Chapter 6 - The Deposition
Two weeks later, the civil deposition took place in a sterile boardroom downtown. Ross sat next to his sleazy defense attorney, wearing a sharp suit and projecting the image of a concerned, heartbroken father. Gwendolyn sat behind him, looking equally polished.
They assumed Corinne was broken. They assumed they had outsmarted her.
Rachel Vance started the questioning lightly, lulling Ross into a false sense of security. Ross confidently testified under oath that Corinne had abused Casey, that Corinne had severe anger issues, and that he had never set up hidden cameras in the house. He also swore, under penalty of perjury, that he had no knowledge of any financial irregularities regarding Corinne's accounts.
Rachel smiled. It was a terrifying smile.
"Mr. Hardy, you stated you did not record your wife without her consent, nor did you coach your daughter. Is that correct?"
"Yes," Ross said smoothly.
Rachel pressed a button on her remote. The large television screen at the end of the boardroom flared to life. The unedited footage from the hidden cloud account played loud and clear. Gwendolyn's face drained of color as her voice echoed in the room, threatening Casey, grabbing her wrist, and instructing her to lie.
Ross’s attorney shot up. "Where did you get this?"
"From the cloud account your client swore didn't exist," Rachel fired back.
May you like
Before Ross could formulate a lie, Rachel pulled out a thick stack of financial documents. "Furthermore, we have the IP logs and MAC address tracing from Mrs. Hardy's home office. They prove that you, Ross, and you, Gwendolyn, committed wire fraud, identity theft, and embezzlement of federal funds."
Ross began to stammer, his confident facade crumbling into absolute panic. He turned to Gwendolyn, his eyes wide.
