Chapter 4 - The Clean Sweep
The morning sun broke over the Greenwich coastline, washing the empty estate in crisp, golden light. By nine o'clock, two moving vans were already backed up to the front entrance, while an inventory specialist walked through every room with a digital tablet.
Caroline Cole sat with me in the conservatory, pouring freshly brewed chamomile tea into delicate porcelain cups. She looked at me with deep admiration, shaking her head as she handed me a warm mug.
"I still don't know how you held your composure through that dinner, Emma," Caroline said softly. "When he said those disgusting things about Madison being better in bed... I wanted to throw a wine bottle at his head."
"If I had thrown a wine bottle, I would have been the unstable, jealous wife," I replied, taking a slow sip. "Grant wanted a scene. He wanted me to cry and beg so he could tell the board I was unfit to manage our shared estate."
"He completely underestimated you," Caroline smiled, adjusting a pillow behind my back. "He forgot that you were the one who built the compliance models for his company in the early years."
"People like Grant only see what benefits their ego," I said. "He looked at my swollen belly and assumed my brain had stopped working along with my waistline."
The front door opened, and Nathan walked into the conservatory carrying a large legal file with a bright green label. He looked exhausted from spending the night with the forensic accounting team, but his expression was triumphant.
"Good morning, Madam Chairman," Nathan said, taking a seat opposite us with a relieved grin.
"Don't call me that yet, Nathan," I laughed softly, feeling our baby shift contentedly beneath my hand. "Did the emergency board vote pass?"
"Ten to zero," Nathan confirmed, sliding the corporate resolution across the glass coffee table. "Grant's shares have been temporarily impounded by court injunction to satisfy the debt recovery."
The resolution formally appointed me as the interim overseer of Grant’s equity interest, giving me complete voting control over the firm until the divorce and criminal proceedings concluded. My mother's medical care, our child's trust fund, and the employees' stolen pensions were now completely safeguarded under my direct authority.
"What about Madison?" Caroline asked, leaning forward with curious eyes.
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"She spent the night in central booking," Nathan replied with a grim chuckle. "Her attorney already reached out to the prosecutor offering full testimony against Grant in exchange for probation and forfeiture of all the jewelry."
"Let her give the testimony," I said, looking out at the sprawling lawn where the moving crew was loading Grant's private collection of luxury sports cars onto flatbeds. "I don't need revenge against Madison; she was just an opportunist who stepped into an open door."
