I left the hospital carrying my daughter’s ashes when my husband finally called from wherever he was with his mistress and coldly said, “The bill has been taken care of. Stop bothering me.” I didn’t argue with him. I didn’t allow him to hear my voice break. Instead, I pulled out the old phone my father had given me three years earlier and called the number stored inside. The man on the other end had been silently preparing a legal case powerful enough to bring my husband and his entire family crashing down.

By four o'clock in the afternoon, news of the emergency forensic audit had spread like wildfire throughout the financial industry.

Fairchild Enterprises’ stock price on the over-the-counter market was already down fourteen percent on heavy volume as rumors of financial irregularities leaked to traders.

Inside Brendan’s corner office, the atmosphere was chaotic. Brendan was pacing frantically behind his desk, holding a glass of Scotch in one hand, while his phone rang off the hook.

Samantha sat on the leather sofa, her face buried in her hands.

"She’s insane, Brendan!" Samantha cried out, looking up with frantic eyes. "She’s revealing everything to her auditors! The staff are talking! They know about the New York trip! They know about the Cartier purchase!"

"Shut up, Samantha!" Brendan yelled, slamming his Scotch glass onto the desk, splashing amber liquid across his papers. "I'm trying to think!"

The door to the office slammed open, and Victoria Fairchild burst inside, looking frantic, her designer coat disheveled.

"Brendan!" Victoria screamed. "What is happening? Two credit card companies just canceled my secondary accounts! The bank said the Fairchild Family Trust account has been frozen by court order!"

"What?" Brendan gasped, turning pale.

"I tried to buy a dress for next week's gala, and the card was declined!" Victoria sobbed, grabbing her brother's arm. "They said Aegis Capital filed an emergency lien against all assets connected to the holding company! Even my car lease payment bounced!"

Before Brendan could respond, the double glass doors of his office opened again.

I walked into the office, flanked by Raymond Vance and two uniformed officers from the Cook County Sheriff's Department.

Brendan backed away toward his window, his eyes wild with rage and panic. "Nora! What the hell do you think you're doing? You froze the family trust accounts? How is Victoria supposed to live? How am I supposed to pay our mortgage?"

"The same way I was supposed to pay for Chloe’s medicine, Brendan," I said smoothly, stepping into the middle of the room. "You don't."

"You monster!" Victoria shrieked, lunging toward me. "Our niece died, and you're using her death to ruin our family out of spite?"

One of the Sheriff's deputies instantly stepped between Victoria and me, his hand resting sternly on his belt. "Ma'am, step back."

Victoria froze, trembling with anger, but backed away.

Raymond Vance stepped forward, pulling a blue legal document from his leather portfolio.

"Brendan Fairchild," Raymond announced in a ringing, clear voice. "I am serving you with formal notice of default under Section 9 of the 2018 Aegis Debt Agreement. Due to severe, documented material misrepresentations of operational cash flow and the illegal diversion of corporate assets for personal expenditures, Aegis Capital has declared an immediate acceleration of all outstanding principal and accrued interest."

Brendan blinked, his voice squeaking. "Accelerate? What are you talking about?"

"You owe Aegis Capital two hundred and seventy million dollars," Raymond said cleanly. "Payment is due in full within twenty-four hours."

"Twenty-four hours?" Brendan shouted, letting out a hysterical laugh. "Nobody has two hundred and seventy million dollars in cash sitting in a bank account! That's impossible! You have to give us sixty days to restructure!"

"You waived your right to a sixty-day cure period when your firm committed fraud, Mr. Fairchild," Raymond replied with a cold, terrifying smile. "Since you cannot pay, Aegis Capital will exercise its rights under the pledge agreement at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."

"What pledge agreement?" Brendan stammered, looking at Samantha, then at his sister.

"Your thirty-five percent voting equity in Fairchild Enterprises was pledged as collateral," I said, stepping closer to Brendan. "Tomorrow morning at nine AM, Aegis Capital will seize your shares. Combined with the seven percent stake my father bought in the open market years ago, I will control forty-two percent of the voting equity in this firm."

Brendan swallowed hard, his knees visibly shaking. "Nora... please. You can't do this to me. We were married. We loved each other once."

"Love?" I laughed—a sharp, cold sound that vibrated off the glass walls. "You never loved me, Brendan. You loved my father's reputation. You loved having a compliant, quiet wife who didn't ask questions while you bled your company dry to buy trinkets for your mistress."

I turned my eyes to Samantha, who shrank back into the sofa cushions.

"As of five PM today, Samantha," I said, addressing her directly, "your employment with Fairchild Enterprises is terminated for cause due to unauthorized use of corporate funds for personal benefits. Security will escort you from the building in ten minutes. Leave your laptop, your keycard, and that Cartier bracelet on the desk."

Samantha looked at Brendan, her eyes pleading. "Brendan! Say something! Tell her she can't fire me!"

Brendan looked at Samantha, then looked at me, his mouth opening and closing like a landed fish. He had no power left. He was completely stripped bare.

"She can fire you, Samantha," Brendan whispered defeatedly, staring at the floor.

Samantha let out a choked sob, ripped the diamond bracelet from her wrist, slammed it onto the mahogany desk, grabbed her purse, and sprinted out of the office, crying hysterically.

Victoria stared at her brother in absolute horror. "Brendan... tell me this isn't happening. Tell me we aren't broke."

"Get out, Victoria," Brendan whispered, sinking into his executive leather chair, staring blankly at his desk. "Just get out."

Victoria glared at me with pure hatred, but the sheriff's deputy gestured toward the door. She snapped her purse shut and stormed out of the suite, her heels clicking angrily down the quiet corridor.

I walked over to Brendan’s desk, picked up the Cartier diamond bracelet, and held it up to the light. It sparkled under the fluorescent bulbs—a twenty-thousand-dollar piece of glittering metal.

"Eighteen thousand two hundred dollars," I murmured, tossing the bracelet back onto the desk where it landed with a sharp metallic clatter next to his Scotch glass. "Chloe needed five thousand."

Brendan slowly raised his head, looking up at me with hollow, bloodshot eyes. "What do you want, Nora? You've taken my company. You've ruined my reputation. You've humiliated me in front of my entire board. What more do you want?"

I leaned down, resting my hands on his desk, bringing my face just inches from his.