Chapter 4 - The Corporate Ambush
By Friday morning, the trap was fully set.
I told Miles that I had to drop some medical reimbursement forms off near his office downtown, and suggested we meet for coffee. He agreed, completely unsuspecting.
When I arrived at the sleek, glass-walled lobby of his financial firm, I didn't wait at the coffee shop. I walked straight up to the receptionist on his floor. I was dressed in a sharp, tailored navy suit, looking nothing like the frantic, postpartum housewife Miles had painted me out to be.
"Hi, I'm Catriona, Miles's wife," I said politely. "I'm actually here to see Brenda in Human Resources regarding my husband's benefits glitch. She’s expecting me."
Brenda, the HR Director, welcomed me into her office. I had called her the day before, explaining that I needed to clarify a severe issue regarding my newborn's coverage. A few moments later, I texted Miles to come to Brenda's office immediately.
When Miles walked through the frosted glass door and saw me sitting across from the HR Director, the color rapidly drained from his face.
"Cat? What are you doing here?" he stammered, his eyes darting between me and Brenda. "I told you I was handling this."
"I know, Miles," I said calmly. "But Brenda and I were just reviewing the system logs. Brenda, could you please repeat what you just told me about the so-called glitch?"
Brenda looked incredibly uncomfortable but maintained her professional composure. "Miles, as I explained to you yesterday over email, there was no system glitch. The IT logs show that you manually logged into the portal from your home IP address, bypassed the dependent screen, and actively clicked the box titled 'Waive All Dependent Coverage.' You then completed a digital signature confirming this choice."
Miles swallowed hard, sweating through his expensive dress shirt. "That... that has to be an error. The interface was confusing."
"It wasn't confusing, Miles," I interrupted, reaching into my leather tote bag. I pulled out a thick, sealed envelope and slapped it onto Brenda’s desk. "You knew exactly what you were clicking. You just didn't want the premium deduction to alert me to the fact that you needed extra cash."
I pulled out the printed screenshots of his iMessages and spread them across the table.
"Because adding your daughter to your insurance would have ruined your budget for your ski trip to Aspen with Sienna," I stated, my voice echoing like a judge's gavel in the small office.
Brenda gasped, her hand flying to her mouth as she looked at the explicit, damning texts lying on her desk. Miles physically staggered backward, hitting the doorframe.
"Cat... please, let's go home and talk about this," Miles begged, his arrogant facade completely shattered, replaced by the pathetic whimpering of a cornered coward.
"We don't have a home anymore, Miles. I terminated the lease yesterday," I said, standing up. I handed him the sealed envelope. "Those are divorce papers. I have sole physical custody of Louisa. My lawyer has already filed for an emergency freeze on your assets due to financial dissipation."
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I turned to Brenda, who was staring at Miles with absolute disgust. "Brenda, I believe misusing company time and resources to facilitate marital fraud and explicitly lying to HR regarding benefits policies violates several clauses in your corporate code of conduct."
"It does," Brenda said coldly, glaring at Miles. "Miles, we will be conducting an immediate review of your employment."
