Chapter 11 - THE LEGAL CASE
Corrine faced charges related to assault, coercion, and attempted interference with evidence.
Sloan faced charges related to the crowbar threat, assaultive conduct, financial misrepresentation, and related acts where evidence supported them.
No attempted murder.
The crowbar never struck Alora.
No dramatic kidnapping charge.
The jewelry issues were split carefully.
Civil ownership questions.
Potential fraud.
False documentation.
Loan misrepresentation.
Not every substitution was automatically theft.
Some pieces were jointly owned.
Some belonged specifically to Harold.
Some to Corrine.
Some title history was unclear.
The prosecutor focused on provable conduct.
Then Sloan’s lawyer offered cooperation.
She would disclose every sale and substitution she knew about.
Corrine called it betrayal.
Sloan answered:
“You taught me to protect myself first.”
The line hit harder than any insult.
Then Sloan revealed a storage unit.
Inside:
two original jewelry boxes,
old appraisal cards,
a replica ring,
and one loose emerald.
The emerald matched one disputed piece.
How did it get there?
Corrine had kept it.
She had not sold everything.
Why keep the original?
Control.
She sometimes rotated originals out and back depending on events.
The copies gave her flexibility.
Travel.
Loans.
Emergency cash.
Appearances.
The system was less about greed than the belief that she could privately manage family assets without anyone questioning her.
Then Alora said:
“That is exactly what Harold stopped trusting.”
Corrine answered:
“He never trusted anyone.”
May you like
Maybe.
But he was right to document.
