward Ethan.
“Because I heard him order men to take Mary after the wedding.”
The courtroom fell silent.
“He said she would be declared mentally incompetent.”
“He said no one would believe a grieving woman over her husband.”
Ethan’s expression did not change.
But his hand tightened around a pen.
The final evidence was Thomas Whitmore’s video.
Jurors watched him warn Mary about Ethan.
Mary sat in the front row.
She did not cry until her father spoke about keeping her heart from becoming stone.
Ethan looked at her then.
For one second, she saw the man she once believed he was.
He seemed gentle.
Almost sorry.
Then his attorney whispered to him.
The expression disappeared.
Ethan testified against legal advice.
He claimed Charles manipulated him from childhood.
He described a father who measured love through obedience.
He insisted he never intended for Thomas to die.
The prosecutor approached.
“Did you send the message, ‘Now she has no one’?”
Ethan lowered his eyes.
“Yes.”
“Did you propose to Mary after learning she inherited controlling shares?”
“Yes.”
“Did you maintain a relationship with Olivia while planning your marriage?”
“Yes.”
“Did you forge the emergency proxy?”
Ethan hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Did you enter the Aurelia Grand to take Mary against her will?”
Ethan looked at Mary.
“I entered to save what belonged to me.”
The prosecutor paused.
“Mary Whitmore belonged to you?”
Ethan realized his mistake too late.
“No.”
“But that is what you believed.”
Ethan did not answer.
The jury deliberated for nine hours.
They found him guilty on every major count.
When the verdict was read, Ethan turned toward Mary.
He expected satisfaction.
May you like
She gave him none.
She simply rose and walked away.
