Chapter Eight: The Reckoning
Jesse Morrison was arrested on a Tuesday.
The FBI showed up at his girlfriend’s apartment—not Annie, a new one, a paralegal he’d been seeing—with handcuffs and a warrant. The charges were wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering.
He pleaded not guilty.
The evidence said otherwise.
Over the next six months, more victims came forward. Twenty-three became thirty-one. Thirty-one became forty-two. Men who’d lost their homes. Women who’d realized they’d been manipulated. Children who’d watched their families fall apart because one man saw their pain as profit.
The trial lasted three weeks.
Randall testified. So did Maya. So did Annie.
She showed up in a simple black dress, no makeup, her hair pulled back. She told the jury about how Jesse had found her at her lowest. How he’d convinced her to file for divorce. How he’d told her the automatic payments were legally complicated.
She didn’t make excuses.
She didn’t blame Randall.
She just told the truth.
Jesse was convicted on all counts.
The judge sentenced him to ten years in federal prison. Five years supervised release. Restitution of eight hundred fifty thousand dollars to be split among the victims.
His law license was permanently revoked.
His property valuation company was dissolved.
His assets were seized.
Randall watched them lead him out of the courtroom in handcuffs.
He should have felt triumphant.
He felt hollow.
David put a hand on his shoulder.
“It’s over.”
“Yeah.”
“Is it?”
Randall looked across the courtroom. Annie was standing by the exit, talking to her attorney. She’d lost weight. Her eyes looked clearer than he’d ever seen them.
“No,” he said. “It’s just starting.”
