Chapter 3 - The Assets of Deception
Marcus’s trembling fingers clawed at the manila folder, flipping open the clasp. Inside lay dozens of pages of crisp legal documents, financial audits, and property deeds bearing the stamp of the Cook County Superior Court.
His eyes scanned the first page, and the color drained entirely from his face, leaving him looking like a corpse.
DIVORCE PETITION & COMPLAINT FOR FRAUDULENT DISSIPATION OF MARITAL ASSETS.
"No..." Marcus whispered, shaking his head frantically. "No, this... this is insane! You can't just file for divorce while I'm recovering in a hospital bed! And what is this about the penthouse? That's our home!"
"It was our home," Lucia corrected smoothly, stepping closer so she towered over his hospital bed. "Notice the past tense, Marcus. As of three weeks ago—the exact morning after your girlfriend accidentally sent a text message to my phone—I consulted with the city’s top matrimonial and forensic accounting firm."
Marcus stopped breathing. His chest monitor beeped a panicked warning, but he didn't care. "You... you knew? For three weeks?!"
"I didn't just know," Lucia said, her eyes flashing with a sharp, dangerous intelligence. "I documented everything. Every dinner you claimed was a 'corporate client meeting,' every weekend trip to the suburbs you called a 'construction site visit,' and every single dollar of marital funds you funneled into Valeria’s luxury apartment lease in the Loop."
Marcus scrambled backward against the pillows, clutching the papers as if they were venomous snakes. "You froze my accounts? How did you freeze my corporate accounts?! Those are tied up with my business partners!"
"Correction: Those accounts were tied to the venture capital fund my late father gifted us when we married ten years ago," Lucia replied, her voice ringing with absolute authority. "A fund that was legally structured under my sole discretionary power of attorney, which you were too arrogant and self-absorbed to ever actually read."
Marcus let out a desperate, breathless laugh, though his eyes were wide with sheer terror. "Lucia, you're being hysterical! We've been married for ten years! You can't just throw me out on the street! What about my career? What about my reputation in the city? If the board finds out about this lawsuit and Valeria’s pregnancy, I'm finished!"
"Yes," Lucia agreed mildly, adjusting the cuffs of her jacket. "You are."
"You're the mother of my child—well, not my child with her, but my wife!" Marcus stammered, completely unraveling. "Think of our family! Think of what your mother-in-law—what Teresa will say!"
"Teresa is currently sitting in the hallway hyperventilating because she just realized her golden boy is completely broke, homeless, and legally exposed," Lucia said, her tone dripping with ice-cold satisfaction. "She spent ten years teaching you how to treat women like disposable property, Marcus. Now she gets to watch you reap the exact harvest you sowed."
Marcus grabbed the edges of the blanket, his face flushing a deep, mottled crimson with sudden, poisonous rage. The mask of a victimized husband slipped away instantly, revealing the manipulative, narcissistic coward underneath.
"You cold-hearted bitch!" Marcus snarled, his voice rising in pitch. "You planned this! You sat there for three weeks acting like a loving wife while you stabbed me in the back! You're a monster!"
Lucia didn't flinch. She didn't blink. She simply leaned down, her face inches from his, her eyes burning into his soul.
"No, Marcus," she whispered softly. "I am a surgeon. I cut away the rot to save the patient. And right now, you are the cancer."
Before Marcus could scream another word, the door to his hospital room pushed open, and two uniformed hospital security guards stepped inside, flanked by a tall, sharp-looking man in a tailored charcoal suit carrying a leather briefcase.
Marcus froze, staring at the newcomer. "Who the hell are you?"
The man in the suit offered a cold, professional smile, opening his briefcase to reveal a fresh set of documents. "Good morning, Mr. Salgado. My name is Arthur Vance, senior counsel for Dr. Lucia Herrera. I am here to formally serve you with an injunction prohibiting you from contacting my client, approaching the Lincoln Park property, or accessing any corporate assets associated with her name. Furthermore..."
May you like
Arthur pulled out an additional paper, sliding it across Marcus’s lap.
"...you are being formally terminated from your executive position at your firm due to an ongoing internal forensic audit regarding corporate embezzlement. Have a pleasant recovery."
