Chapter 4 - The Deposition
The deposition took place on the twentieth floor of a glass tower in downtown St. Paul.
The conference room was suffocatingly tense. Joshua sat across the table from me, wearing a thousand-dollar charcoal suit, his dark hair slicked back, his jaw tight. Sitting beside him was his lead attorney, Bradley Vance—who happened to be Cheyenne Vance’s older brother, a high-powered defense lawyer known for aggressive, dirty tactics.
Cheyenne Vance herself was sitting in the gallery chairs behind them, wearing a beige designer dress, crossing her legs and staring at me with a cold, smug arrogance.
She thought she had already won. She thought Joshua was invincible.
Victoria sat directly across from Joshua, a digital court reporter sitting at the end of the table with her machine ready.
"This deposition of Joshua David Nelson is taking place on October 14th," the court reporter announced monotonically. "Witness has been sworn in."
Victoria didn't waste time with pleasantries. She picked up a thick stack of blue-bound evidence exhibits and set them down in front of Joshua with a loud bang.
"Mr. Nelson," Victoria began, her voice dripping with lethal calm. "Can you state your current occupation for the record?"
"Chief Financial Officer at Vanguard Capital Management," Joshua said smoothly, crossing his arms.
"And as CFO, you earn a base salary of $420,000, correct?"
"Correct."
"Mr. Nelson, I direct your attention to Exhibit C," Victoria said, sliding a document across the polished wood. "This is a bank statement for Vance Media Solutions, a company registered in Delaware. Are you familiar with this company?"
Joshua glanced at the paper, his expression remaining completely stone-faced. "I am vaguely aware of it. Vanguard Capital hires outside media consultants regularly."
"Is that so?" Victoria raised an eyebrow. "Then why did fifteen thousand dollars move from your personal joint account with my client, Gretchen Nelson, into this entity every single month for eighteen months?"
Bradley Vance immediately slammed his hand on the table. "Objection! The financial management of marital funds during the marriage is irrelevant unless directly tied to dissipated assets!"
"It is tied to dissipated assets, Bradley," Victoria snapped back coldly. "Unless your client wants to explain why he was paying his executive assistant's media company $270,000 out of his wife's savings!"
Joshua shifted in his chair, a tiny bead of sweat appearing near his hairline. "Cheyenne provided independent financial consulting for my personal portfolio. It was a legitimate business expense."
"A legitimate business expense?" Victoria smiled wickedly. She reached into her folder and pulled out a second document. "Then perhaps you can explain Exhibit F, Mr. Nelson. This is a deed for a oceanfront condominium in Naples, Florida, purchased seven months ago for 1.1 million dollars."
Cheyenne’s smug expression instantly vanished from the back row. She sat up straight, her eyes widening in sudden panic.
"Who owns that Naples condominium, Mr. Nelson?" Victoria demanded, stepping closer to the table.
Joshua swallowed hard. His cool composure was starting to crack around the edges. "It... it is owned by Apex Horizon LLC."
"And who is the sole managing member of Apex Horizon LLC?" Victoria pressed, her voice rising like thunder in the small room. "Isn't it true, Mr. Nelson, that Apex Horizon LLC is owned by you and Cheyenne Vance? Isn't it true that you bought a luxury vacation home for your mistress using funds stolen directly from your wife and daughter's future?!"
"Objection! Harassing the witness!" Bradley yelled, standing up.
"Answer the question, Mr. Nelson!" Victoria shouted over him, slamming her palm on the table. "Under penalty of perjury, did you buy that property with marital funds hidden from my client?!"
Joshua looked at his attorney. He looked at Cheyenne, whose face had gone completely white. Then he looked across the table at me.
For fourteen years, I had shrunk under his angry glares. For fourteen years, I had stayed quiet whenever he questioned my intelligence.
Now, I sat tall in my chair, staring him dead in the eye, offering him zero mercy.
"I... I exercised my contractual right to manage our portfolio," Joshua stammered, his voice cracking. "It was an investment..."
"It was grand larceny," Victoria corrected him flatly. "And we haven't even brought up the Zurich account yet, Joshua."
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The moment the word Zurich left Victoria's mouth, Joshua’s face drained of all color. He looked as if he had been struck by lightning.
"We are taking a ten-minute break," Bradley Vance said panicked, grabbing Joshua by the arm and pulling him violently toward the private hallway.
