CHAPTER 13: THE FALL OF AN EMPIRE
Three months passed.
The legal fallout from the Sterling scandal sent shockwaves through the financial world. The Sterling Corporation board severed all ties with the family, stripping Victoria and Richard of their voting shares to salvage the company’s reputation.
Victoria Sterling was sentenced to twelve years in federal prison for conspiracy, kidnapping, and bribery. Stripped of her designer clothes and social prestige, she traded her limestone mansion for an eight-by-ten concrete cell.
Richard Sterling received a reduced sentence of four years due to his full cooperation and surrender of key evidence. Before his transfer to a minimum-security facility, he established an irrevocable educational and living trust fund in Leo’s real name, transferring a significant portion of his personal wealth to ensure the boy would never want for anything.
Dr. Campbell lost his medical license permanently and was sentenced to fifteen years.
Elena refused to touch the Sterling family’s corporate money, but she accepted the court-mandated restitution settlement to purchase a cozy, sunlit cottage in a quiet suburban town two hours outside Chicago.
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She opened a small community bakery—a lifelong dream she and Julian had shared before his passing. The scent of warm cinnamon and fresh sourdough replaced the cold, sterile smell of marble and polish.
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