Six months later, the state court building sat under a grey sky as reporters gathered outside the high marble steps.
Ryan and Maya walked up the steps together, flanked by two private security officers as flashbulbs clicked all around them.
Inside courtroom three, Victoria sat at the defense table in handcuffs, her head bowed as the judge read the final verdict.
Judge: Victoria Sterling, on the counts of felony assault on a pregnant woman, breaking and entering, grand probate fraud, and corporate embezzlement...
The courtroom remained dead silent as every eye focused on the judge.
Judge: You are hereby sentenced to twelve years at the state correctional facility without the possibility of early parole.
Victoria gasped, dropping her face into her hands as her defense attorney closed his binder in defeat.
Judge: In addition, full financial restitution of three point two million dollars will be paid immediately from your liquidated personal property to the Sterling Trust Fund.
The judge brought her wooden gavel down with a loud, resounding crack that filled the room.
The guards stood Victoria up, turning her around to lead her through the side exit door.
As she passed the front row where Ryan and Maya were sitting, Victoria stopped for a brief second, her eyes wet with desperate tears.
Victoria: Maya... please... have mercy on an old woman...
Maya looked at her calmly, holding her head high with quiet dignity.
Maya: Mercy is for those who show mercy, Victoria. You chose cruelty instead.
The guard pulled Victoria along through the heavy steel door, which shut tightly behind her with a final, heavy click.
Ryan squeezed Maya's hand tightly as they stood up from the wooden bench, walking out of the courtroom into the bright afternoon sunlight together.
They had fought through fear, violence, and greed, and now their family was whole, safe, and free forever.