The Trial of the Vale Name
Chapter 16 - The Trial of the Vale Name
The criminal trial lasted twelve weeks.
Prosecutors presented the ballroom footage, Victor’s confession, Dr. Roth’s medical evidence, Clara’s financial records, and the live broadcast in which Helena exposed her knowledge of the helicopter sabotage.
Mason Rook admitted ordering the mechanical tampering but claimed Helena wanted only to frighten Ethan. The jury rejected the distinction. A sabotaged aircraft over open water was not a warning.
Helena’s defense attacked everyone.
They called Victor a thief, Clara a fugitive, Roth an incompetent doctor, Daniel a disloyal son, and Ethan an ambitious heir using tragedy to seize control.
Ethan took the witness stand last.
Helena’s lawyer asked whether he expected to become the wealthiest man in the country if she were convicted.
“No,” Ethan said.
The lawyer smiled. “You deny being Arthur Vale’s primary heir?”
“I deny that his fortune was ever meant to be my private property.”
Ethan explained the stewardship trust to the jury. If he gained control, he would be bound by strict public duties. He could not sell major assets for personal benefit. He could not dissolve pensions. He could be removed by independent trustees.
The revelation weakened Helena’s central argument. Ethan had not returned for unrestricted wealth because unrestricted wealth no longer existed.
During closing statements, the prosecutor displayed two photographs.
The first showed Helena at the gala, covered in gold, smiling before the world.
The second showed Samuel Price’s small home in the workers’ neighborhood, marked for demolition.
“This case,” the prosecutor said, “is about what people are willing to destroy to preserve the distance between those two images.”
The jury convicted Helena of fraud, conspiracy, attempted destruction of evidence, and participation in the plots against Arthur and Ethan.
Mason received a separate conviction.
Victor’s cooperation reduced his sentence, but it did not erase it.
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When officers led Helena away, she looked only at Daniel.
He stood beside Ethan and did not turn away.
