At 3 a.m., my husband stormed into the bedroom and yelled, ""Get up, useless woman!"" while his mother stood in the doorway laughing

"What are you doing here?" Derek hissed, his face draining of all color.

He looked at my clothes—I was wearing a sharp, tailored black suit that Elena had brought me. I didn't look like the broken, weeping woman he had abused at 3:00 a.m.

I looked exactly like my father.

"Hello, Derek. Hello, Marlene," I said, walking slowly into the room.

The investors looked back and forth between us, confused by the sudden tension.

"I'm sorry, gentlemen," Derek quickly recovered, forcing a nervous laugh. "As I mentioned, my wife is unwell. She’s having an episode. Let me just escort her out—"

He marched toward me, his hand reaching out to grab my arm in that punishing, iron grip I knew so well.

"Touch me," I said, my voice echoing off the glass walls, "and it will be the last thing you ever do with that hand."

Derek stopped inches from me, his eyes flashing with a violent fury he tried to hide from the investors. "Get out," he whispered venomously.

"I don't think I will," I replied, stepping around him and taking a seat directly across from the lead investor.

"Gentlemen," I addressed the men in the room. "My husband does not have power of attorney. The document he provided you is a forgery."

The lead investor frowned, looking at Derek. "Is this true?"

"She's crazy!" Marlene shrieked, standing up. "Security! Someone call security and have this delusional girl removed!"

"I am the sole heir and majority shareholder of this corporation," I continued, ignoring Marlene completely.

I pulled out a tablet from my bag and slid it across the long conference table.

"On that tablet, you will find certified forensic audits. Over the past two years, Derek and Marlene have embezzled four million dollars from this company’s operational funds, severely artificially deflating the company's value to force this buyout."

The investors immediately leaned in, tapping the screen.

"This is slander!" Derek yelled, his charisma completely shattering. "I built this company up! I saved it after your old man drove it into the ground!"

"My father built an empire," I said coldly. "You are just a parasite who thought the host was dead."

Marlene grabbed her designer purse. "I am not listening to this nonsense. Derek, handle your deranged wife. I am going home."

She stormed toward the doors.

But before she could push them open, they swung inward.