Chapter 7 - The Federal Courthouse
The following morning at 10:00 AM, the central ceremonial courtroom of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in Lower Manhattan was packed with reporters, federal agents, and prominent legal figures.
Judge Arthur Sinclair sat behind the elevated mahogany bench, looking confident, arrogant, and untouchable in his black judicial robes.
Sitting in the front spectator row was Victoria Sinclair, wearing a dark designer dress, whispering smugly to her defense attorneys. She believed that the family court petition to declare me an unfit mother and place Ethan under federal subpoena was about to proceed under her father’s unilateral control.
"Case number 408: The Romano Estate Custody Petition," the court clerk announced.
"Your Honor," Victoria’s attorney stood up. "We move for an immediate emergency injunction declaring the respondent, Isabella Bennett, incompetent due to evasion of process—"
The heavy mahogany double doors at the back of the courtroom burst open with a resounding crack.
Every head in the room turned.
I walked down the central marble aisle, wearing an elegant ivory maternity coat and black silk dress, my head held high, holding a certified federal deposition folder.
Walking beside me was Ethan Romano, dressed in an immaculate navy bespoke suit, his left arm resting in a subtle black silk sling. Flanking us were four armed Special Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Deputy Director of the Department of Justice.
Judge Sinclair’s face instantly paled from healthy tan to sickly gray. He gripped the edges of his bench, his gavel trembling in his fingers.
"What is the meaning of this disruption?!" Judge Sinclair stammered. "Mr. Romano, you have no standing to enter this courtroom with armed federal officers!"
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Deputy Director Marcus Hayes stepped forward to the podium, unrolling a sealed federal indictment bearing the gold seal of the United States District Court.
"Arthur Sinclair," Director Hayes announced with booming authority. "Pursuant to a twenty-four-count federal grand jury indictment unsealed thirty minutes ago in Washington D.C., you are formally relieved of your judicial office and placed under arrest for federal racketeering, money laundering, judicial bribery, and conspiracy to commit attempted murder."
