Chapter 6 - The Table Turned
Two weeks later, Richard sat in a dilapidated coffee shop on the outskirts of Queens. His expensive suits were gone, replaced by a wrinkled jacket. His sports car had been repossessed, his mother’s boutique was shut down, and Vanessa had abandoned him the moment her bank accounts were frozen by the pending lawsuit.
His phone rang. It was his lead attorney, who sounded exhausted.
"Richard, I have the final divorce settlement from Maya’s legal team," the lawyer said.
"What does she want?" Richard asked desperately, his voice trembling. "Does she want the house? The car? What is she taking?"
"She isn't taking anything from you, Richard," the lawyer replied bluntly. "Because you have nothing left to take. She is asking for sole custody of Lily. You will have to pay basic child support based on your future income, and you are barred from approaching her or the child without a court monitor."
"She can't do this!" Richard yelled, slamming his hand on the Formica table. "I'm her husband! I made her who she is!"
"No, Richard," the lawyer corrected coldly. "She made you. The only reason Vanguard didn't pull your firm's credit years ago was because of an automated grace period linked to her name on your marriage certificate. You destroyed your own foundation the moment you treated her like trash."
The lawyer hung up, leaving Richard staring at his reflection in the dark screen of his phone.
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A few blocks away, Olivia was forced to sell her high-end jewelry at a fraction of its value just to cover the legal fees and back rent for her closed store. The arrogance that had defined her family for decades had been utterly dismantled by the very woman they had tried to crush.
Vanessa was facing severe financial penalties and had been publicly blacklisted from every major public relations and marketing firm in the city due to the viral scandal. The very video she had posted to humiliate Maya had become the primary evidence used to ruin her professional career.
