Chapter 15

"Maybe not. But the debt you owe still has to be paid," Olivia said.

Charles was taken away. The office went quiet. Olivia stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, watching Charles being shoved into a police car below. Alex walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "What are you thinking about?"

Olivia's voice was very soft. "Nathan. He'll be out soon." The evidence in the envelope was more than enough to overturn the original verdict. With William's confession and Charles under arrest, it was only a matter of time before Nathan's case was reversed.

Alex rested his chin on her shoulder. "When he gets out, we'll go pick him up together."

Olivia turned around and looked up at him. "Alex, thank you."

Alex lowered his head until his forehead pressed against hers. "I told you, with me, you never have to say thank you."

Then his lips came down on hers. Five years apart, five years of longing, five years of love and hate, all of it melted into that kiss.

A long while later, he finally let her go. "Let's go home."

Olivia nodded.

When they walked out of Horizon Tower, the sunlight was blinding. Olivia's phone rang. It was Sophie. "Liv, something huge happened."

Olivia's heart tightened. "What is it?"

Sophie's voice shook with excitement. "The court announced it's reopening your brother's case. Nathan's lawyer said the chain of evidence is rock-solid. At the earliest, he could be out in a month."

Olivia's eyes filled instantly. She turned to look at Alex.

Alex was in the middle of another call. After hanging up, he said, "The District Attorney's Office sent word. Charles's case is being bundled together with the others, and William has already confessed to even more problems inside Horizon.

"Next, Horizon is going to face a full investigation."

He took her hand. "Your brother's injustice, your five years of pain, starting today, we'll get it all back bit by bit."

Olivia nodded hard. Sunlight poured over them, stretching their shadows long on the ground.

Ahead of them was the road home.

Behind them, the glass walls of Horizon Tower flashed with a blinding glare, like an empire already starting to collapse.

And all of this was only the beginning.

One month later. Central City Superior Court, Courtroom Three.

Olivia sat in the front row of the gallery, holding Sophie's hand so tightly their fingers hurt.

Today was the day Nathan's retrial officially began.

The presiding judge brought down the gavel. "Bring the defendant, Nathan Hill, into court." The side door opened. Olivia stopped breathing.

A gaunt young man was escorted in by court officers. He wore a prison uniform, his hair cropped very short. His face was pale, his cheeks hollow, and he looked nothing like the boy he had been before prison.

Nathan's eyes searched the gallery. When they landed on Olivia, his lips moved soundlessly. "Sis."

Olivia's tears burst free.

Three years. Her brother had suffered for three years in prison. And for those same three years, she had been powerless as both his sister and his lawyer.

Sophie squeezed Olivia's hand tight, her own eyes red too.

The hearing moved along smoothly. The new chain of evidence was complete and powerful.

Charles and William's confessions, call logs, transfer records, and the three key witness statements William had buried and kept from the court back then.

Every piece of evidence pointed to the same truth. Nathan had been framed.

When the supposed victim, the finance director of a Walker subsidiary, took the stand, he admitted in open court that Charles had ordered him to provoke Nathan on purpose, lure him into fighting back, and then fake the injury report.

The gallery erupted in shocked whispers.

Two hours later, the presiding judge delivered the ruling in court. "This court finds that the original judgment got the facts wrong and lacked sufficient evidence. Under Section 253 of the Criminal Procedure Act, the ruling is as follows.

"The original judgment is vacated.

"Defendant Nathan Hill is found not guilty and released immediately."