Chapter 4 - The Audit
The morning sun cast long, cold shadows across the conference room at Baldwin & Associates. I sat at the head of the mahogany table, wearing a high-collared turtleneck that concealed the gauze bandages on my neck, though the skin beneath still burned with a dull, stinging heat.
Rachel sat to my right, while Marcus Vance, our forensic accountant, projected a complex web of financial transactions onto the smartboard.
“Mrs. Sterling,” Marcus began, clicking a laser pointer against the glowing screen. “As requested, we completed a deep forensic audit of all accounts connected to Tucker Sterling and his sister, Melanie.”
I watched the screen impassumately. Dozens of red-highlighted lines branched out from our joint accounts, moving directly into private offshore shells and personal ledgers belonging to Melanie.
“Over the last eighteen months,” Marcus continued, “Mr. Sterling systematically diverted approximately four hundred and eighty thousand dollars of corporate capital from Apex Capital subsidiaries into personal accounts to fund Ms. Cole’s lifestyle and business ventures. Furthermore, he falsified inventory records to mask the deficit.”
Rachel turned her laptop toward me so I could read the summary. “In plain English, Lydia? Your husband didn't just commit spousal abuse and domestic assault. He committed corporate embezzlement and grand larceny against the very lending company your father left you.”
I traced the edge of my coffee cup with my thumb. The pain in my face was nothing compared to the cold, hollow satisfaction blooming in my chest. For years, Tucker had made me feel small, incompetent, and entirely dependent on his goodwill. He had believed that by keeping me isolated, he owned me.
He had simply forgotten that people who build empires leave paper trails.
“Can we move for immediate asset seizure?” I asked, my voice steady and clear.
May you like
“The moment the judge signs the emergency injunction this morning,” Rachel smiled thinly. “His commercial properties, his luxury cars, his bank accounts—everything he acquired during the marriage, and everything he stole from the corporate reserves—will be frozen, attached, and placed under our direct receivership.”
“Do it,” I said.
