Chapter 9 - The Handcuff VerdictThe jury returned a unanimous GUILTY verdict on all counts after less than one hour of deliberation.

The judge delivered a scathing sentence from the bench:
âGrant Bennett, you attempted to rob your wife of her freedom, her reputation, and her intellectual legacy through cowardly domestic cruelty and corporate fraud.â
Grant was sentenced to twenty-eight years in state prison.
Vanessa Cole was sentenced to twelve years in prison for felony conspiracy and forgery.
Diane Bennett was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay two hundred thousand dollars in civil restitution.
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As court marshals pulled Grant up in heavy iron chains, he looked over at me sitting in the front row, crying bitterly, mouthing: "Claire... I'm sorry..."
I met his gaze with calm, unshakeable dignity, giving him a quiet, single nodânot of forgiveness, but of final, unshakeable closure.