Chapter 5 - The Eviction
Julian didn't try to run.
He couldn't.
His legs gave out, and he collapsed into the nearest chair.
The federal agents read him his rights and handcuffed him right in front of the board of directors.
Victoria tried to distance herself immediately.
"He forced me!" she cried. "He said if I didn't sleep with him, we wouldn't get the bid!"
"Save it for the judge," an agent told her, snapping a pair of handcuffs onto her wrists as well.
As the agents led Julian past me, he looked at the bruising on my cheek and my splinted finger.
The arrogance was completely gone.
"Elena, please," he begged, tears streaming down his face. "I'm your husband."
"Not anymore," I said.
I reached into my pocket and handed him a folded document.
It wasn't just a divorce petition.
It was an emergency restraining order, backed by the hospital records and X-rays of the injuries he had given me.
"And Julian?" I added softly.
He looked back at me, his eyes wide with terror.
"I want my house keys back."
Six months later, Julian and Victoria were both sentenced to federal prison for corporate espionage and wire fraud.
Julian received an additional sentence for domestic assault.
The forty-million-dollar contract was awarded to a legitimate vendor.
I kept the house, changed the locks again, and threw away the crystal glasses Victoria had used.
Julian had thought I was a problem he could just lock out.
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He didn't realize that when you lock a woman out of her own life, she doesn't just walk away.
She burns the whole house down and builds a better one on the ashes.
