Chapter 3: The Divorce Papers, The Secret Bank Account, The Sister She Never Knew She Had
The PI arrived 20 minutes later, carrying a stack of divorce papers and a folder full of financial documents, and he handed them to James, who was sitting in the kitchen with Lila and Liam, while Clara was standing in the doorway, her face red with anger. James flipped through the papers, stopping at the section on asset division, and he frowned when he saw that Clara had listed a secret bank account in Switzerland, worth $1.2 million, that he’d never heard of. “What’s this?” he asked the PI, pointing to the account. The PI cleared his throat, and he said: “I found it during my background check on Clara, sir. She opened the account three years ago, using a fake name, and she’s been transferring 5% of the firm’s profits into it every quarter. She didn’t list it on her financial disclosure forms last year, and she didn’t tell you about it.” James’s blood boiled, and he walked over to Clara, slamming the folder down on the kitchen table: “You’ve been stealing from me for three years? You’ve been taking money out of the firm, money that I worked 12 hours a day, six days a week to earn, and you didn’t tell me about it?” Clara crossed her arms, and she said, her voice defiant: “I earned that money! I helped you close the deals with the tech startups, I organized the charity galas, I did all the work you refused to do! I deserve that money!” James laughed, a harsh, bitter sound, and he said: “You organized charity galas because you wanted to be seen as a powerful woman, not because you cared about the causes. You closed deals? No, you sat in on meetings and nodded your head while my team did the real work. You didn’t earn a single penny of that money, and you’re going to pay it back, plus interest, or I’ll press charges for embezzlement.” Clara’s face went pale, and she sat down at the table, her hands shaking, as Lila sat next to her, pulling out a plate of cookies from the counter and setting it in front of her. “I’m sorry,” Lila said, her voice soft. “I never wanted to hurt you. I just wanted to see my brother.” Clara looked up at Lila, and she saw the bruise on her cheek, and she felt a pang of guilt, but she quickly pushed it away, saying: “You’re not my sister. You’re just a maid who lied to get close to James.” Lila stood up, and she walked over to the fridge, pulling out a photo album and setting it on the table. She flipped through the pages, stopping at a photo of her and James when they were kids, and she handed it to Clara: “This is me and James, when we were 6 and 10. We lived in a small house in Worcester, and our parents worked at the local factory. We saved up money to buy a puppy, and we named her Daisy. Then, the day before our parents’ anniversary, a drunk driver crashed into our car, and they died. James was in a coma for three weeks, and when he woke up, he thought I was dead. I spent 16 years looking for him, and when I finally found him, I didn’t know how to tell him. I didn’t want to make things worse.” Clara stared at the photo, at the two kids smiling in the sun, and she felt a tear roll down her cheek. She’d never known that James had a sister, that he’d lost his family when he was 16, that he’d spent years searching for her. She’d only seen him as a billionaire, as a man who had everything she wanted, and she’d never stopped to think about the pain he’d been through. “I’m sorry,” Clara said, her voice barely a whisper. “I didn’t know. I just thought if I kept you away from him, he’d stay with me.” James stood up, and he walked over to Clara, handing her the divorce papers and a pen: “You can sign these today, or I’ll take you to court. Either way, you’re leaving this house, and you’re not getting a single penny from the firm. I’m also going to report the embezzlement to the SEC, and you’ll lose your license to practice finance, which means you’ll never work in this industry again.” Clara stared at the papers, and she thought about her life, about the fancy clothes, the private jet, the mansion, and she realized that she’d given up everything for a life she didn’t even want. She signed the papers, and she handed the pen back to James, saying: “I’ll be out by tonight. I just need to pack my things.” James nodded, and he walked over to Lila, picking up Liam and holding him close, as he looked out the window at the driveway, where a moving truck was pulling up, to take Clara’s things away. “What are we going to do now?” Lila asked, sitting down next to James and taking Liam’s hand. James smiled, and he said: “We’re going to have a family. We’re going to move out of this mansion, into a small house in the suburbs, where Liam can grow up with his aunt. We’re going to visit our parents’ grave every Sunday, and we’re going to tell Liam about his uncle and aunt, about the life we used to have before the crash.” Lila hugged him, and she said: “That sounds perfect. I’ve been waiting for this my whole life.” Just then, the sound of a car horn blaring outside made James turn, and he saw a familiar blue Ford Taurus parked in the driveway, the same make and model as his parents’ old car. A woman got out of the car, a woman with the same blue eyes as James and Lila, and she walked up to the front door, smiling when she saw them. “Is this the Cole house?” she asked, her voice warm and familiar. James stood up, and he walked over to the door, staring at the woman, and he realized that it was his old foster sister, Maria, who’d been with him in the hospital when he woke up from the coma. “Maria?” he said, his voice breaking. Maria hugged him, and she said: “I heard you found Lila. I’ve been looking for you both for years, and I’m so glad I finally found you.” James pulled Lila over to Maria, and he introduced them, and the three of them stood in the kitchen, holding Liam, as the moving truck pulled away from the driveway, taking Clara’s things away, as their old life ended and their new life began.
