Judge Morrison turned a page.
Then another.
Silence spread through the courtroom like a fog.
Finally she looked up.
“Mr. Patterson,” she said to Richard’s attorney, “approach the bench.”
Victoria’s lawyer quickly stood as well.
“Your Honor—”
“You too.”
The two attorneys walked to the bench.
Judge Morrison lowered her voice, but the tension in the room made every movement feel amplified.
She handed the documents to them.
James Patterson read the first line.
His eyes widened.
Then he looked up at Richard.
For the first time that day, a spark of hope appeared on his face.
Victoria’s lawyer read the same document next.
His expression went completely blank.
“That’s impossible,” he whispered.
Judge Morrison leaned back in her chair.
“These documents include a prenatal DNA analysis conducted three weeks ago,” she said quietly.
Victoria’s lawyer shook his head.
“We never authorized—”
“Apparently someone did.”
James Patterson turned toward the courtroom.
“Your Honor,” he said slowly, “this report indicates that Mr. Richard Blackwood is not the biological father of the unborn child.”
The room erupted.
Reporters began typing furiously.
Gasps echoed from the gallery.
Richard felt as though the ground beneath him had shifted.
He wasn’t imagining things.
He wasn’t paranoid.
He had been right all along.
Across the room, Victoria looked as if the air had been sucked out of her lungs.
“That’s a lie,” she said weakly.
But no one was listening.
Judge Morrison raised the gavel again.
“Order!”
The room quieted slightly.
She lifted the flash drive from the envelope.
“And this?” she asked.
Emily spoke up again.
“My mom said you had to watch it.”
Judge Morrison handed the drive to the court technician.
“Play it.”
The courtroom lights dimmed slightly as the screen flickered to life.
A video began.
It showed the interior of a luxury penthouse apartment.
A hidden camera angle.
Two people stood in the room.
One of them was Victoria.
The other—
Richard’s breath stopped.
Marcus Blackwood.
His brother.
The man he had trusted his entire life.
The recording had no sound for the first few seconds.
Then the audio crackled in.
Victoria laughed softly.
“You worry too much,” she said.
Marcus ran a hand through his hair.
“Richard will ask for a DNA test.”
Victoria smirked.
“Too late. By the time he does, I’ll already have the court on my side.”
Marcus hesitated.
“And the baby?”
Victoria shrugged.
“Well…”
She rested a hand on her stomach.
“It’s yours.”
The courtroom exploded.
Marcus’s chair scraped violently against the floor as he stood up.
“That video is fake!” he shouted.
But it was too late.
The recording continued.
Victoria’s voice filled the courtroom.
“Once the settlement goes through, we’ll disappear. Nine hundred and eighty million dollars, Marcus. We’ll never have to work again.”
Marcus looked uncertain.
“And Richard?”
Victoria smiled coldly.
“He’ll survive.”
The video ended.
Silence followed.
A suffocating silence.
All eyes slowly turned toward Marcus Blackwood.
The man who had betrayed his own brother.
Judge Morrison’s voice broke the stillness.
“Mr. Marcus Blackwood…”
Her gaze was ice.
“You may want to sit down.”
But Marcus didn’t move.
Because at that exact moment—
The courtroom doors burst open again.
This time, it was the police.
And the officer at the front said four words that changed everything again.
“Marcus Blackwood, you’re under arrest.”
The words hung in the courtroom like thunder after lightning.
“Marcus Blackwood, you’re under arrest.”
Two Chicago police officers moved down the aisle with controlled urgency.
For a moment, Marcus didn’t react.
He stood frozen beside his chair, his face drained of color, eyes darting around the courtroom as if searching for an escape that did not exist.
Reporters were already whispering excitedly.
Some were typing furiously.
Others simply stared.
The Blackwood scandal had just become something far bigger than a divorce case.
Richard Blackwood slowly rose from his chair.
His gaze locked onto his younger brother.
Marcus.
The boy he had raised after their parents died.
The man he had trusted with his entire business empire.
“Marcus…” Richard’s voice was quiet.
Almost fragile.
Marcus looked at him.
For a split second, guilt flashed across his face.
Then it disappeared.
“You don’t understand,” Marcus muttered.
But the police officers had already reached him.
“Turn around, sir,” one of them said.
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“Seriously?” he said. “You’re arresting me over a stupid video?”
The officer calmly pulled his wrists behind his back.
“Marcus Blackwood,” he repeated, “you are under arrest for conspiracy to commit financial fraud and attempted extortion.”
The handcuffs clicked shut.
The sound echoed through the courtroom.
Richard felt something inside him crack.
Not anger.
Something worse.
Disbelief.
Twenty years of loyalty shattered in a single moment.
Across the courtroom, Victoria Blackwood looked like someone had just pulled the floor out from under her.
Her lawyer leaned toward her urgently.
“Do not say anything,” he whispered.
But Victoria’s eyes were fixed on Marcus.
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