Chapter 5
The sharp ringing of my encrypted personal cell phone interrupted the quiet serenity of my new home office just as the sun began to dip below the horizon. I glanced down at the illuminated screen to see an unknown number flashing aggressively, accompanied by a priority override tag from my security gateway. I slid my thumb across the glass, pressing speaker mode without uttering a single greeting, letting the oppressive silence hang heavily in the air. "Jenna! Pick up the phone right now, you insane bitch!" Colby’s voice exploded through the speaker, distorted by rage and absolute panic. "Your little stunt cost us our flight to Miami, our country club memberships have been frozen, and the hotel won't accept my corporate cards!"
I leaned back comfortably in my executive leather chair, twirling a solid gold Montblanc fountain pen between my fingers with supreme indifference. "It sounds like you're having a very difficult evening, Colby, but you really should take that up with your financial advisor," I replied coolly. "Or better yet, ask your mother to cash in some of those designer handbags she was clutching like a life raft." A muffled shriek in the background indicated that Patrice had heard my comment, resulting in a fresh wave of shrill, incomprehensible screaming over the line. "You locked us out of our bank accounts, Jenna! You froze the corporate operational funds! I'm facing commercial fraud charges!" Colby sobbed, his tough-guy facade completely disintegrating into sniffling cowardice.
"You embezzled over four hundred thousand dollars from my company accounts to fund your mother's illegal offshore gambling debts in the Bahamas, Colby," I stated, my voice dropping into a razor-sharp register. "The forensic audit report was delivered to the federal prosecutor's office forty-eight hours ago, which means your arrest warrant is probably already sitting on a judge's desk." A deafening silence fell over the phone line, broken only by the heavy, ragged sound of Colby gasping for oxygen as the full weight of reality crashed down upon him. He had genuinely believed I was too naive, too busy, and too distracted by motherhood to ever look closely at the corporate ledger books.
"Please... Jenna... we have a son... think of Finn," Colby whispered hoarsely, resorting to the absolute lowest, most pathetic manipulation tactic in his playbook. "Finn has a mother who loves him, protects him, and refuses to let him grow up in a household built on financial crime and emotional abuse," I answered firmly. Before he could sputter another excuse, I tapped the red end-call button, severing his digital lifeline once and for all. I blocked his number, deleted his contact card, and felt a physical weight lift off my chest that I hadn't even realized I was carrying.
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Downstairs, the front doorbell chimed melodiously, followed by the sound of muffled voices in the grand foyer. Vance appeared at my open office door a moment later, holding a heavy manila folder sealed with a red wax stamp. "Your corporate legal counsel just dispatched this via courier, Mrs. Hale, along with a visitor currently waiting at the security gates," Vance reported with a slight raise of his eyebrow. "Who is at the gates, Vance?" I asked, setting my pen down. "It's Marcus Sterling, your husband's high-priced defense attorney, looking very sweaty and desperate to negotiate a settlement," Vance smirked.
I stood up straight, smoothing down the lapels of my tailored blazer with absolute calm and unwavering confidence. "Tell Mr. Sterling that I don't negotiate with accessories to corporate embezzlement, but he's welcome to leave his business card in the trash bin outside," I instructed coldly. Vance’s grin widened into a sharp, approving smile as he turned on his heel to deliver the message to the sweat-soaked lawyer shivering in the evening chill. The game had entirely shifted its board, and every single piece was moving precisely according to my master design.
