Chapter 5 - The Frozen Accounts
The floor of the penthouse apartment was covered in soft, sunlight-dappled carpets. In the center of the living room, Noah was happily building a massive train track out of wooden blocks, humming a sweet, wordless little tune.
I sat on the velvet sofa nearby, holding a hot cup of tea, watching him with a peace I hadn't felt in six long years.
Clara Vance sat across from me, her laptop open, reviewing the initial asset recovery reports.
"The freeze orders hit all of Daniel’s personal accounts at one o'clock," Clara reported, turning the screen toward me. "When he tried to use his Black Card to pay for a hotel room for his mother and siblings at the Ritz-Carlton downtown, the transaction was instantly declined."
"Where are they staying?" I asked casually, taking a sip of tea.
"According to our private investigators, Julian had to scrape together eight hundred dollars from his personal Venmo balance to rent a two-bedroom Extended Stay motel near the airport," Clara chuckled softly. "Margaret Hawthorne is currently sleeping on a synthetic polyester sofa next to a noisy ice machine."
"It's more than she deserves," I said quietly. "What about the forensic audit on Hawthorne Logistics?"
Clara’s expression turned serious. She pulled up a separate spreadsheet filled with highlighted red numbers.
"This is where it gets dangerous for Daniel, Victoria," Clara said. "We spent the last four hours digging through the off-books accounts he created under the shell company Hawthorne Global Trading. Over the last eighteen months, Daniel embezzled approximately two point four million dollars directly from the corporate credit facility."
I set my teacup down on the glass table. "Where did the money go?"
"He wasn't just using it to fund his family's opulent lifestyle," Clara revealed, tapping the keyboard. "He was using it to cover bad bets in offshore options trading. He lost one point eight million dollars on high-risk short positions six months ago, and he was using your trust’s capital reserves to cover the margin calls so the auditors wouldn't catch him."
"That isn't just a civil breach of trust, Clara," I noted, my eyes narrowing. "That’s grand larceny, corporate embezzlement, and federal wire fraud."
"Exactly," Clara nodded. "If we submit these forensic reports to the District Attorney's office tomorrow morning, Daniel will be facing an indictment that carries a mandatory sentence of five to fifteen years in state prison."
Just then, my personal phone began to ring. The caller ID showed an unknown number, but I recognized the local area code.
I answered it, putting it on speaker.
"Victoria?" Daniel’s voice came through the speaker, sounding panicked, exhausted, and broken. "Victoria, please don't hang up! Please!"
"I'm listening, Daniel," I said calmly.
"Victoria, my mother is sick," Daniel wept into the phone. "Her blood pressure is spiking, she doesn't have her medication, and the motel we're in doesn't even have clean sheets! Julian’s card was declined at the pharmacy! Please... just unlock ten thousand dollars from the joint account so I can get my mother into a proper hospital!"
"There is no joint account, Daniel," I said coldly. "The joint account was funded entirely by transfers from my private trust. Since you terminated our domestic union yesterday, those transfers have ceased."
"You're going to let my mother die?!" he shrieked.
"Your mother can go to an urgent care clinic or a public emergency room like millions of everyday people do," I replied without an ounce of pity. "She spent six years boasting about her nobility and superiority. Let her experience the public healthcare system she so frequently mocked."
"Victoria, I'm begging you!" Daniel sobbed hysterically. "I'll sign the divorce papers! I'll give up all claims to Noah! I'll sign whatever you want! Just don't destroy my family!"
"You ruined your own family the day you decided to build your life on a lie, Daniel," I said. "And as for Noah... you never cared about being a father. You cared about having an heir to display at your family reunions."
"Victoria—"
"My lawyer will be delivering the formal divorce petition, the full custody demand, and the criminal audit disclosure to your lawyer tomorrow morning at nine," I concluded. "I suggest you spend tonight finding a public defender. You're going to need one."
I ended the call, shutting off the phone completely.
Noah looked up from his train set, carrying a small wooden engine over to my couch. He climbed up beside me, resting his warm little head against my leg.
"Mommy?" he asked softly. "Are we going back to the big noisy house?"
May you like
I reached down, smoothing his soft hair, kissing the top of his forehead.
"No, my love," I smiled warmly. "We're never going back there again. We're home."
