Chapter 7 - THE LEGAL ANNIHILATION
I didn't yell. I didn't get angry. I simply stood on the staircase, looking down at my ex-husband with a profound, pitiless amusement.
Five million dollars. He truly believed he could walk into my house, flash a fake smile, and walk out a multi-millionaire based on a fraudulent legal technicality he fabricated in his own head.
“Ethan,” I said softly, descending the remaining three steps until I was standing just two feet away from him. “Did you bring your lawyer inside?”
Ethan blinked, thrown off by my calm demeanor. “He’s... he’s waiting in my car down by the gate. Why?”
“Because,” I replied, turning my head slightly toward the study door, “Linda Vance has been on speakerphone the entire time you’ve been speaking.”
The heavy mahogany door of my study swung open, and Linda stepped out holding a digital voice recorder and a printed legal document. Her expression was like carved stone.
Ethan’s face drained of color. He spun around, staring at Linda, then back at me. “You... you recorded this?”
“Extortion, attempted fraud, and frivolous legal harassment,” Linda recited clinically, tapping the digital recorder. “Every single word of your little shakedown was captured and timestamped. Furthermore, Mr. Monroe, let me educate you on the Delaware residency clause you so eagerly cited.”
Linda flipped open the document she was holding and shoved it into Ethan’s trembling hands.
“Page twelve of your 2021 divorce settlement explicitly signed away all future claims, equity, derivative rights, and intellectual property claims to any startup entity developed by Maren Monroe, past, present, or future, in exchange for a lump-sum cash buyout of twelve thousand dollars, which you accepted and deposited on June 4th, 2021,” Linda read aloud, her voice ringing with lethal precision. “You sold your future rights for twelve grand, Ethan. And you signed it in front of a notary public.”
Ethan stared down at the paper, his lips moving silently as he tried to comprehend the words. “No... no, that’s impossible. My lawyer said—.”
“Your lawyer is either incompetent or taking a massive cut of whatever scam you’re trying to pull,” Linda interrupted coldly. “If you don’t walk out of these gates in the next sixty seconds, I will personally file criminal charges for attempted extortion and mail fraud, and attach a lien to your current bank accounts and vehicle to cover our legal fees.”
Ethan’s knees seemed to give out. The greed that had brought him to my doorstep instantly evaporated, replaced by cold, paralyzing terror. He dropped the paper, stumbling backward against the custom console table.
“Maren... please,” he whispered, his voice cracking. “I’m drowning. My business failed, I lost my apartment... I have nothing.”
“That,” I said, turning my back on him and walking toward the study, “sounds like a personal problem. Miller! Escort our guest off the property. And make sure he never gets past the gate again.”
Before Ethan could utter another plea, Miller and Davis grabbed him firmly by the shoulders and marched him backward out the front door. The heavy mahogany door clicked shut, sealing him out of my life forever.
May you like
Linda watched him go, then turned to me with a faint, approving smile. “Well handled, Maren. Though I must admit, your taste in men in your twenties leaves a lot to be desired.”
“Fortunately,” I smiled back, adjusting my blazer, “my taste in legal representation makes up for all of it.”
