Chapter 3 - The Empty Bank Accounts
By the time I was discharged from the hospital three days later, my entire reality had shifted.
I didn't go back to the sprawling suburban house I had shared with Richard. I knew he would be there, desperate and cornered. Instead, Marcus drove me to his secure downtown penthouse.
The physical recovery from the traumatic birth was grueling, but the emotional clarity I felt was razor-sharp. I was done crying over Richard. He had abandoned me at my most vulnerable. He had treated a human life as a bargaining chip for a payout.
Monday morning, I sat at Marcus’s kitchen island, sipping chamomile tea. My brother was typing furiously on his laptop.
"Alright," Marcus said, looking up with a grim smile. "Richard has been busy this weekend. He tried to drain your joint checking and savings accounts."
My stomach dropped. "Did he get it?"
"Please," Marcus scoffed. "I’m a forensic accountant and a lawyer, Em. I transferred your half of the marital assets into an individual trust under your name the morning after you gave birth. All he got was his half, which he immediately wired to a defense attorney."
"He needs a defense attorney?"
"Oh, absolutely," Marcus said, turning the laptop screen toward me. "Arthur Sterling’s legal team filed a massive civil suit against Richard on Friday afternoon for extortion, emotional distress, and fraud. But that’s just the civil side. The District Attorney is looking into criminal extortion charges."
My phone buzzed on the counter. It was Richard. He had called fifty times over the weekend. I finally swiped to answer, putting it on speaker.
"Emma!" His voice was ragged, desperate. "Emma, thank God. Tell Marcus to unlock the accounts. My credit cards are declining!"
"You only have your half of the money, Richard. If you blew it on a lawyer, that's your problem."
"My half?" he screamed. "I earned that money! I paid for that house! You need to come home right now and fix this. The Sterlings are destroying me! They called my firm! Mr. Vance suspended me pending an investigation! I lost the promotion, Emma!"
The "massive presentation" he had abandoned me for. It was all gone.
"You destroyed yourself, Richard," I said coldly.
"You listen to me," he snarled, his voice turning vicious. "You think you can just walk away? I'll drag you down with me. I'll tell the press you were in on the extortion. I'll say you knew about the clinic mix-up all along!"
Before I could respond, Marcus leaned over the phone.
"Go ahead, Richard," Marcus challenged. "Because if you do, I'll release the hospital security footage of you abandoning her. I'll release the time-stamped emails showing you opened the offshore account single-handedly. And then, I'll send the IRS the files I found regarding the 'creative accounting' you've been doing with your clients' portfolios at your firm."
Dead silence on the line.
"That's what I thought," Marcus said. "Do not contact my sister again. Communicate only through my law office."
Marcus hung up and blocked the number.
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I took a deep breath, feeling a massive weight lift off my chest. "He was embezzling from his firm?"
Marcus winked. "He's a greedy man, Emma. Greedy men always leave a paper trail. Now, get dressed. Arthur is sending a private car. Lily is being released from the NICU today."
