Chapter 7: The True Cost of Betrayal
Chapter 7: The True Cost of Betrayal
Andrew stared at the papers as if they were a loaded gun.
"I won't sign them," he said, his voice trembling.
"I'm entitled to half. We were married for four years. The law protects me."
Mariana laughed.
It wasn't a mocking laugh like the one he had given her.
It was a laugh of genuine amusement.
"You think you have leverage?"
She tapped a button on her desk.
The massive screen behind her lit up, displaying a series of financial documents.
"These are the tax returns you filed for your company."
"The company that was technically a subsidiary of my holdings."
"You funneled two million dollars of corporate funds into offshore accounts to buy gifts for Brenda."
"That's embezzlement, Andrew."
"Federal fraud."
Andrew's face turned the color of ash.
"I... I only did that because I thought the company was flush!"
"It was flush," Mariana countered. "Because I kept bailing you out."
"If you fight this divorce, I will hand these documents to the authorities."
"You won't just be poor."
"You will spend the next twenty years in a federal penitentiary."
She tossed a sleek silver pen onto the papers.
"Sign the papers, Andrew."
"Walk away with the clothes on your back."
"Or leave in handcuffs. Your choice."
Andrew's hands shook uncontrollably as he picked up the pen.
He had never felt so small.
So utterly defeated.
He signed his name on the dotted lines, legally stripping himself of any claim to the Escalante fortune.
He pushed the papers back across the table.
"Are you happy now?" he spat, tears of frustration in his eyes.
"Happy?" Mariana echoed softly.
"No, Andrew. Justice isn't about happiness."
May you like
"It's about balance."
"Security will show you out."
