Chapter 18 - The Checkmate
At that precise moment, the heavy glass doors of the boardroom opened again. The estate’s lead compliance officer entered, flanked by two grim-faced private investigators holding thick manila envelopes.
Derek’s cheap lawyer took one look at the incoming storm, closed his briefcase with a loud snap, and physically stepped away from the table. "I cannot represent clients who have lied to me about the nature of their criminal exposure," he muttered, effectively abandoning them on the spot.
Naomi didn't miss a beat. She listed the consequences with the calm, brutal efficiency of an executioner reading a sentence.
"The emergency protective order will become permanent," Naomi stated. "Divorce papers were filed this morning, citing extreme cruelty and abandonment. Mr. Grant, your personal and business accounts are currently frozen pending a federal review of fraudulent transfers you attempted to make out of the joint accounts."
Derek slumped in his chair, putting his head in his hands.
"Furthermore," Naomi continued, "the local police are actively investigating charges of assault, reckless endangerment of a pregnant woman, and financial coercion. Grant Holdings is also filing a massive civil suit against you for falsifying authorization forms regarding the trust."
Naomi then turned her cold gaze to Vivian.
May you like
"Your country club membership is irrelevant to us, Vivian. But your position on three prestigious children's charity boards is not. By five o'clock this evening, the ethics committee of each of those boards will receive a copy of the audio recording in which you actively plan to portray an abused pregnant woman as mentally unstable for your own financial gain."
Vivian gasped, clutching her chest as if she had been shot. Her entire social standing, her entire identity, was instantly obliterated.
