Chapter 4 - The Legal BattlefieldDivorce proceedings involving a cheating spouse are rarely clean, but when financial entanglement and corporate assets are involved, they become an all-out war.
By Monday morning, I had retained one of the most aggressive family law attorneys in Chicago—a sharp, no-nonsense woman named Victoria Vance (no relation to the criminal prosecutors from our city's past scandals, but equally ruthless).
We sat in Victoria’s sleek downtown glass-walled office overlooking Lake Michigan, reviewing the financial disclosures Owen’s legal team had just submitted.
“He’s hiding assets,” Victoria stated calmly, tapping a red pen against a profit-and-loss statement from Owen’s architectural firm. “Standard playbook for cheating spouses trying to protect their bottom line before a high-conflict split.”
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the mahogany desk. “What kind of assets?”
“Well, aside from the joint savings and the primary mortgage, Mr. Miller recently transferred a substantial sum—roughly seventy thousand dollars—into a separate, undisclosed corporate account managed under a shell entity,” Victoria explained, sliding a detailed forensic accounting report across the table. “And guess who happens to be listed as a minority consultant on that exact same shell entity?”
My eyes narrowed. “Marissa.”
“Bingo,” Victoria smiled thinly. “They weren't just sleeping together, Maya. They were pooling resources, planning a future, and attempting to siphon marital funds right out from under you before you ever caught on.”
A cold, fierce determination surged through my veins. The woman who had sat quietly in her bedroom listening to a mocking voice on a phone call was completely gone. In her place stood a survivor ready to take back everything that was rightfully hers.
“I don't just want a standard settlement, Victoria,” I said quietly. “I want everything. The house, the accounts, the business equity. I want Owen stripped of every luxury he thinks protects him.”
Victoria’s smile widened into a predator's grin. “That’s what I like to hear. Leave it to me. We’re going to file an emergency freeze on all corporate and personal accounts by end of day, and we’ll subpoena Marissa as a hostile witness in the financial deposition.”
Later that afternoon, as I walked out of the downtown office building into the crisp Chicago air, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
It was an unknown number, but the voicemail notification popped up immediately.
I tapped play.
Owen’s voice filled the speaker, desperate, ragged, and trembling. “Maya, please... you have to call me. Your lawyer just froze my business accounts and slapped me with a fraud injunction. I can’t access payroll, I can’t pay rent... Marissa is losing her mind and threatening to cut ties because her name is tied up in the legal mess too. Please... let’s talk like adults. Don't do this to me.”
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I listened to the entire message with a hollow, satisfied smile.
Then I blocked the number, dropped the phone back into my bag, and walked toward the train station, stepping forward into the rest of my life.
