Chapter 22 - Vanessa’s Case
Vanessa faced separate issues.
The assault against Claire.
The corporate-fraud investigation.
Forgery and conspiracy allegations.
Unauthorized access and use of protected business information where supported.
Her defense team attacked everything.
Claire’s motives.
My temper.
Corporate controls.
Whether individual transactions had legitimate business purposes.
That is what defense lawyers are supposed to do.
Eventually Vanessa entered a negotiated plea.
So did Marcus, later.
Their outcomes reflected different conduct.
Marcus had been deeper in the financial architecture.
Vanessa provided access, documents, false assurances, and active assistance.
She also assaulted Claire.
Both received serious consequences involving incarceration and financial restitution.
Not life.
Not fantasy.
Enough years to make the consequences real.
I did not attend every hearing.
At first, I thought I needed to watch.
Then Samuel asked:
“Why?”
May you like
I had no answer beyond anger.
So I stopped.
