Chapter 9 - JULIAN KANE’S LAST LEVERAGE
Julian’s trial began almost two years after the restaurant.
By then the triplets were nearly three.
They talked constantly.
Roman sometimes muttered that silence had been underrated.
Mia repeated him.
“Silence underrated.”
Pamela blamed him.
The prosecution’s evidence was enormous.
Financial records.
Hospital logs.
Teresa’s photographs.
Paul’s testimony.
Marjorie Trent’s cooperation agreement.
Several doctors.
Adoption intermediaries.
Families.
Mothers.
Julian’s defense had one remaining strategy.
Roman.
Paint him as the actual buyer.
Julian only followed instructions.
Roman took the stand.
That surprised everyone.
His attorneys had advised against it.
Pamela did too.
Not because she wanted him protected.
Because Roman’s other activities could become relevant.
He testified anyway.
Julian’s attorney asked:
“You paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for these children, correct?”
“Yes.”
“You signed confidentiality agreements?”
“Yes.”
“You approved discretionary payments?”
“Yes.”
“Yet you expect this court to believe you never asked why three healthy newborns suddenly became available to a single man with your reputation?”
Roman remained still.
“I asked.”
“What were you told?”
“That their mother voluntarily surrendered them and wanted complete privacy.”
“And you believed that?”
“Yes.”
“Convenient.”
Roman looked at the jury.
“Yes.”
The attorney paused.
Roman continued before he could move on.
“That is part of why this happened.”
Pamela stopped breathing.
Roman said:
“I was wealthy enough that people solved problems before I saw how they were solved.”
Julian stared.
“I treated that as efficiency.”
Silence.
“It was arrogance.”
No one expected that answer.
“I did not know Pamela Hayes existed.”
Roman continued.
“But I created an environment where a man like Julian Kane believed he could hand me three children with paperwork and I would never look behind it.”
Julian’s attorney tried interrupting.
Too late.
Roman finished:
“I loved those children from the first night they came home.”
His voice changed.
“And loving them does not make what happened to their mother acceptable.”
Pamela cried silently.
Julian watched her.
For the first time, he looked old.
Not powerful.
Old.
The jury convicted him.
Multiple counts.
Fraud.
Conspiracy.
Kidnapping-related offenses.
Trafficking-related crimes.
Forgery.
Money laundering.
Obstruction.
The exact charges differed across cases.
The result did not.
Julian Kane would spend the rest of his useful life inside prison.
St. Anselm paid enormous settlements.
Several administrators lost licenses.
The hospital created independent patient-advocacy requirements under court oversight.
None of it returned Pamela’s fourteen months.
Justice rarely repays exactly what was taken.
Sometimes it only stops the theft from continuing.
After sentencing, Roman asked:
“Do you feel better?”
Pamela thought.
“No.”
He nodded.
“Me neither.”
Then she took his hand.
“But I feel finished.”
May you like
That was different.
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