Chapter 2 - The Audit of the CenturyThe conference room on the forty-second floor of the Chase Tower downtown felt like a glass fortress suspended in the clouds. Below us, the sprawling grid of Chicago traffic crawled through the gray Monday morning mist like lines of restless ants.
I sat across the polished mahogany table from Sarah Chen, my attorney, while across from us sat Ethan’s legal representation—a high-priced corporate defense lawyer named Marcus Vance, whose tailored Italian suit and silver-streaked hair screamed intimidation.
Except Marcus Vance looked significantly less intimidating today than he usually did.
Because sitting right between Sarah and me was a certified forensic accountant holding a three-inch-thick binder of unauthorized wire transfers, hidden corporate accounts, and shell company expenditures.
Ethan had arrived ten minutes late, rushing through the glass doors with his hair slightly disheveled, his eyes bloodshot and frantic. He hadn't expected me to be here. When he walked into the conference room and saw me sitting at the head of the table wearing a sharp charcoal blazer and dark sunglasses, he stopped dead in his tracks.
“Claire?” he stammered, looking at Marcus for backup. “What is she doing here? This was supposed to be a preliminary legal consultation between counsel!”
“Sit down, Mr. Walker,” Marcus said tightly, pulling out his chair and gesturing for Ethan to take a seat. “Your wife is a primary party to these proceedings. And based on the preliminary financial disclosures provided by Mrs. Chen’s office this morning... we have a significant problem.”
Ethan sank into the leather chair, glaring across the table at me. “Claire, what is this madness? You filed for divorce and froze my corporate credit cards within forty-eight hours? Do you have any idea what kind of humiliation you’ve caused me at the firm?”
I didn't flinch. I slowly removed my sunglasses, folded them, and laid them neatly on the table.
“You humiliated yourself the moment you let your mistress post pictures of your car on Instagram while your wife was standing freezing on an airport tarmac, Ethan,” I said, my voice completely devoid of emotion.
Sarah Chen opened her leather folio, sliding a single sheet of paper across the table toward Marcus Vance.
“Mr. Walker,” Sarah began, her tone dripping with professional polish. “As of 9:00 a.m. today, my client has filed for a full legal dissolution of marriage on grounds of irreconcilable differences, marital abandonment, and purposeful dissipation of marital assets.”
Marcus glanced down at the paper, his eyebrows shooting up toward his hairline. He looked up at Ethan, his expression hardening. “Mr.Walker, did you or did you not transfer one hundred and twenty thousand dollars of joint marital funds into a private account held under the corporate entity Apex Ventures last month?”
Ethan’s face drained of color. He swallowed hard, his throat bobbing. “That... that was a business investment. A private equity play—”
“A private equity play that conveniently happens to be registered under Vanessa Reed’s residential address in Lincoln Park,” Sarah interrupted smoothly, dropping a printed copy of the Secretary of State’s business registry filing right beside the bank statement.
The conference room went dead silent.
Ethan whipped his head around to look at Marcus. “She’s lying! That’s corporate restructuring—”
“Shut up, Ethan,” Marcus hissed under his breath, realizing in real-time that his client had lied to him. He adjusted his glasses, looking across the table at Sarah with a new level of professional respect. “Mrs. Chen... my client is willing to offer a standard no-fault settlement. Standard division of liquid assets, fifty-fifty split of the primary residence equity, and waived spousal support.”
I let out a soft, sharp laugh.
“Fifty-fifty?” I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the table, locking my eyes onto Ethan’s terrified gaze. “Marcus, let me make something crystal clear. Under Illinois law, dissipation of marital assets used to fund an adulterous relationship allows the court to award up to one hundred percent of those squandered funds back to the innocent spouse.”
I picked up the forensic accountant’s ledger.
“Not only are we going after the one hundred and twenty thousand dollars transferred to Vanessa’s shell company, but we are also subpoenaing every single receipt, hotel bill, and luxury purchase Ethan made over the past fourteen months while charging it to our joint accounts. Every dinner at Bavette’s, every weekend trip to Galena, every piece of jewelry he bought her—it’s all coming out of his personal share of the estate.”
Ethan slammed his hand down on the mahogany table, rattling the coffee mugs. “You greedy bitch! You’re trying to ruin me!”
“No, Ethan,” I said softly, standing up from my chair and buttoning my blazer. “I’m just taking back what you tried to steal from me.”
I turned to Sarah and Marcus. “My attorney will handle all further communications. I have a company to run.”
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As I walked out of the conference room and stepped into the private elevator, I caught one last glimpse of Ethan through the glass wall. He was burying his face in his hands while Marcus Vance tore into him with silent, furious fury.
The game had only just begun. And Ethan was already out of chips.
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