Chapter 3 - The Audit of Souls
The legal offices were a labyrinth of marble and secrets.
For the next forty-eight hours, I existed on caffeine and cold, hard facts.
My attorneys had been preparing for this day for months, ever since I had discovered the first discrepancy in the company’s offshore accounts.
Julian had been arrogant.
He had believed he could play both sides, keeping me in the dark while funneling company funds to his mistress and her various vanity projects.
He had failed to realize that I was the one who managed the family’s wealth management firm.
I walked into the boardroom, my hair tied back, a sharp, navy-blue suit replacing the destroyed lace of my wedding dress.
The board members looked up, their faces etched with anxiety.
"The accounts are frozen," I said, not bothering to take a seat. "As of midnight, every credit card, checking account, and investment portfolio associated with Julian Sterling is held in escrow."
"He’s going to sue, Elena," one of the older board members warned.
"Let him," I said. "He has no capital to pay a lawyer."
I threw a folder onto the table.
"He also has no proof of ownership. Everything he owns is technically under the holding company I established before we married."
The room was silent.
It was the silence of people realizing that they had backed the wrong horse.
Just then, the doors burst open.
Julian stood there, disheveled, his tuxedo jacket torn.
"Elena, please," he begged, his bravado completely disintegrated. "My father is furious. He's going to disinherit us both!"
"Your father isn't going to disinherit me," I said calmly. "He already signed the company over to me this morning."
Julian’s knees buckled.
"You... you seduced him?"
I laughed.
"I didn't seduce him, Julian. I showed him the files you were trying to hide from him."
He slumped into a chair, looking like a man who had lost his soul.
I walked toward him, leaning down until I was inches from his face.
"You wanted to play games, Julian. You wanted to make a fool of me in front of our guests."
I straightened my blazer.
"You succeeded. I was a fool."
"I was a fool for thinking you were anything other than a pathetic parasite."
I turned to the board.
"This meeting is adjourned. My husband... my ex-husband... will be escorted from the building by security."
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He didn't fight back.
He just stared at the table, realizing that his world had been built of glass, and I was the one who had finally picked up the hammer.
