Chapter 3 - THE FREEZE
By 8:00 AM the next morning, the war had officially begun.
I sat in the high-rise conference room of Vance & Associates, fifty floors above Copley Square. Sunlight flooded through the massive glass windows, illuminating thick stacks of financial binders spread across the mahogany table. Marcus Vance sat across from me, flanked by two senior forensic accountants and a top family law litigator named Sarah Sterling.
Kora was sitting in a cozy corner of the office, happily drawing pictures with a set of colored markers Marcus’s secretary had provided.
"Here is where we stand," Sarah Sterling said, opening a blue folder. She was a striking woman in her mid-forties with razor-sharp blue eyes and a reputation for dismantling wealthy narcissists in divorce court. "Alistair’s lead counsel, Richard Vance—no relation to Marcus—filed an emergency petition for full custody of Kora at 6:30 this morning. They are claiming you took the child during a psychotic episode."
I let out a bitter, dry laugh. "A psychotic episode? I presented verified DNA evidence proving fraud."
"In their petition, they claim those DNA reports are forged," Sarah explained calmly. "They are arguing that your loss of your first pregnancy caused long-term psychological trauma, leading you to manufacture a delusion that your three sons aren't yours."
"They're lying to protect the Apex Holdings board," Marcus chimed in, leaning forward. "If the public or the shareholders find out that Alistair Bowmont used corporate funds to pay off his mistress and cover up the fraudulent birth registrations of three children, Apex stock will plunge forty percent before the opening bell."
"Let it plunge," I said, my voice hardening. "What did the forensic team find on the drive?"
One of the accountants, a young man named David, pulled his laptop forward. "Mrs. Bowmont... what you gave us isn't just evidence of infidelity. It’s a roadmap to a systematic embezzlement scheme."
David turned the screen toward me, displaying a series of complex spreadsheets with red highlight bars.
"Over the last six years," David explained, "Alistair created three separate shell companies registered in Delaware: S-Child Trust, B-Child Trust, and P-Child Trust. On the surface, they looked like educational trusts set up for your three sons. But when we cross-referenced the vendor invoices you scanned from his home office, we found that Apex Holdings was routing millions of dollars in 'consulting fees' directly into those trusts."
"And who was the sole trustee listed on those accounts?" Marcus asked softly.
"Sabrina Wells," David revealed. "Sabrina wasn't just receiving a nurse's salary of eighty thousand a year. She was drawing over six hundred thousand dollars annually from these shell accounts. In total, Alistair has funneled over $14 million out of Apex Holdings and marital assets into accounts controlled by his mistress."
The sheer scale of the betrayal hit me like a physical punch to the chest. While I was clipping coupons for Kora’s clothes and asking Alistair for permission to buy art supplies, he was transferring millions to the woman who lived in our guest quarter.
"Can we freeze the accounts?" I asked.
"We already did," Sarah smiled, a predatory gleam in her eyes. "Marcus and I filed an ex-parte motion with Judge Miller ninety minutes ago. We submitted the preliminary DNA reports alongside the transaction logs. Judge Miller granted an emergency freezing order on all joint marital assets, the shell company accounts, and Alistair’s personal investment portfolios pending a full evidentiary hearing."
Before I could process the news, my phone rang. The caller ID displayed Apex Holdings Main Executive Desk.
I looked at Marcus. He gave me a single, firm nod. "Answer it. Put it on speaker."
I swiped the screen. "Hello, Alistair."
"Genevieve!" Alistair’s voice shattered the silence of the conference room, wild, breathless, and laced with unbridled rage. "What the hell did your lawyers just do?! My corporate cards were declined at the airport! The bank just locked the Apex operational credit line!"
"Good morning to you too, Alistair," I said, my tone completely serene.
"Are you insane?!" he screamed. "I have a fifty-million-dollar land acquisition closing in three hours! If those funds aren't unfrozen, the board will vote to remove me as CEO by the end of the day!"
"Then I suggest you call Eleanor and Sabrina," I replied, leaning back in my chair. "Maybe they can lend you some of the fourteen million dollars you stole from our family."
There was a heavy, suffocating silence on the line. I could hear Alistair’s ragged breathing.
"Gen... please," he lowered his voice, shifting into the smooth, manipulative tone he had used on me for ten years. "Think about the boys. Think about Sterling, Brooks, and Pierce. You raised them. If this news gets out, their lives are ruined. Society will tear them apart."
"You should have thought about those boys before you used them as pawns in your mother's sick game," I said coldly. "You didn't give me sons, Alistair. You gave me a sentence. And today, I'm commuting it."
I hung up the phone.
May you like
In the corner of the room, Kora held up her drawing. It was a picture of a little girl and her mother holding hands under a massive, brightly colored rainbow.
For the first time in ten years, I felt like I could finally breathe.
