Chapter 3 - THE STRATEGY ROOM
By ten o'clock the next morning, I was sitting in a high-rise office building on Wacker Drive, across from Victoria Vance—one of the most feared divorce attorneys in Cook County.
Victoria was fifty-five, wearing a sharp charcoal blazer, her silver hair pulled back into an uncompromising bun. She reviewed the documents I had provided: the property deed, bank statements, text messages from Daniel, and the photographic evidence of the red mark on my cheek that I had taken the morning before.
“The apartment is airtight, Claire,” Victoria said, sliding the deed back across the mahogany desk. “You bought it two years before the marriage using sole funds. He has no claim to the real estate equity. However, because you’ve been married for three years, he will attempt to claim marital appreciation on the property value.”
“Let him try,” I said. “I’ve kept every contractor invoice and mortgage statement paid exclusively from my personal account.”
“Good,” Victoria smiled thinly. “Now, let’s talk about his mother. Did you file a police report for the assault?”
I hesitated for a second, then nodded. “I filed it at eight o'clock this morning at the 18th District station. I gave them the photos and a statement.”
“Excellent,” Victoria said, tapping her pen against her pad. “Because Daniel’s legal team will try to frame this as an emotional domestic dispute to force a favorable settlement. The police report changes the narrative. It makes his mother a criminal defendant and him an enabler of domestic violence.”
Just then, my laptop chimed with an urgent work notification.
It was an email from my firm’s managing director, Marcus Thorne.
Claire, I need you in my office at 1:00 PM. We’ve received a formal inquiry from an outside investor regarding your lead management on the Meridian Infrastructure Portfolio.
My heart took a sudden, heavy drop. The Meridian Portfolio was a $40 million commercial venture I had spent eighteen months building. It was the project that was supposed to earn me my partnership promotion at the firm next month.
And I knew exactly who the “outside investor” was.
Daniel’s uncle, Arthur Hayes, sat on the regional advisory board for several Midwest commercial funds.
Daniel wasn't just coming for my marriage. He was using his family’s corporate network to strike at my career.
Victoria noticed the shift in my posture. “What is it?”
May you like
I looked up from my laptop, my jaw setting hard. “My husband thinks he can ruin my job before the divorce papers are served.”
Victoria leaned back in her leather chair, a razor-sharp smile playing on her lips. “Then let’s make sure his lawyers know that every dollar he tries to take from your career will cost him double in the marital asset division.”
