Chapter 2 - The Red Eye in the Ceiling

The federal trial of the United States vs. Isabella Rossi became the most scandalous event in the history of Chicago high society.

Isabella sat at the defense table dressed in a plain orange jumpsuit, her diamond earrings gone, her long hair pulled back into a messy, unwashed bun.

Khloe took the stand on the third day of the trial, her eight-month-pregnant silhouette casting a long, powerful shadow across the courtroom floor.

She didn't look at Isabella once; she spoke directly to the jury, her voice clear, resonant, and entirely free of the fear that had nearly broken her.

When the prosecutor played the audio file from the Swiss bank authorization—proving Isabella had laughed about how Khloe would “never survive the delivery anyway”—the jury went dead silent.

The defense tried to argue that the chemical evidence was circumstantial, that the hormone traces could have come from the hospital’s own inventory.

But Dr. Harrison Vance presented the private server logs from the hospital's pharmacy, showing Isabella’s security badge login at 7:14 p.m. the night of the gala.

The verdict was delivered on a rainy Friday afternoon.

Twenty-five years in a federal penitentiary without the possibility of early parole for corporate espionage, attempted murder, and aggravated domestic assault.

A secondary sentence of ten years was added for Arthur Vance for his complicity in the shipping fraud.

As the bailiffs led Isabella away in heavy leg chains, she turned toward the gallery, her face twisted into a mask of pure, unadulterated hatred.

“You ruined my life, Khloe!” she screamed through the quiet courtroom.