Chapter 81: The Pressure

Nathaniel's Pov The stock opened down three percent, and by noon it was down seven, and Marcus came into my office without knocking and said we have a problem, and I told him I could see the problem on my screen. "This is not normal volatility," Marcus said. "Someone is shorting us aggressively." "How much volume?" "Enough to move the price. Millions of shares. This is coordinated." I pulled up the trading data and looked at the pattern and he was right because the

Chapter 82: The Breaking Point

Evangeline's Pov Recreation time was at two in the afternoon, and they took six of us to a room that was about the size of two cells put together with nothing in it except a basketball and bars on the windows. Rita was there and three other women I had not met yet and one woman who looked at me the moment we walked in and I knew immediately she was going to be a problem. Her name was Denise, and she was tall and heavy and had been in Block D for four years, according to Rita who told me this in a whisper before the guard left. The guard locked the door and walked

Chapter 83: The Footage

Nathaniel's Pov The call came from a number I did not recognize and I almost did not answer but something made me pick up and when I did a man's voice said I have something you need to see. "Who is this?" I asked. "Someone who works at the facility where your wife is being held." "What do you want?" "I want to do the right thing. That is all. There was an incident today in Block D. Your wife was involved."

Chapter 84: Owen's Guilt

Owen's Pov I saw the video on the news at lunch and spent the next hour staring at my computer screen and trying to figure out why it made me feel like I had done something wrong. Evangeline had defended herself. That was obvious. She had not started the fight and she had not escalated until she had no choice and when she did defend herself she stopped as soon as the threat was over. It was textbook self defense.

Chapter 85: Victor's Ultimatum

Nathaniel's Pov Victor called me directly this time instead of through an assistant and said we needed to meet in person and I said no and he said it was not a request so I agreed to meet him at a restaurant where there would be witnesses if things went badly. He was already sitting at a table in the back when I arrived and he looked older than the last time I saw him and that told me the pressure was affecting him too even if he was pretending it was not. I sat down across from him and waited. "You are making this harder than it needs to be," he said.

Chapter 86: Appeal Filed

Evangeline's Pov My lawyer came to Block D on a Tuesday morning and they brought me to the attorney room and she was sitting there with three folders stacked in front of her and when I sat down she smiled for the first time since I had met her. "We found it," she said. "Found what?" "The proof. The timestamps on the financial access logs that the prosecution submitted are forged." I leaned forward.