Chapter 6 - Grant's Secret Master
Allison stood trembling in the middle of the empty room, stripped of her composure, her arrogance, and her illusions. The double doors clicked shut behind the arresting officers, leaving only Daniel, Arthur, and Allison in the vast boardroom. Daniel, please, she sobbed, dropping her designer purse to the carpet and rushing toward the table. You have to listen to me! Grant manipulated me! He knew you were busy, he knew I was feeling neglected, and he fed me lies about investments and opportunities! I didn't know who he really was! I swear on my life, I made a terrible mistake, but we can fix this! We have eight years together!
Daniel looked at her without anger, but the total absence of warmth in his eyes frightened Allison far more than any rage could have. Eight years, Allison, Daniel said softly. And in all eight years, you never once asked about the people I worked with, the contracts I negotiated, or the pressure I carried. When I came home exhausted, you told me I was boring. When I wore work boots, you told me I looked like a failure. And last night, when another man laughed at me on the phone and mocked my life, you laughed right along with him.
It was just a nervous laugh! she pleaded, her hands outstretched, desperate to touch his sleeve. I was drinking, I was confused, Grant had just given me a glass of champagne—I wasn't in my right mind! You know I love you, Daniel! Everything I did was because I thought we were stuck in that small house forever! I wanted us to have more! I was doing it for our future! Arthur Vance let out a dry, professional cough and placed a manila folder directly in front of her. That explanation might hold water, Ms. Mercer, if not for the correspondence we recovered from your personal tablet this morning during the forensic backup sync.
Arthur opened the folder, revealing printed screenshots of text messages dating back nearly eight months. Grant was not an opportunistic predator who had randomly seduced an innocent woman. The messages revealed that Allison had actively sought Grant out on executive networking apps, bragging that her husband was a gullible logistics manager whose signature she could easily manipulate to redirect regional vendor checks. In one message, Allison had written: Once the corporate line of credit is redirected to your fund, we'll file for irreconcilable differences, take the suburban equity, and leave him with the freight bills.
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Allison's knees gave out, and she sank to the floor, her hands covering her face as the undeniable paper trail of her greed was laid bare. Daniel walked around the mahogany table and stood a few feet away from her, looking down at the woman he had loved and protected for nearly a decade. You didn't just break our marriage vows, Allison. You planned to destroy me financially, leave me homeless, and laugh about it from a hotel penthouse. You thought you were so much smarter than the man who built the very foundation you were standing on.
Daniel nodded to Arthur, who produced a thick legal packet with blue tabbed markers. As of this morning, Daniel said, his voice firm and unwavering, your access to all joint accounts has been terminated. Mercer Global has filed a formal commercial fraud suit against you and Grant Sterling. Every single piece of property removed from our house has been retrieved by local authorities and secured as evidence in an ongoing grand larceny investigation. You have twenty-four hours to vacate our marital home permanently. And your attorney will receive our petition for divorce by noon.
