Chapter 96
No.1
August walked into the private sitting area of suite 412.
The room smelled of sterile hospital cleaner and Allena's heavy floral perfume. Allena was sitting on the plush leather sofa, carefully peeling an apple with a silver paring knife. Devon Browning was slouched in an armchair across from her, typing rapidly on his laptop.
August walked to the glass coffee table. He threw the crumpled manila envelope down. It hit the glass with a heavy, dull thud.
Devon paused his typing. He looked at the envelope, then up at August's dark, stormy face.
"What's that?" Devon asked, a mocking grin spreading across his face. "Did some startup CEO send you a threat?"
August rubbed his temples. A dull headache was throbbing behind his eyes.
"It's from Elisa," August said, his voice a low, cold rumble. "It's her divorce papers."
No.2
The silver knife in Allena's hand slipped. She accidentally sliced a thick chunk of apple flesh off,but she quickly recovered. She kept her head down,desperately hiding the massive, triumphant smile that threatened to split her face in half.
Devon let out a loud, obnoxious whistle.
"Finally," Devon laughed, leaning back in his chair."The leech is finally letting go. Come on,open it up. Let's see how many millions the crazy bitch is trying to extort from you."
August stared at the envelope. He remembered Elisa's dead eyes. He remembered her saying she didn't want a single penny.
He reached out and ripped the sealed flap open.He pulled out the thick stack of legal documents.He flipped past the cover letter and scanned the first page of the actual agreement.
His eyes darted across the dense legal text.Suddenly, his reading speed slowed. His pupils violently contracted. He blinked hard, thinking he had misread the words, and read the paragraph again.
The blood rushed to his face, turning his skin a dark,mottled red. The shock instantly mutated into a blinding,explosive rage.
No.3
"What is this?" August hissed, his voice shaking.
He flipped to the next page.
Clause 4.1: The Husband agrees to forfeit one hundred percent (100%) of his equity shares in the Chambers Group, transferring absolute ownership to the Wife.
August's hands began totremble. He flipped to the final page.
Clause 7.3: As compensation for emotional distress,the Husband agrees to place fifty-one percent (51%)of his personal voting shares into a blind trust, to be administered by the Wife's legal counsel for a period of ten (10) years.
A low, dark,terrifying laugh ripped out of August's throat. It sounded like a physical bark of madness.
Devon frowned. He stood up and walked over,leaning over August's shoulder to look at the papers.
No.4
Devon's eyes widened. He stared at the equity transfer clause, then read the voting shares clause.Devon threw his head back and erupted into a fit of hysterical,exaggerated laughter.
"Are you kidding me?!" Devon roared, slapping his knee. "She wants the whole company? And she wants to control your voting rights from beyond the grave? August, this isn't a divorce settlement!This is a script for a bad Hollywood extortion movie!The woman has completely lost her mind!"
Allena quickly set the apple down. She stood up and walked over, her eyes scanning the text.When she saw the voting trust clause, she immediately deployed her weapon.
Allena's lower lip trembled. Tears instantly welled in her eyes.
"She put that in there just to hurt me," Allena whimpered, pressing her face against August's shoulder. "She knows we want to be together.She ic so evil August. She is trving to trap vou."
August stared at the paper. The panic and the hollow feeling he had experienced in the hallway completely vanished.
It was replaced by a twisted,arrogant relief.
No.5
She wasn't discarding him. She didn't want to leave him at all. This absurd, impossible document was proof. She had drafted terms so ridiculous, so legally impossible to fulfill, because she wanted him to reject it. She was throwing a massive,theatrical tantrum to force him to negotiate, to force him to pay attention to her.
Her cold, dead eyes in the hallway? It was all an act.A pathetic, desperate act from a woman who couldn't bear to let go of his wealth and status.
"Crazy bitch," August muttered, his voice dripping with absolute, venomous contempt.
He grabbed the thick stack of legal papers with both hands. His knuckles turned white.
With a violent, aggressive jerk, August ripped the entire document in half.
The loud, sharp sound of tearing paper echoed through the sitting area. Allena physically jumped,letting out a small squeak of surprise, but her eyes gleamed with vicious satisfaction.
August stacked the two torn halves together. He gripped them and ripped them again. He tore the contract into tiny, jagged shreds.
No.6
He walked over to the metal trash can in the corner of the room and violently slammed the handful of
shredded paper into the bin.
He turned around. His face was a mask of cold,ruthless corporate tyranny.
"Devon," August commanded. "Text the Legal Department right now. Tell them to file an immediate injunction. I want every single bank account, trust fund, and credit line associated with Elisa Wilder frozen by midnight."
Devon grinned like a predator smelling blood. He pulled out his phone and started typing frantically."Consider it done. We'll starve her out."
"She wants to play extortion games?" August sneered, adjusting his cuffs. "I will make sure she doesn't have enough money to buy a cup of coffee.She will crawl back on her knees and beg me to drop the injunction."
August walked back to the sofa. He wrapped his arm around Allena's waist, pulling her tightly against him. He kissed the top of her head.
No.7
"Don't worry," August murmured. "She is not going to ruin anything."
Allena smiled, resting her head on his chest. She looked past him, staring at the shredded pieces of paper in the trash can.
Meanwhile, five miles away, in a dark, ultra-luxurious apartment on the Upper East Side.
A burner phone resting on a mahogany desk lit up.
A single text message appeared on the glowing screen: Target destroyed document.Proceeding.
A wrinkled, heavily manicured hand reached out of the shadows and picked up the phone. Germaine Chambers stared at the screen. A cold, reptilian smile stretched across her face, perfectly mirroring the madness unfolding in the hospital