Chapter 7 - The Masterpiece of Ruin
Evan stayed on his knees for nearly five minutes, sobbing, begging, pleading, promising to enter counseling, promising to hand over his corporate equity, promising to sever all ties with Chloe Vance immediately.
"I'll fire her today!" Evan wept, wiping his nose with the back of his sleeve. "I'll evict her from the RiNo apartment! I'll call Arthur Vance and tell him—"
"You won't call anyone, Evan," Lauren interrupted, looking down at him with cool, clinical detachment. "Because if you make a single phone call before Thursday's gala, I will deliver the complete forensic audit directly to the Denver District Attorney's financial crimes unit."
Evan looked up, his face twisted in horror. "The D.A.?"
"Grand larceny, corporate embezzlement, and bank fraud," Lauren listed off smoothly. "You're looking at seven to twelve years in a federal penitentiary, Evan. Your father's firm will be liquidated to satisfy institutional claims, and your mother will lose the house in Cherry Hills."
Evan swallowed hard, shivering on the floor. "What... what do you want from me?"
"I want what belongs to me and my child," Lauren said.
She walked over to her desk, pulled out a thick red folder prepared by Evelyn Reed—the same high-powered family attorney who had handled high-profile asset liquidations across the state—and dropped it on the counter before him.
"This is a complete marital separation and asset recovery agreement," Lauren said. "Item one: You will sign over your entire ninety percent ownership stake in the Greenwood Village house to me. Item two: You will transfer $1.2 million from your personal investment portfolio back into my grandfather's trust, plus an additional $500,000 in liquid damages. Item three: You will execute a full surrender of parental rights contestation waivers."
Evan gasped. "Surrender parental rights?! Lauren, no! That's my baby too!"
"You forfeited your right to be a father the moment you used my family's money to build a love nest for another woman while I was recovering from a miscarriage," Lauren snapped, her eyes flashing with a terrifying, unyielding fire. "Sign the papers, Evan. Or call your lawyer from a county jail cell."
Evan stared at the document.
He looked at the signature lines. He looked at the forensic evidence attached to the back pages—photographs, bank transfers, wire receipts, hotel logs.
He had no defense. He had no leverage. He was completely, utterly surrounded.
With trembling hands, Evan took the pen Lauren held out to him.
He signed his name on the first line.
Evan Bennett.
He signed his name on the second line.
Evan Bennett.
He signed his name on the final parental waiver line, his tears smudging the black ink as he pressed his forehead against the cold quartz island counter.
May you like
"It's done," Evan choked out. "It's all done..."
"Not quite," Lauren said, taking the signed documents, verifying every signature with a notary seal she had pre-arranged with a visiting certified witness who stepped in from the foyer. "Now comes the gala."
