Chapter 6 - The Freefall
With Daniel behind bars and denied bail due to the flight risk posed by his offshore accounts, Vivian tried to scramble. She hired the most expensive defense attorneys in the city to shield herself from the impending corporate fraud charges.
But I wasn't done.
The next step was freezing their assets. Using the separate-property agreement Daniel had signed, along with the evidence that he had attempted to extort my apartment through physical violence, my divorce attorney filed for an emergency asset injunction.
Every bank account tied to Daniel, Vivian, and Aegis Holdings was frozen by federal mandate within forty-eight hours.
Vivian found herself trapped in her massive mansion, unable to pay her servants, her lawyers, or her utility bills. The high-society friends who had fawned over her for decades vanished overnight. The media picked up the story: The Fall of Aegis: How a Society Matriarch and Her Son Built an Empire on Lies and Abuse.
I stayed in my apartment, the place they had tried so hard to tear away from me. It felt different now. The air felt cleaner. The physical pain in my ribs was fading, replaced by a deep, immovable sense of peace.
One evening, there was a soft knock on my door. I looked through the peephole. It was Vivian.
The formidable matriarch looked withered. Her Chanel suit was wrinkled, her hair unkempt. She looked like a ghost of her former self.
I opened the door, but left the security chain engaged. "What do you want, Vivian?"
"Clara... please," she begged, her voice cracking. "They’re going to indict me tomorrow. Daniel’s lawyers are trying to blame everything on me. I didn't know he was hitting you, I swear I didn't. Please, talk to the prosecutors. Tell them I had nothing to do with the financial fraud."
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"You told him to teach me obedience, Vivian," I said, my voice cold as ice. "You enabled his violence because it suited your greed. You wanted my home, and now you’ve lost yours. Enjoy the trial."
I shut the door firmly, locking her out in the cold hallway.
