Chapter 9 - Two Million Dollars
The lawsuit was designed to scare me.
It worked for about fifteen minutes.
Then Rachel read it.
Then a commercial litigator read it.
Then my father’s longtime attorney read it.
By dinner, all three used the same word.
“Desperate.”
Dominic claimed I had accessed confidential company records through our home network and provided them to unnamed third parties.
His proof?
I had once logged into our home printer.
That was nearly the entire case.
Still, the filing achieved something.
It put my name next to the words corporate theft.
Searchable.
Shareable.
Ugly.
By morning, two business blogs had picked it up.
Dominic knew reputation mattered to me.
He also knew I hated public conflict.
That was the old Audrey.
The new Audrey called my attorney and said, “Respond.”
Rachel laughed softly.
“Oh, we will.”
Discovery became Dominic’s problem.
If his company accused me of stealing financial records, my lawyers were entitled to ask what those records contained.
Within a week, Vale Capital’s attorneys were fighting their own lawsuit harder than we were.
Because buried in the company books were losses.
Huge ones.
Dominic had told investors the firm was expanding.
In reality, it was bleeding cash.
He had borrowed against personal assets.
He had borrowed from his parents.
He had tried to borrow against mine.
The two hundred and fifty thousand dollar forged credit line suddenly made sense.
So did the attempted ninety thousand dollar transfer.
He was not building wealth.
He was plugging holes.
And he had been using me as another source of money.
Rachel laid the numbers across a conference table.
“He’s been moving funds between entities.”
“Illegal?”
“Not automatically.”
“Dishonest?”
“Very possibly.”
“Criminal?”
“Let regulators decide that. Our job is the divorce.”
I nodded.
That became important.
Every time rage rose in me, I wanted somebody to destroy Dominic.
Dad would say the same thing.
“Stay in your lane.”
He said it again when I asked whether his old contacts could find out if federal investigators were looking at Vale Capital.
“No.”
“Dad, you know people.”
“Yes.”
“You could make one call.”
“Yes.”
“So?”
“No.”
I stared at him.
He held my gaze.
“My former rank is not a family weapon.”
I wanted to argue.
Instead, I started laughing.
“What?”
“You’re annoying.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
“You could terrify half of Washington.”
“I’m retired.”
“You terrified half of Washington before breakfast.”
He almost smiled.
Then he became serious.
“Audrey, if Dominic broke laws, evidence will deal with him. If you use power improperly because you’re hurt, you become something I never raised you to be.”
That landed.
I nodded.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Okay.”
He kissed my forehead.
“You’re doing better.”
“I still hate him.”
“That’s allowed.”
Two days later, Dominic arrived for another supervised visit.
This one took place at a family center.
I brought Leo in a carrier.
Dominic looked exhausted.
No perfect suit.
No polished smile.
He had dark circles under his eyes.
The supervisor sat across the room.
Dominic held Leo quietly.
For twenty minutes, he barely spoke.
Then he looked at me.
“Did you know the lawsuit would open discovery?”
“Yes.”
His jaw flexed.
“You set me up.”
“No.”
“You wanted access to my company.”
“You sued me.”
“Because you took documents.”
“I never took anything.”
“You told Celeste to go into my office.”
“No, I didn’t.”
He stared at me.
Then, surprisingly, he looked uncertain.
“Didn’t you?”
“No.”
I realized something.
He was no longer sure who was loyal to him.
Good.
Then Leo began fussing.
Dominic rocked him.
“You want to ruin me?”
“No.”
He laughed bitterly.
“Come on.”
“I want a divorce.”
“You think that’s different?”
“Yes.”
His voice dropped.
“You told your father everything.”
“He’s my father.”
“You humiliated me.”
“You left me at a hospital.”
“There it is again.”
My chest tightened.
“You still don’t understand.”
“I said I made a mistake.”
“You keep calling it a mistake because calling it a choice would mean admitting who you are.”
He stared at me.
For once, he had nothing ready.
I continued.
“You chose lunch.”
“You chose your mother.”
“You chose my car.”
“You chose to hand me twelve dollars.”
“You chose to tell a court I was unstable.”
“You chose to question Leo’s paternity.”
“You chose to use my therapy.”
His face changed.
“You want forgiveness without ever naming what you did.”
The supervisor looked down at her notes.
Dominic whispered, “I was under pressure.”
“So was I.”
He looked at Leo.
His eyes filled.
That surprised me.
“I love him.”
“I believe you.”
He looked up.
“You do?”
“Yes.”
I meant it.
“And loving him does not give you permission to hurt his mother.”
He swallowed hard.
The visit ended.
Outside, I strapped Leo into the car.
A woman approached from the sidewalk.
At first I did not recognize her.
Then she removed her sunglasses.
I had seen her before.
In photographs from Vale Capital holiday parties.
Dominic’s executive assistant.
Marissa Cole.
She looked terrified.
“Mrs. Vale?”
“Yes?”
“I need to talk to you.”
I glanced toward the family center.
“About what?”
She lowered her voice.
“The morning you gave birth.”
My heart stopped.
“What about it?”
She looked behind her.
“Dominic wasn’t at the office.”
I stared at her.
“He told me he was.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“He was meeting someone.”
“Who?”
May you like
Marissa reached into her purse.
“I think you need to hear the recording.”
