Chapter 7 - The Hidden Ledger
Two weeks later, my divorce attorney, Evelyn Cross, laid a thick manila folder across her polished glass conference table.
Evelyn was sixty, sharp-eyed, and had a reputation for dismantling deceptive spouses with the precision of a brain surgeon.
"You were right, Harper," Evelyn said, tapping the documents with a manicured fingernail.
"Your husband wasn't just squandering corporate funds on weekend trysts in Arizona."
I leaned forward, my heart beating steadily. "What did the forensic audit find, Evelyn?"
"Landon opened a private brokerage account four years ago under a domestic LLC called Red Peak Ventures," Evelyn revealed.
"He’s been quietly funneling bonuses, stock dividends, and portions of his deferred compensation into that shell company."
"How much is in there?" I asked, bracing myself for the number.
"One point four million dollars," Evelyn stated, sliding the bank statements toward me.
"He was building an exit fund, Harper. He intended to file for divorce once the LLC reached two million, leaving you with only the house and a fraction of his declared salary."
I looked down at the transaction logs, tracing the dates of the deposits.
There was a deposit of fifty thousand dollars made on the very week he told me we couldn't afford to take our ten-year anniversary trip to Italy.
Another transfer of thirty thousand was processed the same month he insisted I pay for my own dental surgery out of my personal savings.
He had systematically starved our shared life while hoarding a fortune in the shadows to finance his next chapter with someone younger.
"Does he know we have these records?" I asked quietly.
"Not yet," Evelyn replied, a wicked, triumphant grin spreading across her face.
"His attorney sent over an initial settlement offer this morning. Landon is offering you the house, eighty percent of the equity, and three thousand a month in alimony for two years."
"In exchange, he wants an unconditional waiver of all claims against his corporate holdings and private business accounts."
"He thinks he's throwing me a bone," I said, a dry, incredulous laugh escaping my chest.
"He thinks you're still the grateful wife who doesn't understand high finance," Evelyn agreed.
"Tomorrow is our preliminary settlement conference in front of Judge Callahan. We are going to let him present that offer on the record."
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"And then?"
"And then," Evelyn said, closing the folder with a definitive snap, "we are going to introduce Red Peak Ventures to the court."
