Chapter 5 - The Aftermath & The Secret
The next morning, I woke up in a king-sized bed, surrounded by quiet luxury.
I made myself a cup of coffee and watched the sunrise over the mountains.
I didn't check my phone.
I knew it would be flooded with unhinged texts and missed calls, but I had already blocked Bradley and his entire family.
By Monday morning, I was back in the city, sitting in the glass-walled conference room of my consulting firm.
Arthur sat across from me, a fresh stack of documents on the table.
“The divorce papers are ready to be served,” Arthur stated, sliding a pen toward me.
“I've drafted a bulletproof separation agreement. Since the house, the business, and the primary accounts are all solely in your name or the LLC's name, he has virtually no claim to your assets.”
“What about alimony?” I asked, signing the first page.
Arthur smiled thinly. “That brings me to the second folder.”
He pulled out a slim, red file and opened it.
“When you asked me to freeze the accounts Saturday night, I noticed some irregular transfers from the joint account over the last six months.”
I frowned. “Transfers to where?”
“A secondary checking account under Bradley's name. It seems your husband hasn't just been unemployed for the last year. He's been systematically siphoning your money.”
My grip on the pen tightened. “How much?”
“Roughly eighty thousand dollars.”
My heart pounded, but it wasn't out of heartbreak. It was out of sheer, tactical rage.
“What was he spending it on?”
Arthur flipped a page.
“Boutique hotels. Expensive dinners. And heavy cash withdrawals at a casino upstate. But more importantly, a large chunk of it was going directly to a woman named Chloe.”
I let out a harsh, bitter laugh.
He wasn't just lazy. He wasn't just allowing his family to abuse me.
He was actively stealing from me to fund an affair.
“Does his family know?” I asked.
“Oh, it gets better,” Arthur said, his eyes gleaming with legal anticipation.
“Chloe is Barbara’s niece from her sister's side. His cousin. The whole family knew, Maddie. They've been helping him hide it.”
The room spun for a fraction of a second.
The passive-aggressive comments. The smirks. The pool incident.
They weren't just mean. They were laughing at me because they thought I was a blind, stupid cash cow.
They thought they had me completely fooled.
“Arthur,” I said slowly, leaning forward.
“Yes, Maddie?”
“I don't just want a divorce anymore.”
“I figured.”
“I want to burn his entire life to the ground. Legally, of course.”
May you like
Arthur closed the red folder and smiled.
“I'll draft the civil suit for embezzlement and fraud immediately.”
