You Want My Grandma’s $8 BILLION Inheritance DREAM ON! SCUMBAG, Watch Your Empire COLLAPSE Overnight! Chapter 20
The verdict came down on a Wednesday.
The Criminal Term of the New York Supreme Court officially entered its judgment.
Alexander Langford was found guilty of bank fraud, aggravated assault, and commercial bribery.
He was sentenced to thirteen years in prison, along with substantial fines and the forfeiture of related assets.
Diane Langford was found guilty of participating in the intentional assault.
She was sentenced to six years in prison.
Because Sophia had cooperated with the police investigation, provided key testimony to the District Attorney’s Office, and testified in court, the prosecution recommended leniency.
The judge ultimately sentenced her to two years in prison, suspended for three years of probation.
The same day the judgment was served, Alex’s legal team filed a notice of appeal.
I wasn’t surprised.
Thirteen years.
He was twenty-nine.
By the time he got out, he’d be forty-two.
—
Of course he wasn’t willing to accept it.
But I still held one final trump card.
Rachel’s evidence of the $1.5 million bribe.
The transfer records had already been used as evidence at trial. If he tried to recant his testimony on appeal, I still had more evidence I could submit.
Julian said, “The appeal won’t change anything. The chain of evidence is airtight. There’s more than a ninety percent chance the appellate court upholds the original judgment.”
“Let him fight it,” I said.
That evening, Rachel invited me out for dinner.
We sat at a little seafood place by the water, drinking beer while the ocean breeze rolled in.
“Thirteen years.” Rachel raised her bottle. “This one’s for you.”
I clinked mine against hers.
“So, Evie,” she asked, “what’s next?”
I took a sip of beer and looked toward the lighthouse in the distance.
“I’m starting over.”
“How?”
“I’m buying my grandmother’s hotel group back.”
Rachel nearly choked.
—
“I thought you sold the whole thing.”
“I did.” I smiled. “That doesn’t mean I can’t buy it back.”
“I had to sell fast back then, so I accepted a discount. Now the market’s even lower. I can buy everything back for fifteen percent less than what I sold it for.”
Rachel stared at me for a long moment before finally saying, “Evelyn Grant… did you plan this from the very beginning?”
I just smiled.
I didn’t answer.
My grandmother had spent sixty years building that hotel empire.
I’d rushed to liquidate it because I needed every dollar safely under my own name, completely beyond the reach of any supposed “marital property.”
Now everything had been settled.
And everything that belonged to me…
was coming home.