Chapter 7 - The Final AuditBy late afternoon, the federal agents had cleared out, taking boxes of financial records, hard drives, and corporate ledgers with them.
The office was wonderfully, beautifully quiet.
Emily stood by the floor-to-ceiling glass windows of the 35th floor, looking out over the sprawling, amber-lit expanse of downtown Chicago as dusk began to fall. The city buzzed below her, alive and moving, completely unaware of the corporate earthquake that had just reshaped its skyline.
Her phone buzzed on the glass table beside her.
It was a text message from an unknown number. She unlocked the screen.
Unknown: Please... Rachel packed her bags and left this morning. The lawyers won’t even answer my calls. Nat, I have nothing. Can we please talk? Just five minutes.
Emily stared at the words for three long seconds.
She didn't block the number immediately. Instead, she opened her contacts, selected Daniel’s name, and hit Delete Contact.
Then, she dragged the number into her blocked list, permanently erasing every remaining thread of him from her digital and physical reality.
She placed her phone down, stepped back to the center of the office, and ran her hand across the cool, polished surface of the mahogany desk.
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She hadn't cried when he threw her out of his party. She hadn't broken down when she uncovered his betrayal. Because she had finally realized a fundamental truth:
She hadn't lost a husband. She had simply cleared out the trash.
