Chapter 4 - The Legal Nuclear Option
While Adrian was busy camping on Claire’s doorstep and learning how to properly sterilize baby bottles under her watchful, skeptical eye, the other side of his former life was exploding in spectacular fashion.
Vanessa Cole had spent twenty-four hours assuming Adrian’s temporary madness would pass. She figured the billionaire playboy was just having a dramatic, guilt-driven freakout over finding out he had twins. But by Tuesday morning, reality came crashing down with the force of a wrecking ball.
Her luxury apartment lease—which Adrian had been paying for—was abruptly canceled by corporate legal counsel. Her credit cards were declined at a boutique on Michigan Avenue. And when she tried to call Adrian’s private cell phone, she was greeted by an automated block notice.
Desperate and furious, Vanessa marched directly into Moretti Global Enterprises, storming past the security guards who had once bowed to her arrival. She burst into the executive boardroom where Adrian sat at the head of the mahogany table, surrounded by three corporate attorneys and a stack of forensic accounting files.
"Adrian, have you lost your absolute mind?!" Vanessa shrieked, slamming her designer handbag onto the polished table. "My apartment lease was terminated! My cards are frozen! What kind of sick game are you playing over some sudden brat discovery?!"
Adrian didn't even look up from the document he was reviewing. He raised two fingers, and corporate security instantly materialized on either side of Vanessa, their grip firm on her arms.
"Ms. Cole," Adrian said smoothly, his voice dropping into that terrifying corporate chill. "You are trespassing in a private building. Furthermore, my legal team has uncovered unauthorized financial transfers from my personal accounts to your personal holdings totaling over four hundred thousand dollars over the last two years—funds obtained under fraudulent pretenses while you acted as a willful accomplice in concealing federal family notifications."
Vanessa’s face drained of all color. "You... you can't do this! I was your partner!"
"You were an expensive distraction that I am currently scrubbing from my ledger," Adrian replied, finally lifting his cold, dead eyes to look at her. "You have twenty-four hours to vacate the city of Chicago. If I ever see you within five hundred yards of my wife, my children, or my businesses again, I will personally ensure you spend the next ten years of your life in a federal penitentiary."
"You're a monster!" she screamed as security hoisted her off her feet and dragged her screaming toward the double doors.
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"No," Adrian muttered quietly to himself as the doors slammed shut behind her. "I was a monster a year ago. Now, I'm just a father fighting for his life."
He closed the file, stood up, and checked his Rolex. It was 3:30 PM. Time to relieve Claire on Maple Street.
