At 9:00 Thursday, I sat at the defense table in Part II.
I wore my most boring sweater.
Vivian sat on my left with four binders.
The ThinkPad stayed home on the kitchen table.
Across the aisle, Royce had his coat on.
Grant Whitley sat beside him.
He's 49, in a gray suit, with a voice built for wood paneling.
The gallery was fuller than a candle case deserves.
Tasha sat in the second row.
Wendell sat behind her, his work jacket folded on his knee.
The reporter from the paper had a notebook open.
A man in a navy suit held a leather folio on his lap.
"Hearthline," Vivian whispered.
Trevor came in last and sat alone in the back row.
He didn't look at me.
Chancellor Dupree took the bench at 9:02.
She's 61 and reads with her glasses low on her nose.
Whitley stood.
"Your Honor, this is simple."
"The LLC has at all times owned and paid for the Platform Accounts."
"Ms. Varga seized them on Black Friday."
"Mr. Halvorsen has sworn to it."
Royce rose when he was asked.
"Paragraph seven is true," he said.
"Every word."
The chancellor wrote a line.
Then she took her glasses off.
"I'd like to hear from Ms. Varga."
Whitley began to object.
She lifted one finger, and he sat down.
I raised my right hand and swore.
At 9:28, Vivian handed me a single sheet.
"What is this?"
"The domain receipt," I said.
"Registered March 9, 2018."
"My Visa, ending 0592."
"When was the LLC formed?"
"February 10, 2020."
"The company is two years younger than the domain."
Royce didn't wait for his lawyer.
"She registered it for the business."
"We've paid the Shopify bill since 2020."
"Mr. Halvorsen," Dupree said.
"You've had your turn."
She looked at me.
"Ms. Varga?"
"Paying for gas doesn't put your name on the title," I said.
Vivian handed up Schedule A.
"Schedule A says 'use of.'"
"I signed it."
"So did Trevor."
Whitley stood for cross.
"You ran company revenue through your personal account for six years."
"Every Monday," I said.
"Three hundred Mondays."
"Out to the company account, every time."
Vivian handed up the ledger with the last cell circled.
"Unreconciled difference, zero dollars."
Whitley moved on fast.
"You abandoned the company on November 21."
Vivian handed up Tasha's printout.
"He posted that I'd stepped away at 4:31," I said.
"He told me at 4:40."
"On November 24, I gave written notice."
"Mr. Kessling answered 'Cute.'"
"Mr. Halvorsen answered 'Proceed as planned.'"
"On Thanksgiving, I got a release to sign."
"The footer says Whitley Crane PLLC."
"Same firm that filed this complaint."
Whitley searched his notes for something that wasn't there.
At 9:41, I asked for Exhibit D.
The clerk brought it to the stand.
Whitley's hand drifted toward his own copy, like he wanted it back.
"Exhibit D," I said.
"Their exhibit."
"Filed to show irreparable harm."
"Page two, condition 4(b)."
"A hundred and eighty thousand on Black Friday."
"That's why it was an emergency."
"Page three, condition 4(c)."
I read it slowly, the way Wendell reads.
"Departure of Co-Founder J. Varga and assignment to Buyer of all Platform Accounts held by Co-Founder J. Varga in her individual name and licensed to the Company."
"Dated November third."
"Page four."
"Acknowledged and agreed."
"Royce Halvorsen."
I looked at him.
"You swore the company always owned them."
"Your own deal says I hold them, and they borrow them."
"You signed it."
"You attached it."
Royce kept his face very still.
"That's standard language," he said.
Dupree turned a page in her own copy.
"Ms. Varga."
"Is the J. Varga in 4(c) the registrant, the store owner, and the payee?"
"Same woman," I said.
"Same name on Wendell's invoices since 2018."
"Mine."
The chancellor looked at Royce.
Royce looked at the table.
There was nothing in that coat for this.
At 9:46, someone stood up in the back row.
"Royce wrote that clause."
Trevor's voice cracked on it.
"He said she'd walk if we froze her out."
"Sit down, Trevor," Royce said, without turning around.
Trevor stayed standing.
The man from Hearthline closed his folio.
He buttoned his jacket and walked out.
The door hissed shut behind him.
The reporter wrote very fast.
I'd known Trevor six years.
I'd just said all of it under oath, in public, with his name in it.
I stepped down.
At 10:05, Dupree ruled from the bench.
"The motion is denied."
"Paragraph seven is contradicted by the movant's own exhibit."
"There will be no restraint on Ms. Varga's accounts."
"Lantern Row LLC is struck as a plaintiff."
"No member vote was held."
"No notice was given under Section 9.2."
"Ms. Varga remains a member, and her stake stands."
"Plaintiff will pay her reasonable fees."
"The amount, and a sanction on the affidavit, are set for January 12."
At 10:12, Whitley stood.
"Your Honor, plaintiff takes a voluntary dismissal."
"With prejudice."
"So noted," Dupree said.
Royce walked out with his coat unbuttoned.
At 10:31, Vivian sent the order to Shopify from a hallway bench.
Tasha sat down on my other side and didn't say anything.
Wendell said he'd be back in Dalton by one.
I read the first page twice.
Motion for Temporary Injunction: DENIED.