Chapter 4 - THE FINANCIAL WAR
By midnight, the house was completely empty.
Judith and Kendra had fled in their cars, cursing and screaming as they hauled their half-packed duffel bags into their trunks. Derek had been forced to pack a single suitcase under the sharp, watchful eye of Marcus before being escorted off the premises.
I sat alone in my sunroom, holding a cup of hot chamomile tea, staring at the moonlight reflecting off the quiet garden. The silence of the house felt strange, but for the first time in years, the air didn't feel heavy. The suffocating weight of feeding parasitic people had finally been lifted.
The next morning, at 8:00 AM sharp, I walked into the downtown offices of Vance, Sterling & Associates—the premier forensic accounting and divorce law firm in Kansas City.
My attorney, Eleanor Vance, a razor-sharp woman in her fifties with a reputation for mercilessly dismantling dishonest spouses, sat across from me holding a copy of the forged deed.
"This is an open-and-shut case of aggravated identity theft, document forgery, and attempted grand larceny," Eleanor said, setting the papers down with a sharp clack. "If we press full criminal charges, Derek is looking at three to five years in state prison."
"What about his debts?" I asked. "He mentioned owing two hundred thousand dollars to private lenders in St. Louis."
Eleanor pulled up a financial disclosure file on her screen. "We ran a preliminary credit sweep on him this morning. It’s worse than you thought, Tessa. Derek opened four fraudulent business lines of credit using forged personal guarantees under your name over the last eighteen months."
My heart dropped into my stomach. "How much?"
"Total debt across all fraudulent accounts: $340,000," Eleanor said grimly. "He was using your high credit score to secure high-interest hard money loans to fund a secret online sports gambling habit and terrible crypto investments."
I closed my eyes, taking a slow, deep breath to steady my racing pulse. "Can those debts be tied to me in a divorce?"
Eleanor smiled—a cold, brilliant, predatory smile.
"Not a chance," Eleanor stated firmly. "Because every single loan application was executed via electronic forgery from an IP address originating at his mother’s apartment in Olathe while you were verifiable at your corporate office in Kansas City. We are going to file an emergency freeze on all marital liabilities, report the fraud to the federal banking authorities, and file for an expedited divorce on grounds of marital fraud and felony misconduct."
"What about custody of Lila?" I asked, my voice trembling slightly.
"Derek has no income, no stable residence, a pending felony investigation, and a documented history of child neglect," Eleanor said, leaning forward. "We are asking for sole legal and physical custody, with zero visitation until he completes a court-ordered psychological evaluation and substance abuse screening."
"Do it," I said without a single second of hesitation. "Dismantle him."
By 2:00 PM that afternoon, process servers served Derek, Judith, and Kendra with a series of legal notices that completely shattered their world:
A formal felony criminal complaint filed with the Johnson County District Attorney’s office for Deed Forgery and Bank Fraud.
A petition for emergency dissolution of marriage with an immediate order of protection barring Derek within 1,000 feet of myself and Lila.
A freeze order placed on every bank account associated with Derek’s name, halting all wire transfers to Vanguard Apex Properties.
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A civil lawsuit against Judith Hollis for unjust enrichment and conversion of stolen funds.
The trap had closed around them.
