Chapter 13 - The Reckoning in Nice
Eleanor’s face shifted through a grotesque pantheon of emotions—shock, terror, and finally, a pathetic attempt at aristocratic disdain.
""You think you’re very clever, don't you?"" Eleanor spat, clutching her cheap purse to her chest. ""Dragging this family through the mud! The scandal will blow over, and you will still be the nobody my son settled for!""
Claire didn't even raise her voice. She took a step toward the bed, looking down at the older woman with pure, unfiltered detachment.
""You called me a nobody while you paid for your couture dresses with my dead father’s money,"" Claire said, every syllable hitting like a hammer. ""You lived in luxury off checks I signed. You drove cars titled to my company. You are not royalty, Eleanor. You are an unemployed parasite who raised an embezzler.""
Eleanor choked on her breath, pressing a trembling hand to her throat.
Mark stepped forward, his hands raised placatingly, his arrogance completely gone, replaced by the desperate groveling of a cornered coward.
""Claire... please. Look at what happened. Things got out of hand. Sophia manipulated the entire structure, she tricked me! We can fix this. We’re still married. We can drop the extradition filings, consolidate the debt, and go home. I love you, Claire. You know everything I did was for our future.""
Claire looked at the man she had shared a bed with for twelve years. She saw right through the dark circles beneath his eyes, through the fake contrition, straight into the hollow pit of his character.
""There is no our future, Mark,"" Claire said.
She turned to the French process server, who stepped forward and handed Mark a thick stack of blue-backed legal documents.
""These are your uncontested divorce papers filed in New York under grounds of egregious financial fraud,"" Claire stated. ""In exchange for me not pursuing maximum criminal sentencing recommendations with the federal prosecutor, you will sign over every share of your firm, every right to the Hillcrest property, and every offshore account.""
May you like
Mark stared at the paperwork in his hands. ""And if I don't sign?""
Claire leaned in close, her eyes locking onto his with chilling intensity. ""Then you spend the next twelve years in a federal penitentiary in upstate New York, and Eleanor goes to an elder-care correctional facility in Danbury. Choose.""
