Chapter 4 - The Bail Hearing and the Frozen Vaults
Z
The fluorescent lights of Manhattan Criminal Court were a brutal departure from the gilded grandeur of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Less than twenty-four hours after what was supposed to be the wedding of the season, Ethan and Arthur sat at the defense table clad in drab orange inmate jumpsuits, their wrists shackled to their waists. Across the aisle, Evelyn sat in the gallery, her immaculate blowout ruined, clutching a knockoff handbag after her luxury accounts had been summarily flagged.
Judge Carolyn Vance—who happened to be a distant, estranged cousin of Chloe’s family, though utterly incorruptible—sat on the bench, reviewing the charging documents with mounting, visible disgust.
"The state presents surveillance footage of a brutal, unprovoked physical assault on an eight-month-pregnant woman," Assistant District Attorney Sarah Lin argued fiercely. "Furthermore, federal investigators have uncovered an elaborate scheme involving forged deeds, fraudulent corporate filings in Delaware, and the subornation of a licensed notary public. The defendants demonstrated depraved indifference to human life, abandoning a woman in active labor on the floor of her own residence to attend a social gathering."
Ethan’s court-appointed attorney—since his private retainers had bounced due to an immediate asset freeze—leaned into the microphone. "Your Honor, my clients are respected members of the community. This is fundamentally an unfortunate intrafamily dispute over real estate assets that escalated due to heightened emotions. We request reasonable bail so Mr. Ethan Morgan can attend to his domestic affairs."
"Domestic affairs?" Judge Vance’s gavel crashed down like thunder. "Your client threw a heavily pregnant woman across a room because she refused to surrender her multi-million-dollar property to finance his lifestyle! The medical reports indicate the victim suffered severe contusions and underwent emergency medical intervention to prevent fetal demise. Remand without bail for Ethan Morgan. As for Arthur Morgan, bail is set at two million dollars, fully secured by cash or unencumbered property."
Arthur jumped to his feet, his chains rattling violently. "Two million? That's outrageous! All our assets are tied up in my business accounts! We don’t have two million in liquid cash!"
"Then you will remain in the custody of the Department of Corrections at Rikers Island until trial, Mr. Morgan," Judge Vance stated coldly. "Next case."
As the bailiffs dragged a screaming Ethan and an ash-faced Arthur through the holding cell doors, Evelyn rushed toward Rachel Kim in the hallway outside the courtroom, her polished veneer completely disintegrating into hysterical fury.
"You monstrous parasite!" Evelyn shrieked, lunging toward my attorney before court officers intercepted her. "Claire is destroying her own blood! Tell her to drop these charges! Tell her to mortgage her penthouse and post Arthur’s bail! Ethan cannot survive in general population! He has asthma! He has sensitive skin!"
Rachel stopped, adjusting her glasses, looking down at my mother with an expression of profound, chilling pity. "Mrs. Morgan, Claire isn't mortgaging anything. In fact, as of nine o’clock this morning, Claire's commercial asset firm has exercised its default acceleration clause on the commercial mortgage holding your husband’s consulting firm’s primary office building. Due to the public scandal and pending federal indictments, the bank has declared insolvency."
Evelyn stared at her, her jaw trembling violently. "What... what did you say?"
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"I'm saying you are completely broke, Evelyn," Rachel whispered coldly. "The penthouse isn't yours. The suburban home in Westchester is heavily leveraged. And your husband and son are facing up to twenty-five years in federal prison. If you attempt to contact Claire again, we will file a permanent protective order that carries an immediate arrest mandate. Have a pleasant afternoon."
Evelyn collapsed onto the hard wooden bench of the courthouse corridor, the echoes of her hysterical wailing swallowed by the bustling indifference of the New York justice system.
