Chapter 7 - THE RECKONING AT THE OFFICE
Three days later.
Daniel walked into the high-ceilinged lobby of Vance & Sterling Attorneys at Law expecting a normal Tuesday morning. He had spent the last seventy-two hours trying desperately to call Elena, but his calls were blocked, his emails went unanswered, and his attempt to drop by Marcus's house had resulted in a stern warning from a local security patrol.
He assumed Elena was taking time to cool off. He believed that once the reality of legal bills and single-motherhood set in, she would come back to the negotiating table quietly to protect their social standing.
He stepped out of the elevator on the top floor and froze.
Standing in the main reception area were two uniformed sheriff's deputies, flanked by a tall woman in a sharp navy-blue suit holding a thick stack of legal briefs.
Sitting in the waiting chairs were Marcus, Isaiah, and Elena.
"What is the meaning of this?" Daniel demanded, looking around nervously as several junior partners and paralegals paused to watch. "Elena, what are you doing at my workplace?"
The woman in the navy suit stepped forward. "Daniel Vance?"
"Yes, who are you?"
"My name is Victoria Reyes," the woman said, her voice echoing clearly across the marble lobby. "I am legal counsel representing your wife, Elena Vance. I am officially serving you with a summons for absolute divorce on the grounds of severe marital misconduct, physical domestic abuse of a minor, and intentional fraudulent dissipation of marital assets."
Daniel’s face drained of all color. "What? That's absurd! Fraudulent dissipation?"
Victoria handed him a massive legal packet. "Included in this filing is an ex parte temporary restraining order prohibiting you from coming within 500 feet of Elena Vance or Sophie Vance. Furthermore, we have secured a court order freezing all personal, joint, and shell-company bank accounts associated with your name, including the entity Bennett Holdings LLC."
At the mention of Clare’s LLC, Daniel physically stumbled backward.
"You... you can't freeze those accounts," Daniel stuttered, his voice cracking. "Those are commercial client funds!"
"They are stolen marital assets," Elena said, standing up from her chair and walking toward him. She looked radiant, composed, and completely untouched by his panic. "And we gave copies of every single ledger on your silver flash drive to the Managing Board of this firm ten minutes ago."
Right on cue, the heavy oak doors of the corner office opened. Arthur Sterling, the senior founding partner of the firm and Daniel’s mentor, stepped out. His face was thunderous.
"Daniel," Sterling said, his voice echoing like judgment itself. "In my office. Now."
Daniel looked at Sterling, then at the sheriff's deputies, then at Elena.
"Elena, please," Daniel whispered, dropping his voice to a desperate plead. "Can we talk about this? Think of what this will do to my career! I spent fifteen years building this!"
May you like
Elena looked him up and down with absolute indifference.
"You should have thought about your career," Elena said, "before you touched my daughter."
