Chapter 4 - The Courtroom Ambush
Three weeks later, the emergency custody and asset mediation hearing took place.
I walked into the courthouse wearing a tailored navy maternity suit, looking radiant, rested, and entirely unbothered. Sterling looked like he hadn't slept in a month. He sat across the heavy mahogany table, flanked by an overpriced attorney he was likely paying on credit. Sloane was not there; she had quickly realized that dating a broke, federally investigated pariah wasn't as glamorous as she had hoped.
"My client is willing to offer a generous settlement," Sterling’s lawyer began, sweating under Diane’s icy glare. "A two-thousand-dollar monthly stipend, provided Evelyn returns the stolen financial documents and signs a strict non-disclosure agreement regarding his business practices."
Sterling smirked, leaning back in his chair. "Take the deal, Evelyn. You have no income. You're giving birth in three weeks. You can't afford to fight me."
Diane laughed. It was a sharp, biting sound that made the mediator flinch.
"My client doesn't need your two thousand dollars, Sterling," Diane said, sliding a massive, certified financial statement across the table. "Evelyn is the sole owner and CEO of a digital publishing corporation that netted four point two million dollars in post-tax profit over the last eleven months. She is entirely self-sufficient."
Sterling stared at the financial statement, all the blood draining from his face. "That... that's impossible. She just plays on her phone all day."
"She was executing high-level traffic arbitrage while you were cheating on her," Diane corrected smoothly. "Furthermore, we aren't here to negotiate a settlement. We are here to inform you that the financial ledgers Evelyn procured have been officially handed over to the IRS Criminal Investigation Division. You are facing decades in federal prison."
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I leaned forward, looking directly into the hollow, terrified eyes of the man who had tried to break me.
"You asked me how I thought I could walk out of that city, and with what money," I said, my voice completely devoid of pity. "I walked out with my own money. And you are walking out with absolutely nothing."
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