Chapter 7 - The AftermathThree weeks later.
The cold, aggressive, fluorescent lights of a federal holding cell buzzed endlessly, casting a sickly, pale yellow glow over the damp concrete walls of the metropolitan detention center. The air was thick with the suffocating stench of ammonia, stale sweat, and absolute despair.
Julian Croft sat on a cold metal bench, wearing an oversized, coarse, bright orange jumpsuit that chafed against his skin. His face, once meticulously groomed for magazine covers, was gaunt and covered in a ragged, unkempt beard. Dark, bruised bags hung heavily beneath his bloodshot eyes. His hands trembled violently as he gripped the greasy, cracked receiver of the communal payphone, pressing it hard against his ear.
He dialed Chloe’s number for the fiftieth time that week. He desperately needed an alibi. He needed someone, anyone, to corroborate his frantic, fabricated lies about being a victim of a corporate setup.
The automated, robotic voice replied instantly, echoing in his hollow ear: The number you have reached has been disconnected or is no longer in service.
Julian slowly hung up the phone. His arm dropped limply to his side. He stared blankly at the graffiti-carved concrete wall in front of him.
May you like
His high-priced, shark-like defense lawyers had abandoned him the exact moment the massive retainers bounced from his entirely frozen accounts. The overworked public defender assigned to his case had openly laughed in his face when Julian frantically claimed he was a self-made billionaire victim of a grand, sweeping conspiracy. He was currently facing thirty-five years in a maximum-security federal penitentiary for massive wire fraud, embezzlement, and defrauding global investors.
Chloe, desperate to save her own skin, had immediately turned state’s evidence against him, offering up every private conversation they ever had. Yet, her betrayal hadn't saved her social standing; she found herself permanently blacklisted, evicted from her luxury apartment, and entirely exiled by every wealthy circle in the city. She was a pariah. But Julian… Julian was entirely, horrifyingly, permanently alone in the dark.
