MY MAFIA-BACKED HUSBAND BROUGHT HIS MISTRESS TO DIVORCE COURT AND SAID I’D LEAVE WITH NOTHING—THEN I REVEALED WHAT SURVIVED THE FIRE

The heavy glass doors of the Daley Center opened onto the chilly Chicago street, where a wall of cameras immediately flashed in our faces. Reporters shouted questions over one another, their voices blending into a wall of noise.

“Mrs. Mitchell! Did your husband try to kill you?” “Iris, is Mitchell Medical built on stolen technology?” “Jason! Are the Mitchell family business holdings being investigated by the FBI?”

Noah guided me through the crowd with quiet efficiency, his arm forming a protective barrier as his two assistants cleared a path toward a waiting black sedan. We slid into the back seat, and the doors slammed shut, instantly cutting off the noise of the street.

“Where to, Mr. Bennett?” the driver asked.

“The safe house in River North,” Noah replied. “Take the lake route. Make sure we aren’t being followed.”

As the car pulled into traffic, I leaned my head against the cool glass window, watching the gray skyline of Chicago pass by. My heart was pounding, the adrenaline that had sustained me in the courtroom beginning to fade, leaving behind an ache in my scarred shoulder.

“You handled that brilliantly,” Noah said, opening his laptop to check the immediate news updates. “The news outlets are already running the story. ‘The Burning Truth: Mitchell Medical Founder Faces Attempted Murder Allegations in Divorce Shock.’ The stock price for Mitchell Medical is down twenty-two percent in pre-market trading.”

“Jason will run to Dominic,” I said softly. “He doesn’t know how to handle crisis without his uncle’s money and muscle.”

“Let him run,” Noah said. “Dominic Mitchell is powerful, but he isn’t foolish. He operates in the shadows because exposure ruins his business. Now that the State’s Attorney’s office has the hard drive, Dominic will have to decide whether Jason is worth protecting.”

Before I could answer, my phone vibrated in my purse. It was an unknown number, but I recognized the regional prefix immediately. It was a private line registered to a prestigious law firm in the Loop—the firm that represented Dominic Mitchell’s primary real estate holdings.

I answered and put it on speaker.

“Iris,” a deep, gravelly voice said. The voice was calm, measured, and entirely lacking the theatrical anger Jason often displayed. It was Dominic Mitchell.

“Dominic,” I replied, keeping my tone steady.

“I watched the news coverage from court,” Dominic said slowly. “You made quite an impression today.”

“I simply spoke the truth, Dominic. Something Jason has been hiding for three years.”

There was a brief pause on the line, followed by the clinking of a glass. “Jason is a fool,” Dominic stated flatly. “He always was. He let his pride get ahead of his brains, and he mistook your silence for weakness. But you must understand something, Iris. Mitchell Medical Technologies is not just Jason’s company. It represents significant investments from people who do not care about your marital disputes.”

“It’s my technology, Dominic,” I said forcefully. “It was built on Vale Biomedical’s patents. Jason stole it, used your money to wash the theft, and tried to cremate me inside Laboratory Four so I couldn’t reclaim it.”

“What Jason did was sloppy,” Dominic said, his tone turning cold. “And if he committed a crime, he will have to answer for it. But I am giving you a friendly piece of advice, Iris. Chicago is a small city. You have made your point. You have hurt his reputation. Take a financial settlement—a generous one—and walk away. Leave the company intact.”

“And if I refuse?”

“Then you will find that courtrooms are very safe places compared to the rest of the world,” Dominic said softly. “Your lawyer is good, Iris. But lawyers cannot protect you from everything. Think about what your mother would have wanted.”

Mentioning my mother sent a spike of anger through my chest. My hands clenched into fists.

“My mother taught me never to back down from thieves,” I said quietly. “Tell Jason to hire a good criminal defense attorney. He’s going to need one.”

I ended the call and tossed the phone onto the leather seat.

Noah looked at me, his eyes dark with concern. “That was a direct threat.”

“No,” I said, looking out at Lake Michigan’s dark waters. “That was a declaration of panic. Dominic knows that if Mitchell Medical falls, the federal authorities will look into where his initial forty million dollar investment came from. He isn’t trying to protect Jason. He’s trying to protect himself.”

Noah nodded, pulling a encrypted flash drive from his pocket. “Then it’s time we give them something else to worry about. We aren’t just fighting for your alimony, Iris. We are going to take back your company.”