PART 4: THE ANATOMY OF A COUNTER-STRIKE
Mark scrambled back onto the sofa, wiping his wet face with his sleeve. “What are you going to do? Are you going to divorce me? Take the kids?”
“Divorce you?” I picked up my teacup again, taking another sip. “Oh, Mark. You think this is going to be a messy, emotional divorce court brawl? You think we’re going to scream at each other in front of a mediator and split the house fifty-fifty?”
“What else is there?” he asked, his voice shaking.
“I didn’t spend the last three months crying in a dark corner,” I said. “The day I noticed the first suspicious transaction on our joint line of credit, I retained Arthur Vance.”
Mark’s jaw dropped. “Arthur Vance? Jessica’s uncle? The forensic corporate attorney?!”
“The very same,” I smiled faintly. “He detests Jessica. Hasn’t spoken to her side of the family in seven years because her father swindled him out of their grandfather’s estate. When I brought him the initial paper trail, Arthur practically volunteered his services pro bono. For the past twelve weeks, Arthur and a private investigative team have cataloged every single email, encrypted message, offshore wire transfer, and company expense report you thought you deleted.”
“You’re spying on me…” Mark whispered.
“I’m protecting my children,” I retorted sharply. “By eight o’clock tomorrow morning, a complete audit packet will be delivered directly to the executive committee at your firm. Including your CEO, who also happens to be my uncle Richard.”
Mark lunged forward, grabbing the edge of the coffee table. “No! Sarah, please! Don’t do that! That’s corporate fraud! I’ll go to prison! Do you understand? I will go to federal prison!”
“Then you should have thought about the prison uniforms before you stole five hundred thousand dollars from your company’s pension reserve fund to buy jewelry and condos,” I said evenly.
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