And If there was a tomorrow

Epilogue

The following day was expected with great anxiety. The hearing was scheduled, and the parts waited to be called in. Ed and Mark on one side. Linda, Peter, and their lawyers on the other.

Mark was very confident, because the defense thesis of Peter's lawyers was very shallow, with not much evidence. They talked to witnesses, offered them money, and they agreed to falsify their depositions, so they were certain about winning. Mark was only disturbed by the triumph posture his rivals displayed, because it wasn't compatible to the situation, except if they had an ace up their sleeves. That uncertainty really bothered him.

They were called in.

As soon as the session started, Mark started to grasp the other side's strategy. Even though he didn't want to acknowledge, it was very good, and they'd probably get burned.

As the hearing carried on, and people and evidence got presented, it became very clear that Mark and Ed tried to manipulate the depositions.

Many witnesses showed cash deposits made from his lawyer or from Ed to their bank accounts and said that they had been guided to lie in their depositions, but that they wouldn't do it, which put them into a very delicate position, besides being completely illegal. They presented the letter written by Ed's mother, as well as Mary Ann's letter, followed by pictures, which made the situation even worst. Everyone was against them. They tried to defend themselves, but there was no getting around the facts. The judge was clearly distressed and outraged with the attempt, which would clearly get him to rule the case with more severity.

The story was told again and again by the parts and by the witnesses, and after the judge questioned the lawyers, Ed's fault just became clearer.

There was not much they could do. In less than two hours, the judge had reached a verdict in favor of Peter and Linda. He considered that Ed would have to pay them a voluptuous amount of money for moral damages.

Ed got furious with the sentence and started to complain, about how unfair that decision was. That's when the judge recalled that trying to bribe witnesses was also illegal, and that he would be prosecuted for that crime too, and if he continued to be disrespectful towards the judge, he could be arrested.

Mark tried to advise Ed to shut up, but he didn't seem to obey. But, when he felt threatened upon the entrance of police officers requested by the judged, he decided to apologize and stopped. Everyone was dismissed and, when the judge left, Peter, Linda and their lawyers celebrated with a hug, which got Ed even more irritated. Then, Ed said:

─ This is not over. We are going to fight this. You'll pay for that.

Mark rolled his eyes. He would no longer advocate for him, especially because the case was already lost, due to his overconfidence. He stood up and left. Ed got dismayed. Another person had abandoned him. What was happening? He was becoming alone. But there was no problem with that, he'd hire another lawyer. Fortunately, there were lots of competent attorneys' firms.

Time went by and he really managed to find another firm that would represent him, but the appeal was also useless, besides the fact that the court doubled the amount he owed to the other parts. After three months, he was about to go bankrupt and also had to start selling his assets in order to pay his debts and the amount he owed.

Linda and Peter were doing great and had plenty of money. Peter felt like all that time he had waited was worth it. Linda no longer wanted Ed to be part of her life, but she was not happy with that ending, because she didn't want his life to be ruined. She only wanted him to vanish from her life but taking into consideration all the things he had done, it didn't depend on her, he had dug his own grave. She was happy to be far away from that quicksand his life had become.