Chapter 5 - The Counter-OffensiveThe silence on the other end of the line stretched for three agonizing seconds. Attorney Vance expected me to panic. He expected screams, tears, frantic bargaining, or the collapse of a woman who had just realized her entire life was built on a fraudulent foundation.
Instead, a slow, cold smile spread across my face.
"Attorney Vance," I said, my voice dripping with absolute silk. "Let me guess. Richard told you I was just a wealthy, pampered heiress who inherited a company she doesn't know how to run, didn't he?"
There was a brief pause. "That is entirely irrelevant to property law—"
"It is entirely relevant," I interrupted smoothly, leaning back in my leather executive chair. "Because if Richard had spent even five minutes studying my father's corporate restructuring history instead of embezzling funds to pay for Brooke's cheap cosmetic surgery, he would have known one very important detail."
"And what detail is that?" Vance asked, his tone turning cautious.
"The estate and the corporate holdings were never registered under my personal name or our marital union," I replied softly, savoring the sudden shift in atmospheric pressure on the line. "They are held entirely within an irrevocable generational trust managed by Whitman-Sterling Holdings LLC—a trust that explicitly prohibits any recognition of bigamous claims, fraudulent marriages, or secondary domestic partnerships."
Vance went dead silent. I could practically hear the frantic gears turning in his head as he realized the fatal flaw in their master plan.
"Furthermore," I continued, pressing my advantage, "under Section 4 of the trust bylaws, any attempt by a fraudulent claimant or unverified spouse to execute a hostile takeover results in the immediate forfeiture of all legal standing, civil immunity, and financial restitution claims."
"That... that's impossible," Vance stammered, losing his professional composure entirely. "We have the prior marriage certificate from Nevada!"
"Which was filed under a fake social security number and falsified residency dates," I countered effortlessly, tapping a fingernail on my desk. "How do I know? Because my father anticipated men like Richard thirty years ago. Every single background check on Richard's pre-marital history was completed and notarized the day we met. I let him play his little game because I wanted to watch him dig his own grave deep enough that he could never climb out."
"Amanda—listen to me, we can settle this out of court—"
May you like
"You have twenty-four hours to advise your clients to pack their remaining trash from the motel parking lot and leave the state," I said, my voice dropping an octave into absolute ice. "Because the moment the clock strikes tomorrow, I am releasing the full federal wire fraud dossier to the Department of Justice, adding bigamy and conspiracy charges to Richard's permanent record. Have a terrible afternoon, counselor."
I hung up the phone without waiting for his reply, blocking the number permanently.
