Chapter 6 - The Final AuditAn hour after the gavel fell, the hallways of the federal building were clearing out as reporters rushed toward the press room to file their breaking stories.
Claire walked toward the private exit elevators, her leather briefcase held firmly in her hand.
“Claire! Wait!”
She stopped, turning around slowly.
Daniel was jogging down the marble corridor, panting slightly, having broken away from his public defender. He skidded to a halt a few feet away from her, his face a mask of desperate exhaustion.
“Claire... please,” Daniel breathed, his voice breaking. “Twelve years. We had twelve years together. Was none of it real? Did you ever love me at all?”
Claire didn't flinch. She looked at him with the cool, clinical detachment one might accord a minor clerical error on a spreadsheet.
“For the first three years, Daniel, I loved you very much,” Claire said quietly. “I thought you were ambitious, hardworking, and fundamentally decent.”
“Then what changed?” he asked, his voice cracking with anguish.
“You started believing your own press,” Claire replied evenly. “You started treating loyalty like a weakness and deceit like a business strategy. The moment you decided to build a double life behind my back, you stopped being my husband. You just became my next audit.”
Daniel swallowed hard, the bitter taste of ash coating his tongue. “What am I supposed to do now? You took everything. My job, my money, my home, my reputation.”
“You’re going to do what every failed executive does,” Claire said, turning toward the elevator as the silver doors slid open. “You’re going to start from scratch. And next time, Daniel, make sure you check your wife’s credentials before you decide to underestimate her.”
May you like
She stepped inside the elevator, the polished steel doors sliding shut between them with a soft, final click.
Daniel stood alone in the empty marble hallway, the hum of the overhead lights the only sound left in the world.
