Chapter 1 - The Final Divorce
The courthouse doors swung open.
Cold air hit my face.
Manhattan in late autumn.
The sky was steel gray.
Dominic Vance stood there.
He looked impeccable.
His smile was a weapon.
Smug.
Sharp.
Natalie was clinging to his arm.
A trophy.
A reminder of my failure.
Dominic turned to me.
“You didn’t only lose a husband,” he said.
“You lost the company too.”
His voice was a silk blade.
I kept my face still.
Masked.
Natalie stepped forward.
She flaunted her handbag.
Expensive leather.
I knew that bag.
It was a corporate expense.
Crestwood Holdings paid for it.
She saw my gaze.
Her smile widened.
“Audrey,” she purred.
“You look exhausted.”
Dominic laughed.
Once, that sound meant home.
Now, it was just noise.
The divorce papers felt heavy.
Five years of my life.
Reduced to ink on paper.
“We can stop pretending,” Dominic said.
“One of us was,” I replied.
His eyes narrowed.
“You still think you’re untouchable.”
“That arrogance ruined us.”
I held his gaze.
“I thought it was the cheating.”
Natalie stiffened.
Dominic ignored the jab.
“You don’t have the influence,” he whispered.
“I’ve been running Crestwood for five years.”
“My mother placed our people.”
“My relatives control procurement.”
“We are everywhere.”
“You cannot remove us.”
“Without destroying your father’s legacy.”
Natalie giggled.
“The princess found out,” she mocked.
“The castle isn’t hers.”
I looked at her.
Then at him.
“You haven’t won anything,” I said.
“You just collected my trash.”
Her face turned bright red.
Dominic gripped her arm.
“You’ll see,” he warned.
“My roots go deep.”
I watched the city swarm around us.
I had been blind for years.
The late meetings.
The fake vendors.
The unqualified hires.
I had seen the dots.
I had just refused to connect them.
Dominic thought I was ignorant.
That was his fatal error.
I folded the papers.
Put them in my bag.
“We’ll see how deep they go.”
I turned my back on them.
Dominic laughed behind me.
It was his last happy sound.
I reached my Range Rover.
I locked the doors.
I took a breath.
Silence was a sanctuary.
I opened my photo album.
Thousands of memories.
Evidence of the affair.
I highlighted every file.
Delete.
The screen flashed.
Are you sure?
“Completely,” I whispered.
I dialed my father’s number.
He answered on the first ring.
“Audrey.”
“Dad,” I said softly.
“I was wrong about him.”
Silence hung on the line.
Then, his voice.
“I know.”
It hit me hard.
“He claims his family owns us.”
“They do,” he said.
“But empires survive disasters.”
“Can we recover?”
“We survived recessions.”
“We survived the crash.”
“We will survive Dominic Vance.”
My father’s tone shifted.
Cold.
Precise.
Corporate.
“I’ve waited years for this.”
“The compliance department is ready.”
“Fraudulent vendors.”
“Payroll manipulation.”
“Illegal commissions.”
“They built a case against themselves.”
I closed my eyes.
“You knew?”
“I created this company,” he said.
“I knew everything.”
“Why wait?”
“Because you loved him.”
“If I acted, you would have fought me.”
He was right.
“What now?” I asked.
“What do you want?”
I looked at the clock.
1:00 PM.
The corporate office was humming.
Dominic’s people were everywhere.
I spoke with iron.
“Two o’clock.”
“I want HR in the boardroom.”
“Security at every door.”
“Disable Dominic’s access.”
“Freeze every Vance credit card.”
“Terminate every hire they made.”
My father was silent.
Then, he laughed.
A low, sharp sound.
“Welcome home, Audrey.”
“I’ll meet you upstairs.”
I looked at the courthouse.
Dominic was still laughing.
He had no idea.
His badge was dying.
His kingdom was burning.
“No,” I said.
“I’m not starting upstairs.”
“I’m starting on the ground floor.”
The light turned green.
I didn't look back.
I pressed the gas.
May you like
The game had changed.
And I was the player.
