Chloe, who had been silent throughout the exchange, stepped forward, a look of confusion and concern etched on her face. “Dad?” she asked, her voice small.“Just a moment, darling,” he replied, his gaze never leaving David’s. “You assured me that all was transparent in your past dealings. Yet, what I see here suggests otherwise.”

Amelia watched as David’s confidence crumbled, piece by piece. The Judge’s tone was not accusatory but rather a statement of undeniable truth. The room, once vibrant with celebration, now felt charged with the tension of a courtroom.

“This documentation,” Judge Vance continued, “details significant discrepancies in the financial records of the company you claim to have built alone. Amelia’s signatures are conspicuously absent on several key documents, while yours are conspicuously present. Care to explain?”David’s bravado had vanished, replaced by a panicked frenzy as he searched for words that would not come. “It’s… it’s not what it looks like,” he stammered, sweat starting to bead on his forehead.