Chapter 6 - The Deposition
Three weeks later.
The conference room on the forty-second floor of the Vance Tower overlooked the entire city. Rain streaked the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, blurring the cityscape into soft pastel tones.
Inside, the atmosphere was as sharp as a razor.
On one side of the long mahogany table sat Adrian, flanked by two court-appointed defense attorneys. The high-priced legal team he had originally hired had withdrawn after his bank accounts were frozen and his corporate entities collapsed into bankruptcy. He wore a navy suit that was slightly too large for him—he had lost weight in jail—and his hair was unstyled, dark circles heavy beneath his hollow eyes.
Beside him sat Vanessa, looking pale, her lavish demeanor completely stripped away. She wore a simple gray wool sweater and no makeup, her eyes darting nervously toward the door every time it opened.
On our side sat Marcus, acting not as a judge—since he had recused himself from any judicial oversight of the case—but as my senior legal advisor. Next to him was Julian, accompanied by a team of three forensic accountants, and Caleb, who sat quietly in his uniform, taking notes in a blue folder.
I sat at the center of the table, dressed in a sharp, tailored ivory suit. No diamond jewelry. No elaborate makeup. Just me.
“We are on the record,” Marcus’s former law partner, now acting as lead civil counsel, announced, clicking a recording device on the table. “This is the preliminary deposition regarding the liquidation of Vale Enterprises and the settlement of the divorce action between Elena Vance and Adrian Vale.”
Adrian looked across the table at me, his eyes pleading, desperate, filled with a sickening mix of anger and fear.
“Elena,” he began, his voice raspy. “Can we please speak privately? Just five minutes. Without your brothers.”
“Mr. Vale,” my attorney interrupted smoothly. “Direct your responses to counsel. Your wife has no interest in private discussions.”
“She’s my wife!” Adrian snapped, slamming his hand on the table—a shadow of his former dominance, but now it looked weak, childish.
“I am not your wife, Adrian,” I said, speaking for the first time. My voice was calm, steady, echoing clearly in the vast room. “The court granted an emergency annulment two days ago on the grounds of fraud and misrepresentation.”
Adrian flinched as if I had struck him. “Annulment? We were married for eight years!”
“You were married to a lie for eight years,” Julian corrected, tossing a thick document onto the center of the table. “This is the final audit report from the state attorney general’s office. It details forty-seven distinct instances of wire fraud, tax evasion, and embezzlement from the Vale Foundation.”
Julian turned to Vanessa. “And Miss Sterling, this section details the 3.4 million dollars transferred into your offshore accounts. The Swiss authority has already executed the mutual legal assistance treaty request. The funds have been seized and returned to the receivership.”
Vanessa let out a small, strangled gasp, putting her head in her hands. “I didn't know... Adrian told me it was his money! He said it was his consulting fees!”
“Shut up, Vanessa!” Adrian growled, turning on her with the same sharp aggression he had once reserved for me. “Don't say another word!”
“Let her speak, Mr. Vale,” Caleb said quietly from his chair. “Everything she says is being recorded, and it will all be included in the state prosecutor’s file for your sentencing hearing next month.”
Adrian slumped back into his chair, his shoulders caving in. The terrifying, controlling figure who had dominated my life for nearly a decade had been reduced to an empty shell, caught in a web of his own creation.
“Why?” Adrian asked, looking at me with genuine confusion—the confusion of a predator who couldn't understand how the prey had turned around and consumed him. “Why didn't you tell me who you were? Why did you let me believe you had nothing?”
I looked at him, feeling no anger, no hatred—only a vast, clean freedom.
“Because if I had told you,” I said softly, “you would have loved my name, my money, and my family’s power. I wanted to see if you could love me.”
May you like
I paused, letting the silence settle over the room.
“And you showed me exactly who you were when you thought I had nothing to defend myself with.”