Chapter 4 - THE GOLDEN PARASITE’S PANIC
By 9:00 AM the following morning, Sienna was already sitting in the corner conference room on the forty-second floor of the Meridian Tower in downtown Phoenix.
The morning sun reflected off the chrome and glass skyline. On the mahogany conference table sat an untouched espresso, a tablet displaying financial spreadsheets, and an ice pack that Sienna held gently against the swelling on her lower lip.
Across from her sat Victoria Sterling. Victoria was sixty years old, possessed razor-sharp gray eyes, and was known in the legal community as the "Black Widow of Maricopa County." When Victoria Sterling walked into a family courtroom, opposing attorneys routinely broke into cold sweats.
"The prenuptial agreement you executed five years ago is a masterwork, Sienna," Victoria said, turning a crisp page of the binder. "You drafted it through your own legal counsel without using Christian’s family attorneys. It completely waives spousal support in the event of documented domestic assault or infidelity, preserves all pre-marital assets, and designates any commingled funds spent on his family as revocable unsecured personal gifts, not marital property."
"Can he claim half of my stock options at Meridian Global?" Sienna asked.
"Not a single share," Victoria replied with a cold, predatory smile. "He signed away all rights to your equity compensation in Exhibit C. Christian’s financial illiteracy was your greatest shield. He was so eager to marry a woman who made seven figures that he signed whatever paper you put in front of him, assuming he could manipulate you out of the money later."
"And Gwen?"
"Gwen spent the night in the central booking holding tank," Victoria said smoothly. "Her bail hearing was scheduled for 8:30 AM. A public defender handled it because Christian couldn't afford a private bondsman. She was released on her own recognizance thirty minutes ago, with an emergency protective order barring her from coming within five hundred feet of you, your home, or your workplace."
Right on cue, the glass doors of the executive suite rattled.
A commotion broke out in the outer lobby. Shouts, the click of high heels running across polished granite, and the desperate voices of building security echoed into the boardroom.
"Let go of me! Do you know who I am?!"
The boardroom door flew open.
Chloe Mercer burst through, her makeup smeared, her platinum-dyed hair a tangled mess from an all-night drive back from Las Vegas. She was wearing yesterday’s designer silk sundress, her eyes bloodshot with rage.
Two burly security guards grabbed her by the arms, but Chloe fought them like a wild animal.
"Sienna! You sociopathic bitch!" Chloe screamed, spitting as she struggled against the guards. "You left me stranded in Las Vegas! They took my luggage! The hotel held my bags as collateral because your stupid card declined! My friends had to pay for my gas just so I could drive back here!"
Sienna didn't stand up. She didn't raise her voice. She slowly lowered the ice pack to the table, revealing her swollen, stitched lip.
"Chloe," Sienna said mildly. "You are trespassing in a secure corporate headquarters."
"I don't give a damn!" Chloe shrieked, pointing a shaking, acrylic-tipped finger at Sienna. "You cut off my phone! You kicked Mom out of her own house! She’s sitting in a diner in dirty clothes because you had her arrested! What is wrong with you? Who do you think you are?!"
"I am the person who paid forty thousand dollars for your private art school tuition, which you flunked out of," Sienna said, her voice cutting through Chloe’s hysteria like a scalpel. "I am the person who paid the four-thousand-dollar monthly lease on your convertible. And I am the person who paid the rent on your luxury two-bedroom loft in Old Town Scottsdale."
Chloe froze. Her eyes widened. "What... what do you mean, paid?"
Sienna picked up her tablet and tapped the screen twice.
"The lease on your Scottsdale loft was held under my corporate subsidiary, Chloe. As of midnight, I broke the lease. Your landlord has already been notified. Movers are packing your things right now and delivering them to Christian’s car."
"You can't do that!" Chloe wailed, her voice cracking into pure, terrified panic. "Where am I supposed to live?!"
"You are twenty-four years old," Sienna replied coldly. "I suggest you update your resume and find an entry-level job. Security, remove this trespasser. If she steps foot on this floor again, have the city prosecutor file felony stalking charges."
"Sienna! Please! You can't do this to family!" Chloe screamed as the guards dragged her backward out of the glass doors, her heels skidding uselessly along the marble floor. "Christian will destroy you! Mom will destroy you!"
The heavy oak doors clicked shut, cutting off the girl’s screams.
May you like
Victoria Sterling adjusted her reading glasses, a thin smile playing on her lips. "Well. That was invigorating. Now, Sienna... shall we move on to Christian’s secret accounts?"
***