Chapter 3 - The Financial Web Unravels
I checked into a quiet boutique hotel in downtown Asheville. As Zoey slept peacefully on the king-sized bed, I sat at the glass desk with my laptop open.
I called my personal attorney, Eleanor Vance, at 8:00 AM the next morning. "I need a divorce, Eleanor. And I need an emergency restraining order for my daughter against my mother-in-law."
"The video evidence is clear-cut child endangerment and battery," Eleanor said. "We also need to do an immediate audit of all bank accounts, corporate holdings, and marital property."
By noon, I drove back to the apartment with two private security officers. Carol was sitting on her packed suitcases in the entryway, red-eyed, surrounded by boxes. When Carol saw me walk in with security guards, her face twisted in rage.
"You monster! You brought mercenaries to throw your mother-in-law onto the street?" she shrieked. "Thomas, show her who is the master of this house!"
"There is no master here, Carol," I said. "This apartment was purchased with the proceeds of my company's seed round before I married Thomas. The deed is in my name alone. You have thirty minutes to load your boxes into the moving van outside, or these officers will remove you for trespassing."
As Carol and Jackson were ushered down to the moving truck, my phone rang. It was Eleanor.
May you like
"Jade," Eleanor’s voice was unnaturally sharp. "My forensic accountant just finished the preliminary sweep of Botanica Jade's accounts. Over the last eighteen months, Thomas has siphoned over $650,000 out of your corporate accounts into a shell company registered under his brother's name. And three weeks ago, he took out a $300,000 business loan against your company's intellectual property without your authorization by forging your signature."
My blood ran cold. I looked at Thomas. His eyes flickered with sudden panic as he read the sheer shock and dawning fury on my face.
