Chapter 4 - The Tides of Justice
The next forty-eight hours moved with the terrifying speed of an avalanche.
I moved into the penthouse suite at The Joule in downtown Dallas, a property fully owned by Vance Enterprises. Gerald met me in the executive conference room on the top floor, laying out three thick blue folders across the mahogany table.
"Jack tried to file for an emergency injunction this morning to unfreeze his accounts," Gerald said, taking a sip of black coffee. "The judge took one look at the initial evidence of wire fraud and denied the motion instantly. By noon, the hospital suspended his surgical privileges pending an internal audit."
"And the federal authorities?" I asked, looking out over the Dallas skyline.
"They're moving fast," Gerald replied. "Apex Biometrics was bigger than we thought. Jack and Chloe weren't just taking kickbacks; they were supplying sub-standard surgical mesh to county hospitals and pocketing the price difference. It’s a massive federal crime."
My phone chimed. It was an email from my former mother-in-law, Carol.
The tone had completely shifted. Gone was the arrogant, condescending woman who had spent a decade complaining about my cooking and sneering at my background. The email was a desperate, weeping plea:
Megan, please. I beg you. Jack is in a state of nervous breakdown. He hasn't slept in two days. The bank sent an eviction notice for my home. Ashley's shop was locked by federal marshals this morning. We are family, Megan! You loved us! Please don't destroy us over a temporary mistake Jack made!
I deleted the email without replying.
"She called it a 'temporary mistake,'" I murmured to Gerald.
Gerald snorted. "Ten years of systematic financial theft and a two-year affair isn't a mistake. It's a lifestyle."
"What's Jack doing right now?"
"He’s staying at a cheap airport motel near DFW," Gerald said, checking his tablet. "Chloe locked him out of her apartment after they got into a physical argument over who was going to take the blame for the Apex records. He has no money, no lawyer willing to take his case without a retainer, and his medical license is about to be revoked."
"Good," I said. "Now it’s time for Phase Two."
"Phase Two?" Gerald asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Jack spent ten years convincing me that I was nothing without him," I said, turning away from the window. "He built his entire ego on being the brilliant surgeon who saved lives while his wife stayed home and waited for him. I want him to watch everything he built turn to dust—publicly."
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"The hospital board meeting is tomorrow afternoon," Gerald smiled wickedly. "They've called an emergency session to decide whether to terminate his contract permanently."
"I know," I said, putting on my coat. "Because as the principal owner of the land the hospital sits on, I just appointed myself to the board."
