Chapter 4 - The House of Cards
"What do you mean, the police are at his office?" I demanded, leaning toward the phone.
Brenda was sobbing now, heavy, frantic breaths echoing through the receiver. "I don't know! Some men in suits came into the lobby ten minutes ago with a court order. They seized Thomas's laptop, and they’re asking about Meridian Holdings. Thomas called me screaming, telling me to wipe my computer, but I don't know how! Emma, they’re going to arrest me. Tyler's school called; they won't let him back in until the tuition balance is cleared, and now my cards are frozen too. You have to tell your lawyer to stop this!"
I looked up at Amanda. Amanda hadn't even blinked; she was already shaking her head slowly from side to side, signaling a silent no.
"Brenda," I said, my voice cold and even. "I don't work for Thomas anymore. And I certainly don't work for you."
"You don't understand!" she shrieked, her voice cracking with hysteria. "Thomas lied to you! He lied to all of us! Meridian wasn't just his idea—he used my name because he said it was a tax loophole for the family, but he’s been moving money from clients that isn't—it isn't clean, Emma! If I go down, I'm taking him with me!"
"Then I suggest you tell the investigators everything you just told me," I replied, and ended the call.
The office fell silent again, save for the distant sound of seagulls outside. Amanda slowly leaned back in her leather chair, a slow, predatory smile touching the corner of her mouth.
"Well," Amanda said softly. "It appears we didn't even need to file the subpoena. Someone else beat us to it."
"Who?" I asked. "If Amanda didn't trigger the audit yet, and I didn't contact the firm..."
"Sterling & Sterling’s internal compliance department," Amanda said, picking up her pen again. "Corporate law firms don't wait for civil litigation when client funds are compromised. Once our asset freeze hit Thomas's primary accounts, it triggered an automated risk flag across his institutional banking profile. Compliance must have run a trace on his recent transfers and found Meridian Holdings automatically."
I stood up, walking over to the window to look down at the sun-drenched street below. The traffic moved in neat, orderly lines, entirely unaware of the tectonic shift happening just a few floors above them. For seven years, I had believed my role in my marriage was small, insignificant, and tolerated out of convenience. I had thought my consulting work was just a quiet safety net to keep groceries in the fridge while Thomas built his career.
Now, looking down at the street, I saw the truth with brutal clarity. The only reason Thomas’s fragile, fraudulent world had stayed upright for this long was because I was holding up the other side of the ceiling.
"He's going to try to pin it all on Brenda," I said quietly.
"Of course he is," Amanda agreed. "That's why he put her name on the paperwork. He built a scapegoat long before he built a savings account."
"Not if I can help it," I said, turning back around to face the desk.
Amanda raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Thomas thinks Brenda is his shield," I said, grabbing my purse. "He thinks she'll take the fall to protect the family name. But Brenda is terrified, and she’s selfish enough to save herself. I have the smart-speaker recordings from our living room—not just the one about the mortgage, but the ones where Thomas explicitly instructed Brenda on how to sign the Meridian wire transfers."
Amanda’s expression shifted from professional detachment to genuine admiration. "You kept the audio logs from the smart-speaker?"
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"All of them," I said. "Backed up to an encrypted cloud drive that Thomas doesn't even know exists. If Thomas thinks he can destroy me, throw me out with a suitcase, and walk away clean with a stash of stolen corporate funds while his sister takes the handcuffs, he is sorely mistaken."
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