Chapter 4 - The Counter-Strike
Daniel didn't go quietly. By midnight, Claire’s phone stopped ringing with panicked voicemails and started buzzing with aggressive legal threats from Holloway & Associates, one of the most ruthless corporate defense firms in the city.
Claire was sitting at her kitchen island—her temporary apartment kitchen, since her home with Daniel now felt like a crime scene—when Marcus called.
"They just filed an emergency injunction," Marcus said without preamble. "They’re claiming you stole proprietary trade secrets from Apex Holdings during your marriage."
"On what grounds?" Claire asked, sipping black coffee.
"On the grounds that you had access to company servers as an independent contractor. They’re trying to brand you as a disgruntled corporate spy to invalidate the audit." Marcus paused, paper rustling on his end. "And Daniel just liquidated four hundred thousand dollars from your joint contingency account."
Claire’s eyes narrowed. "He what?"
"He cleared out the personal reserve fund twenty minutes ago, citing emergency relocation expenses. He’s running, Claire. Rumor on the financial wire is he’s booking a private charter out of the municipal airstrip by dawn."
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Claire stood up, wincing as her bandaged ankle protested the sudden movement. She didn't panic. She reached for her laptop, opened a secure terminal window, and bypassed the corporate firewall with a master override code she had embedded in the system architecture three years prior—a backdoor safety valve she had insisted on installing for exactly this kind of corporate malfeasance.
"He thinks he can outrun a forensic accountant?" Claire whispered to the empty room. "Let's see how he handles an international asset freeze."
