Chapter 2 - The Morning After
The sunlight pouring into the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Thorne Global executive penthouse was blinding. I stood wrapped in a plush white robe, holding a cup of black coffee, looking out over the skyline. My phone had been vibrating off the marble countertop since 6:00 AM.
142 Missed Calls from Richard. 38 Text Messages.
The texts ranged from furious ("You humiliated me! Get home right now!") to desperate ("Claire, please. The board is freaking out. I need you to fix this.").
I blocked his number.
At 8:00 AM sharp, the private elevator chimed. Marcus Thorne walked in, accompanied by a woman in a razor-sharp burgundy suit.
"Good morning, Claire," Marcus said, his tone strictly professional but warm. "I trust the accommodations are satisfactory?"
"More than satisfactory, Marcus. Thank you."
"This is Evelyn Vance," Marcus introduced the woman. "She is the most lethal divorce attorney on the Eastern Seaboard. Thorne Global has retained her services on your behalf as part of your signing bonus."
Evelyn didn't smile; she simply opened her briefcase. "Ms. Sterling, I've already drafted the dissolution of marriage papers. Because you kept your trust fund in a separate account and never legally commingled the principal, that money is safe. However, the interest you used to float Sterling Architecture's payroll? We're classifying that as a high-interest corporate loan. Richard owes you $4.2 million, payable immediately upon separation."
I felt a cold, sharp smile spread across my face. "He doesn't have it. He leveraged the firm's liquid assets to buy his new yacht."
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"Then we will seize the yacht, the firm, or both," Evelyn stated matter-of-factly. "Your intellectual property is fully shielded. He has no claim to the structural software. By the time I am finished, Richard Sterling will be lucky to afford a studio apartment."
I signed the papers without a moment of hesitation. For a decade, I had been the glue holding a broken man together. It was time to let him shatter.
