Chapter 4 - The Web Ensnaring Daniel
The next morning, Daniel walked into the glass tower of Whitmore Logistics, his clothes wrinkled from sleeping in his car.
The board members were already seated around the massive mahogany table, their faces grim as they looked down at the folders Marianne and I had prepared.
I sat at the head of the table, dressed in a sharp navy blazer, my older sister standing quietly behind my chair with her arms crossed.
“Claire,” Daniel stammered, trying to step toward me with a fake, practice smile.
“Darling, please, let's talk about this at home, the babies need their father, we can handle the company restructure as a family.”
“We aren't a family, Daniel,” I said, my voice steady and completely devoid of the exhaustion that had nearly broken me a month ago.
“The divorce papers were finalized by the judge at 8:00 this morning, alongside an emergency sole custody mandate.”
Daniel’s mother, Eleanor Whitmore, stood up from her seat at the far end of the table, her eyes glittering with a cold, aristocratic fury.
“You won't ruin this company, Claire,” Eleanor snapped, pointing her gold-handled cane at me.
“My husband built this logistics empire, and we will tie you up in civil court until you don't have a single cent left to pay your lawyers.”
“Your husband didn't build this company, Eleanor; my father’s private equity firm funded sixty percent of the original shipping lines,” I said smoothly.
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I pushed a single piece of paper across the polished wood, revealing the master title insurance policy my father had registered ten years before his retirement.
“And according to the moral turpitude clause in the investment contract,” I whispered, “any executive caught using corporate funds for non-business foreign travel forfeits their voting shares instantly.”
