Chapter 3 - Retaining the Shark
The law offices of Vance, Sterling & Croft occupied the thirty-second floor of the Huntington Center, overlooking the scioto river.
By 9:00 AM on Monday, I was sitting across a slab of polished quartz from Evelyn Vance. Evelyn was fifty-two years old, possessed razor-sharp silver-streaked hair, and had a reputation in central Ohio that made opposing attorneys sweat through their tailored suits. She didn’t smile often, but when she did, it was usually because an opposing party had committed perjury on the record.
She reviewed the printouts I had laid across her desk with surgical efficiency. Her red pen flicked against the margins like a metronome.
“This is extraordinary,” Evelyn murmured, flipping a page. “Most spouses who attempt to hide assets use layered shell companies or offshore crypto wallets. Your husband used a credit union twenty miles away and his sister’s maiden name.”
“Daniel is arrogant,” I said calmly, sipping the black coffee Evelyn’s assistant had brought me. “He’s always believed he was the smartest person in any room. Especially rooms that I was in.”
Evelyn leaned back, folding her hands over the documents. “Rachel, what you have here isn’t just evidence for an equitable distribution claim. In the state of Ohio, the fraudulent dissipation of marital assets during or immediately preceding a divorce action is taken very seriously by the domestic relations court. Under Ohio Revised Code Section 3105.171, if a spouse engages in financial misconduct—including the concealment, dissipation, or fraudulent transfer of assets—the court may compensate the offended spouse with a distributive award or greater share of the remaining marital property.”
“And the fact that his sister is a co-signatory?” I asked.
A thin, dangerous smile appeared on Evelyn’s lips. “That opens Vanessa up to third-party joinder. We can drag her directly into the divorce proceedings as a co-defendant. We can subpoena her personal bank accounts, her tax returns, and depose her under penalty of perjury. If she knowingly conspired with Daniel to hide marital funds from you, she isn't just an annoying sister-in-law anymore. She’s an accomplice to financial fraud.”
Before I could reply, my phone vibrated violently against my handbag.
I glanced down at the illuminated screen. It was Daniel.
*“Check your work email,”* his text message read. *“The process server just notified me you weren’t at your desk. Don’t make this difficult by dodging service, Rachel. Let’s handle this with some dignity. I sent a settlement proposal to your personal address. Sign it, and we can be done in sixty days.”*
I opened the document on my phone and handed it across the desk to Evelyn.
Evelyn scanned the digital proposal, her eyebrows arching higher with every second.
“He wants the marital residence,” Evelyn read aloud, her voice dripping with dry amusement. “He claims that because his accounting practice is operated locally and he uses the home office for client consultations, it’s vital to his livelihood. In exchange, he’s graciously offering to let you keep your 401(k) and your vehicle without offset. No spousal support. Each party pays their own legal fees.”
“He knows my 401(k) is heavily funded because I’ve been contributing to it for twelve years,” I said. “He’s trying to trade an asset that belongs mostly to me anyway for a four-bedroom house with $220,000 in built-up equity.”
“It’s an insult,” Evelyn said plainly. “He thinks you’re broken. He thinks you’re sitting in an office restroom crying your eyes out, terrified of legal bills.”
Evelyn leaned forward, her silver eyes locking onto mine. “Rachel, are you ready for a knife fight? Because Daniel Mercer has just handed us the handle, the blade, and the whetstone.”
“I’m ready,” I said without hesitation. Then I paused, smoothing my blouse over my stomach. “There is one more thing you need to know, Evelyn.”
Evelyn paused, pen hovering. “Go on.”
“I’m eight weeks pregnant.”
The room went dead silent. The hum of the skyscraper’s ventilation system was the only sound.
Evelyn slowly lowered her pen. The professional detachment on her face softened for a fraction of a second into genuine human concern before hardening into pure, unadulterated steel.
“Does he know?” she asked quietly.
“No. He announced the divorce before I could tell him. I had the ultrasound in my purse at the restaurant.”
Evelyn took a slow, deliberate breath. “Keep it that way for now. We will disclose the pregnancy at the mandatory statutory disclosure phase, when his formal financial affidavits are locked in under oath. When he commits on paper that he has no impending child obligations and signs his sworn financial disclosures, we will drop the bomb.”
She stood up, extending a firm hand across the desk.
May you like
“Go home, Rachel. Rest. Eat well. Let me handle Daniel. By the time this is over, he’s going to wish he had stayed in that booth and ordered dessert.”
***
