Chapter 8 - THE TRIAL OF CHARLES LAURENT
Charles did not look like a villain in court.
He looked like a grandfather.
Silver hair.
Expensive glasses.
Calm voice.
That mattered.
Fraud rarely looks theatrical.
The prosecution built the case through numbers.
Transfers.
Forged waivers.
Fake invoices.
Redirected calls.
Mail records.
Vivienne testified.
Matteo testified.
Clara testified.
Charles's attorney argued protection costs were legitimate.
Some were.
He argued Matteo was vulnerable and direct contact could have exposed him.
Initially true.
He argued Clara's waiver had been processed by third-party counsel.
Forgery still existed.
Then defense asked Clara:
"Mrs. De Luca, did Mr. Laurent personally prevent you from contacting your husband?"
"I don't know what he personally did every day."
Good.
No overclaiming.
"But my calls were redirected through systems his company controlled."
"Did he threaten you?"
"No."
"Did he ever tell you Matteo was dead?"
"No."
"Then perhaps your grief resulted from government presumption rather than Mr. Laurent."
Clara looked at the jury.
"My grief came from being told my husband was dead."
Then:
"The fraud came from someone forging my name after that."
Simple.
Matteo testified about the fake letter.
Charles looked at him.
Sadness.
Not anger.
That complicated everything.
"I saved your life."
Charles said during an outburst.
Judge stopped him.
But everyone heard.
Matteo later told prosecutors:
"He did."
And that was the tragedy.
Charles could have remained the man who saved Matteo.
Instead he became the man who decided saving someone's life gave him ownership over it.
The jury convicted him on major fraud and forgery counts.
Not everything.
Enough.
Bellini executives separately faced corruption consequences.
Some cases settled.
Some convictions.
Some dismissals.
Real systems are messy.
Clara did not care about headlines.
She cared when the court restored the spousal allocation.
€2 million plus interest.
She stared at the transfer confirmation.
Then turned off the screen.
Pamela asked:
"So you're rich now?"
Clara laughed.
"No."
"Two million euros?"
"After taxes, legal costs, debt, and three years of being poor."
Pamela shrugged.
"Rich enough to stop carrying champagne."
Clara thought.
Then smiled.
She resigned from banquet service.
Not because waitressing was beneath her.
Because her back hurt and she wanted something else.
She enrolled in hospitality management courses.
Funny.
May you like
After years serving luxury, she decided she wanted to run spaces where workers weren't invisible.
Good.
