Chapter 4 - The Shadow in the Registry
By 4:00 p.m., Nathan and I were sitting in a quiet corner booth of an upscale restaurant two blocks from the courthouse, going over the preliminary data Nathan’s forensic team had pulled from public registry archives.
"You realize what this means, don't you?" Nathan said, sliding a printed corporate ownership chart across the table.
I traced the lines with my index finger. "Horizon Ventures isn't just a shell company for Jasmine."
"Exactly," Nathan nodded, taking a sip of his water. "Dig three layers deeper into the state corporate filings. Horizon was originally incorporated five years ago under a different name: Vanguard Holdings. And the original incorporating agent wasn't Jasmine Cole."
I looked closer at the document. My eyes landed on a familiar name listed as the primary legal signatory from half a decade ago.
Richard Vance.
My breath hitched. "Vance didn't just step in as Aaron’s divorce attorney last week. He’s been orchestrating Prescott Global’s underlying structure for years."
"Worse than that," Nathan said grimly. "Aaron probably doesn't even know. From what I’m gathering, Aaron was installed as the public face and CEO because of the Prescott family name and his social connections in Boston banking circles. But Vance and Jasmine—or whoever is pulling Jasmine's strings—have been slowly siphoning the company’s core assets into private holdings where the Prescott family has no legal claim."
I stared at the chart, the pieces suddenly locking together with terrifying clarity.
For three years, Aaron had been distant, exhausted, and paranoid. I had assumed it was an affair—that Jasmine was simply the glamorous colleague he spent his nights with. And she was. But the affair wasn't just a romantic betrayal; it was a mechanism of control. Jasmine was the wedge used to manage Aaron, keep him compliant, and ensure he signed whatever corporate documents Vance placed in front of him without asking questions.
I wasn't just the invisible wife. I was the only person in Aaron's immediate orbit who didn't have a financial stake in keeping him blind.
"He's going to lose everything," I murmured.
"If that audit goes through in seventy-two hours, Prescott Global will be placed into receivership," Nathan said. "The board will oust Aaron, the banks will call their loans, and the family name will be bankrupt before the divorce papers are even notarized."
"And Aaron?" I asked, looking up. "What happens to him?"
Nathan gave me a long, searching look. "Claire, after what he put you through—after the way he dismissed you, gaslit you, and let his mistress treat your home like a second office—why do you care what happens to him?"
I didn't answer immediately. I looked out the restaurant window at the grey Boston skyline, watching the streetlights flicker on against the gathering dusk.
I remembered the boy I had married three years ago—ambitious, eager to prove himself, terrified of living in his father’s shadow. I remembered the small apartment we shared before the Prescott money and the high-rise offices took over. He had been foolish, arrogant, and blind. But he hadn't been evil.
He had simply allowed himself to be dismantled piece by piece by people who were much smarter and much colder than he was.
"I don't care about saving Aaron's pride," I said quietly. "But I care about justice. And more importantly... my grandfather left me a twenty-two percent voting block in Sterling Capital. If Prescott Global goes under like this, the collateral damage will hit Marblehead and every other regional asset my family built over three generations."
My phone buzzed on the table.
An incoming call from an unknown number.
I let it ring twice, then swiped to answer.
"Claire?"
It was Aaron. His voice sounded hollow, stripped of all its corporate arrogance, cracking slightly around the edges.
"Where are you, Aaron?" I asked.
"They locked me out," he whispered.
I frowned. "Who locked you out?"
"The board. An hour after we left the courthouse, Vance called an emergency meeting. They voted to suspend my CEO credentials pending the forensic audit. When I went back to the office to get my things, my keycard didn't work."
A cold stillness settled over the table.
"And Jasmine?" I asked.
There was a long pause on the other end of the line, filled only with the sound of traffic and heavy breathing.
May you like
"Jasmine wasn't at her desk," Aaron said, his voice breaking. "When I asked HR where she was, they told me she resigned three hours ago. And Claire... her office was completely empty. Even the framed photos were gone."
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