Chapter 13 - Derek’s Legal Consequences Were Smaller Than the Consequences He Created Himself
The assault case did not become:
a television trial.
Police had:
my statement,
Derek’s statement,
photographs of facial redness,
broken dishes,
building security observations,
portions of the audio recording subject to legal review,
Linda’s voicemail preserved from Derek’s device.
The exact admissibility of recordings depended on:
how they were obtained,
state law,
consent,
context.
Prosecutors did not need every second.
Derek eventually resolved the physical-assault matter through:
a negotiated misdemeanor disposition,
probationary conditions,
anger-management or intervention programming,
and protective-order terms.
The attempted financial pressure was relevant:
context
but did not magically become a $275,000 theft case because I refused to sign.
He never obtained:
the guaranty.
The larger financial consequences came from:
his business.
Without my guarantee, the bank declined:
the expanded line.
Sloan Advisory downsized.
Derek laid off:
two employees,
gave up his luxury office,
sold the Range Rover.
The company did not disappear.
He rebuilt it smaller.
That was more realistic than:
everything destroyed.
Linda sold her condo two years later and moved into a less expensive townhouse.
Not because I ruined:
her.
Because the debt she took on helping Derek had become too expensive.
That was the cost of her choices.
I paid:
none
of it.
May you like
That boundary took practice.
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