“Look at you,” Eleanor sneered, stepping into my path and eyeing the scarf around my throat. “Hiding like a wounded dog. You think wearing silk changes what’s underneath? You’re damaged goods, Clara. Julian is with a real woman now. If you had just given us the properties, you’d still have a husband.”
I stopped and looked her straight in the eye, pulling down the edge of my scarf slightly to reveal the twisted, silver scar tissue creeping up my jaw.
Eleanor flinched back, a momentary look of disgust crossing her face.
“Keep the properties, Eleanor,” I said softly, my voice devoid of emotion. “Keep Julian’s project going too. You’ll need every penny for what’s coming.”
“You have nothing!” she hissed, recovering her composure. “The police closed the inquiry as an accident. It’s your word against ours!”
“Then you have nothing to worry about,” I replied, stepping past her into the elevator.
Part 4: The Deposition
The pre-trial deposition took place in a glass-walled conference room on the 14th floor of a downtown skyscraper.
Julian sat across from me, looking impeccably groomed in a tailored blue suit. Next to him sat Eleanor and their high-priced defense attorney, Richard Sterling. Julian didn’t even look me in the eye at first; he stared at his phone, tossing out casual smirks to his lawyer.
“Let’s make this quick,” Sterling said, sliding a paper across the table. “My client is offering to waive all spousal support claims if Mrs. Clara Vance surrenders title to the Downtown Logistics Hub.”
Mr. Vance didn’t even touch the paper. “My client refuses.”
Julian slammed his hands on the table and leaned forward. “Are you insane, Clara? Look at you! You’re a bitter, mutilated wreck! You think you’re going to get a better deal than this? No judge is going to give a crippled, hysterical woman full control of a multi-million dollar portfolio when my company is building the city’s future!”
“Is that your official statement, Mr. Julian?” Mr. Vance asked calmly, tapping a button on his tablet.
“Yes! She spilled the oil on herself during an argument! She’s mentally unstable!” Julian snarled. “Ask my mother! She was there!”
Eleanor nodded solemnly. “Clara lost her temper. She snatched the pan off the stove to throw at my son, and it slipped. We tried to save her. We are the real victims of her delusion.”
“Thank you,” Mr. Vance said. “Now, for the record, Mr. Julian, do you swear under penalty of perjury that you have never forged Clara’s signature, and that you had no foreknowledge of safety violations regarding The Grand Promenade?”
Julian laughed coldly. “I swear. My record is clean. Her claims are nothing but the ramblings of a discarded wife.”
Mr. Vance looked at me. I gave a single, slow nod.
Part 5: Exhuming the Secrets
Mr. Vance opened his briefcase and pulled out a sleek USB drive, along with three heavy blue binders. He slid the binders across the table.
“Exhibit A,” Vance announced. “The complete forensic audit of Apex Holdings, conducted by the State Banking Commission.”
Julian’s smile faltered. Sterling frowned, picking up the binder.
“Two years ago,” Vance continued, “Julian illegally transferred four million dollars from Clara’s trust to bribe Chief Building Inspector Arthur Pendelton. In exchange, Pendelton signed off on the foundation work for The Grand Promenade—work that used substandard, recycled concrete vulnerable to soil erosion.”
