Chapter 3 - The Empty House
Julian drove his sports car through the gates of our Pacific Heights estate at reckless speed, tires screeching against the wet driveway.
He slammed the heavy front door open, shouting my name into the echoing foyer.
"Evelyn! Evelyn!"
The house was dead silent.
The grand marble hallway, usually filled with the scent of fresh lilies and the warmth of a home preparing for a nursery, felt like a cold stone tomb.
Julian bounded up the grand staircase two steps at a time, throwing open the door to the master bedroom.
The room was immaculately tidy. My side of the bed was made with surgical precision.
He threw open the walk-in closet. Half of the space was completely empty.
My clothes, my shoes, my personal items, and my family photographs were gone. On the central island vanity, sitting directly beneath the afternoon sunlight, rested two items.
A thick legal document titled PETITION FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE.
And beside it, sitting in a velvet box, was my diamond wedding ring.
Julian walked toward the vanity as if approaching an unexploded bomb. His fingers trembled violently as he picked up the paper.
I had waived all rights to his personal properties, his accounts, and his liquid assets. I wanted nothing from him.
At the bottom of the page, my signature was firm, steady, and unhurried.
Julian dropped to his knees on the hardwood floor, clutching the divorce papers against his chest, his lungs seizing as a ragged, agonizing sob tore from his throat.
"Evelyn..." he choked out, staring at the empty closet. "Evelyn, please..."
His phone buzzed frantically in his pocket. He ignored it, but it rang again and again until he pulled it out with slick, shaking hands.
It was the company's chief legal officer, David Vance.
"Julian," David said, his voice grim and devoid of warmth over the speaker. "Where are you?"
"David..." Julian sobbed into the phone. "Evelyn left... the baby... Daniel died..."
"I know, Julian," David interrupted coldly. "The entire board knows. I am calling to inform you that an emergency meeting of the board of directors has been convened for nine o'clock tomorrow morning."
Julian wiped his wet face with his sleeve, trying to regain his composure. "A board meeting? I didn't call a board meeting. I am the CEO!"
"You were the CEO because of the Vance Family Trust's proxy," David corrected flatly. "At six o'clock this morning, Evelyn Vance officially revoked your proxy power. The fifty-two percent voting majority now rests entirely in her hands."
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Julian's heart stopped beating. "What?"
"Evelyn has put forward a motion for your immediate termination as Chief Executive Officer due to corporate misconduct and misuse of company funds," David announced. "Be at the office at nine, Julian. Or don't. It won't change the vote."
