The courtroom was packed on the day of Jennifer's sentencing. Damien sat in the gallery with Simone on one side and Richard on the other.Jennifer stood at the defense table looking nothing like the woman who had stalked them for months. Her hair was clean and pulled back. Her clothes were simple and neat.The medication had brought clarity to her eyes but also a deep sadness that had not been there before.The prosecutor read the charges aloud. "Harassment, stalking, conspiracy to commit fraud, and endangering a child. The evidence includes surveillance photos, purchased stolen credit cards, witness testimony, and fabricated text messages."Jennifer's attorney stood. "Your Honor, my client wishes to enter a plea of guilty to reduced charges in exchange for accepting mandatory long-term psychiatric treatment at a residential facility."Judge Morrison looked over her reading glasses. The same judge who had presided over Damien's custody case months earlier."Ms. Reeves, do you understa

Damien and Simone continued their conversation. "I am sorry for dumping all that on you.""Do not apologize. Talk to me."They talked for two hours. The longest and most vulnerable conversation they had ever had.Simone broke down talking about Aisha. The words came out in broken sentences between tears and Damien just listened."I raised her from age fourteen after our parents died. I was nineteen, working full time and taking night classes, trying to give my siblings a chance at normal life.""That is a lot to carry at nineteen.""My two brothers turned out okay. Marcus is an electrician and Jerome is in the military. But Aisha has always been difficult."Simone's voice cracked. "She resented my authority from the start. She said it was not her mother and had no right to tell her what to do."Simone was repeating that, it must have hurt her so much. "Kids say things they do not mean when they are hurting.""Maybe. But she kept pushing boundaries. Sneaking out, lying about grades,

The article went live at ten in the morning. Damien watched the notification appear on his phone with a sense of dread.By noon, LedgerEase's website had crashed from traffic. The server could not handle the sudden influx of visitors.Marcus was on the phone with their hosting provider trying to get more bandwidth. "I know it is an emergency. That is why I am calling."Damien refreshed the article page and watched the view count climb. Ten thousand, twenty thousand then fifty thousand.The story was compelling even he could admit that. Two brothers building a successful company while navigating personal chaos sounded like a movie plot.But this was his life. His daughter's life and it was all laid out for strangers to consume.The article was mostly fair. It painted him as resilient and Marcus as redeemed but it included details Damien would rather keep private.Derek's suicide and the inheritance, Emma's medical condition during the custody battle, Jennifer's stalking even Lisa's aff

The argument started over coffee the next morning. Marcus slammed his mug down hard enough that liquid sloshed over the rim."We need to at least hear buyout offers from competitors. That is just smart business."Damien shook his head. "We are finally creating something meaningful on our own terms. I do not want to sell to the first company that waves money at us.""Easy for you to say." Marcus's voice was sharp. "You have Derek's trust fund as a safety net. I have nothing. If LedgerEase fails, I am back to zero."The comment cut deep. Damien had been trying not to touch Emma's trust fund and he viewed it as blood money from a man who tried to destroy him.But Marcus was right. Knowing it existed provided security that Marcus did not have."That is not fair," Damien said quietly."Isn’t it? You can take risks because you have a fallback plan. I cannot. This company is everything I have.""It is everything I have too.""No, it is not. You have Emma. You have Simone. You have options."

CloudTech Systems flew Damien and Marcus to their Silicon Valley headquarters first class. It was Damien's first time in California.The campus was impressive beyond anything he had imagined. Glass buildings surrounded by manicured gardens and sleek modern sculptures.Everything LedgerEase was not. Professional, polished, scaled to perfection.They were greeted by Patricia Wong herself. The CEO was in her fifties with sharp eyes and a firm handshake."Welcome to CloudTech. I have been following your work closely and I am very impressed."She led them through the campus pointing out features. "We started in a garage twenty years ago. Now we serve clients in forty countries."The conference room had floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the valley. A team of executives waited inside.Patricia got straight to business. "LedgerEase solves a real problem beautifully. You have elegant code and strong user growth.""Tha