“Furthermore,” Judge Vane continued, “I am ordering this entire decrypted archive to be sealed and transferred immediately to the Department of Justice and the Inspector General’s office.”

My phone, still sitting on my table, vibrated again.

I walked back to my seat and picked it up.

It was another message from the unknown number, but I knew it was Aaron.

“The doors are open now. They cannot close them.”

I looked toward the back of the courtroom.

Aaron Vale was not there, but his presence was felt in every line of the decrypted text on the screen.

He had been the one who told Ethan where to find the key.

He had been the one who guided my brother to make the choice that would tear his own engagement apart.

I looked at Ethan.

He was standing near the back row now, his hands in his pockets.

Cassandra rose from her seat and walked toward him.

She stopped two feet away.

“I hope you are happy,” she said, her voice trembling with a quiet, venomous rage. “You destroyed my family. You destroyed us.”