Chapter 8 - The Reckoning
"Welcome home, Richard," I said smoothly. "How was Aspen? How is Pamela?"
The color drained from Richard’s face so fast he looked ill. Evelyn gasped, clutching her designer handbag to her chest.
"I... I don't know what you're talking about," Richard stammered, his eyes darting wildly. "Pamela? The broker? She wasn't in Aspen."
"Please," Marcus interjected, stepping forward with a crisp manila envelope. "Do not insult our intelligence. We have the flight manifests, the hotel registry, and the drafted documents for Apex Ventures."
Richard physically recoiled. The mention of the holding company broke him. He realized in a fraction of a second that the game was entirely over. The smug, condescending husband who had spent years telling me I was incompetent was gone, replaced by a desperate, panicked fraudster.
"You can't do this," Evelyn screeched, stepping forward. "Half of everything belongs to him! He ran that company for you!"
"He embezzled from it," I corrected her sharply. "And you helped him, Evelyn. Your name is on the Apex registry. Which makes you an accessory to corporate fraud."
I stepped out onto the porch and handed Richard a thick stack of papers. "These are divorce papers. These are the termination papers for your employment. And these are the civil suits filed against you. Your accounts are frozen. Your access to the company is revoked. Your belongings are in boxes in the garage. You have exactly five minutes to load them into your town car before I have you arrested for trespassing."
Richard looked at me, his jaw trembling. He tried to muster his old arrogance. "You're nothing without me," he spat. "You'll run that company into the ground."
From down the hallway, a clear, confident voice rang out.
May you like
"My mom is the boss," Mateo said.
Richard stared in absolute shock at the boy he thought couldn't speak, the boy whose intelligence he had dismissed for years. Mateo stood tall, holding my hand, looking his father dead in the eye.
