Chapter 5 - The Mask Comes Off
Daniel let out a harsh, bitter laugh, taking a long swig directly from the scotch bottle.
"Your apartment?" Daniel sneered, his handsome face twisting into a nasty, arrogant scowl. "Don't be ridiculous, Emily! My father paid for the interior designer! My mother picked out the marble countertops in this kitchen! Without my family, you’d still be living in a tiny studio eating instant ramen!"
"Your mother picked out marble countertops that I paid for with my architectural bonus, Daniel," Emily corrected him, her voice steady and controlled. "You contributed nothing except your family’s arrogant opinion."
Daniel stepped forward, pointing a finger at her. "Listen to me, you ungrateful little bitch! You signed the marriage certificate on Wednesday! Half of everything you own belongs to me now! If you walk out that door, I will drag you through divorce court until every penny your parents saved for you is spent on legal fees!"
I stood up from the kitchen island.
The stool slid back smoothly. I walked around the counter until I was standing between Daniel and my daughter. I was shorter than him, but in that moment, Daniel backed up half a step under my gaze.
"You're not dragging anyone anywhere, Daniel," I said, my voice dropping into a dangerous, quiet register. "You are going to take your phone, your car keys, and your scotch, and you are going to leave quietly. Because if you stay here another five minutes, I will call the police and have you arrested for domestic trespassing and public intoxication."
"On what grounds?!" Daniel shouted, his face turning red. "I'm her husband!"
"Not for long," I replied, pulling a printed document from my folder and tossing it onto the entry table. "That is an emergency protective order application, combined with an annulment petition drafted by Sterling & Associates. Arthur Sterling is personally delivering it to Judge Vance at dawn."
When Daniel heard the name Arthur Sterling, his face went pale.
Sterling was the fiercest corporate litigator in the state—a man who had bankrupted two major developers for breach of contract three years ago.
"You... you're going to ruin my life over a joke?" Daniel stammered, his voice suddenly losing its aggressive edge, replaced by a pathetic, whining desperation. "Emily... tell your parent to stop! We can talk about this! My mother was just trying to test you! She wanted to see if you had the humility to fit into high society!"
Emily walked up beside me, looking down at the gold wedding band Daniel was still wearing on his left hand.
"Your mother didn't want humility, Daniel," Emily said, her voice filled with a profound, terrifying pity. "She wanted a servant. And you wanted a trophy you could control. Well, the test is over. You failed."
Emily turned to my husband/wife. "Dad/Mom, please change the door locks tonight."
"Already called the locksmith," my spouse replied from the hallway. "They'll be here in ten minutes."
Daniel stared at us, realizing for the first time that his money, his status, and his family’s corporate power could not bully us into submission. We weren't afraid of him. We never had been.
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"You'll regret this," Daniel whispered, his eyes dark with malice as he grabbed his coat from the rack. "My father will crush your logistics firm by tomorrow afternoon. The Whitmore Group will make sure you never get another contract in this city."
"Tell your father to bring his best lawyers, Daniel," I said as he opened the door. "Because tomorrow morning, I'm taking the gloves off."
