Part 2: He Thought He Made Me Eat My Birthday Cake Off the Restaurant Floor in Front of Everyone—By the End of the Week I Owned the House, the Software, and the Ruins of His Empire...

The lobby of Aegis Logic was all brushed steel, glass partitions, and hydroponic plant walls. It looked modern, sleek, and utterly sterile.

When I walked through the glass turnstiles at 8:45 AM, the receptionist, a young girl named Jenny, jumped in her seat.

"Mrs... Mrs. Bennett!" she stammered, her eyes darting nervously. "I didn't know you were coming in today. Lucas said... I mean, Mr. Bennett mentioned you might be taking some personal time."

"Mr. Bennett is mistaken," I said, offering a tight, pleasant smile. "Is Chloe Campbell in her office?"

"She... yes, she came in early to prep the press releases for Thursday’s funding announcement."

"Wonderful. Thank you, Jenny."

I didn't knock. I pushed open Chloe’s frosted glass door with one hand.

Chloe was sitting behind her minimalist white desk, sipping a green smoothie and scrolling through an influencer boutique site. She was wearing a cream-colored silk blouse that I recognized immediately—it had been purchased on our corporate American Express card under the tag "Client Entertainment."

She looked up, startled, and the color instantly drained from her porcelain face.

"Sophia," she breathed, quickly minimizing her screen. "What... what are you doing here?"

"I work here, Chloe. In fact, as the Chief Financial Officer and sole director of Vanguard IP, I actually sign your paychecks." I stepped into the room, shut the door firmly behind me, and took the guest chair without asking.

Chloe tried to summon the arrogant sneer she’d worn at the restaurant last night, but her hands were trembling against the mousepad. "Look, about last night... Lucas was just stressed. You overreacted, and you made things really uncomfortable for everyone. You shouldn't take your marital problems out on the company."

"Last night was amateur hour, Chloe," I said smoothly, leaning forward. "This morning is business. Let’s talk about River North."

Her sneer vanished entirely. Her lips parted, frozen.

I opened my folder and laid three crisp sheets of paper on her desk.

"This is the lease agreement for Unit 14B at the Sterling Tower, signed by you, paid directly from the Aegis Logic operational reserve. This is an invoice for twenty-four thousand dollars for 'media consulting' billed to an LLC registered to your personal address in Naperville. And this," I tapped the third page, "is the report our IT director just ran showing that you downloaded twelve proprietary marketing schematics to an unencrypted thumb drive yesterday afternoon."

"I... Lucas authorized all of that!" she squeaked, tears of panic already pooling in her eyes. "He told me it was my bonus! He said you were crazy and that he was divorcing you anyway!"

"Lucas isn't the authorized administrator on the reserve fund. I am," I said, my voice dropping to a low, lethal whisper. "In approximately two hours, the board will convene. You have two choices, Chloe. You can pack your personal belongings into a cardboard box right now, hand over your keycard, and sign an affidavit detailing every penny Lucas directed you to siphon..."

"Or what?" she choked out.

"Or by noon, I hand these files to the State’s Attorney for corporate embezzlement and wire fraud. You’re twenty-six, Chloe. I don’t think silk blouses are standard issue at the Cook County Department of Corrections."

She stared at the papers. She looked at my face, searching for a flicker of hesitation, an ounce of mercy.

She found nothing.