Renée held up a blue leather folder. “I’ve already drafted the formal petition for dissolution of marriage, citing fraud and bad-faith financial coercion — along with a freeze order on every joint credit account he tried opening under your name. I’ll deliver the papers personally, in the boardroom.”
“Excellent,” I said, gazing out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the skyline. “Let’s see how comfortable Nathaniel feels in his four-million-dollar house once he no longer has a company left to pay the mortgage.”
At 1:45 p.m., Nathaniel sat at the head of the conference table on the top floor of Crawford BioVantage’s glass tower downtown. He wore his favorite bespoke Italian suit, straightening his silk tie in the reflection off his laptop screen.
Beside him, Beatrice sipped a cappuccino from a porcelain cup she’d brought from home. She’d insisted on tagging along to “celebrate” what she assumed would be the approval of Windham’s multi-million-dollar debt extension.
“I’m telling you, Nathaniel, you handled that worthless girl perfectly this morning,” Beatrice sneered, flicking a speck of dust off her Chanel jacket. “She thought she could trap you with a marriage license. Demanding three thousand a month was brilliant. Keeps these lower-class girls in their place.”
Nathaniel smirked, though a flicker of nerves showed in his eyes. “She’ll come crawling back by tomorrow, Mom. Where else is a PR assistant going to go? She’s probably spent the whole afternoon crying in some cheap coffee shop. Once she signs the agreement, I’ll let her sleep in the guest room.”
Before Beatrice could answer, the heavy frosted-glass doors of the boardroom swung open.
Three men in dark suits walked in, followed by Nathaniel’s lead financial advisor, his face completely drained of color. Behind them came Renée Castellan, her heels striking the polished terrazzo floor like gunshots.
Nathaniel stood, smoothing his jacket. “Ah, Ms. Castellan! We were expecting Windham’s underwriting team. Is the debt extension ready for my signature?”
Renée didn’t smile. She didn’t offer a hand. She gestured to the two guards behind her, who immediately shut and locked the boardroom doors.
