Chapter 3 - The Panic in the PenthouseBy 2:00 PM, Nathan’s world was descending into chaotic, uncontrolled fire.
Inside his luxury three-million-dollar penthouse overlooking Lake Michigan, the atmosphere was suffocating.
Victoria sat on the plush leather sofa, weeping hysterically, clutching her pregnant belly while her mother frantically packed designer clothes into luggage bags.
"YOU LIED TO ME!" Victoria screamed at Nathan, who paced back and forth across the hardwood floorboards, his tie undone, his hair disheveled, frantically dialing his phone. "You made me look like a cheap mistress in front of the entire law firm! My father is pulling his ten-million-dollar account from your firm today!"
"SHUT UP, VICTORIA!" Nathan roared, slamming his phone onto the marble kitchen counter. "Claire is trying to destroy me! She took her clothes, her files, and her laptop from the apartment last night! She isn't answering her phone!"
"Why would she answer your phone?!" Victoria screamed back. "She spent three years doing your work for you while you slept with me in hotels! She’s going to take everything you own!"
BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ.
Nathan’s private phone vibrated violently against the marble counter.
He snatched it up, seeing the name of the Senior Managing Partner on the screen: Arthur Bell.
Nathan pressed the receiver to his ear, his voice trembling with sweating panic. "Arthur! Arthur, listen to me! The divorce filing is just a domestic dispute! My legal team is handling it—"
"Nathan," Arthur Bell’s deep, freezing baritone interrupted over the speaker, cutting through Nathan’s excuses like a cold razor. "The IRS Criminal Investigation Division and the Illinois State Bar Association just arrived at our offices with a federal search warrant."
Nathan’s knees buckled. He stumbled backward two steps, grabbing the edge of the counter to keep from collapsing flat onto the floorboards. "W-what...?! A federal search warrant?!"
"They have sixteen months of our off-ledger escrow transfers, Nathan," Arthur revealed, every word dropped into the phone like a heavy block of ice. "Transfers authorized under your sole digital signature. Your law license was suspended thirty minutes ago, and the board has unanimously voted to terminate your partnership."
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Nathan dropped the phone. It shattered against the tile floorboards, its screen going permanently dark.
He fell flat onto his knees right on the hardwood, burying his face in his hands, letting out a raw, guttural shriek of pure, agonizing terror.
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