Chapter 5 - The Munich Safehouse
The gates of the Von Bernberg estate in Munich were made of black wrought iron, bearing a simple, elegant crest of a silver eagle. The property sat on five acres of pristine forest on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by towering pine trees and the distant, snow-capped peaks of the Bavarian Alps.
The Mercedes GLS pulled through the gates, the gravel crunching softly under its tires as it stopped in front of a beautiful, three-story stone manor house.
I stepped out of the vehicle, the crisp, cool mountain air hitting my face. Sophia and Chloe scrambled out behind me, their eyes wide with wonder as they looked at the massive house, the warm light glowing from the leaded-glass windows.
The front door of the manor opened, and an elderly man with a warm, wrinkled face and a crisp wool suit stepped onto the porch.
"Welcome home, Catherine," he said, his voice carrying the deep, comforting warmth of my childhood.
"Uncle Fritz," I smiled, walking up the steps to throw my arms around his neck. Fritz was my father’s younger brother, a retired federal judge who had spent the last thirty years managing our family’s estates in Germany.
He pulled back, looking at my daughters with tears in his eyes. "And these must be the little princesses. Sophia, Chloe... come inside. The cook has prepared a hot supper, and your rooms are ready."
The girls ran inside, their laughter echoing through the wide, oak-paneled hallway. Fritz watched them go, then turned to me, his expression softening into a serious, protective seriousness.
"We received the final reports from the Scottsdale lawyers, Catherine," Fritz said, leading me into the warm library where a fire was crackling in the hearth. "David’s company, Coleman Development, is in absolute chaos. His partner, Marcus, sold his fifty-percent share of the company to an anonymous buyer last week."
"An anonymous buyer?" I asked, sitting down on the velvet sofa.
"Yes," Fritz smiled, a predatory gleam in his eyes. "A Swiss-registered entity called Eagles Peak Holdings. Do you recognize the name?"
I let out a soft laugh. "That is my mother’s family trust."
"Exactly," Fritz nodded, pouring me a glass of cherry liqueur. "As of today, Catherine, you legally own fifty percent of your ex-husband’s company. He has no idea. He’s currently scrambling to find new investors to save his remaining projects, but because of his sister’s public scene at the maternity clinic, his reputation in the Arizona business community has been completely destroyed. No local bank will look at him."
"And my children?" I asked. "Are their trusts secure?"
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"Completely," Fritz said, handing me a thick folder of documents. "The court-ordered child support has been secured against his remaining personal assets in Scottsdale. If he fails to pay even a single installment, the court will automatically liquidate his remaining shares in the company to pay the girls. He has no way out, Catherine. He is trapped in a net of his own making."
I looked at the fire, the warmth of the flames reflecting in my glass. For eleven years, I had been the silent victim of David’s games. Now, the chess board had been flipped, and I was the one holding all the pieces.
