Chapter 6 - The Total Collapse
Kyle blinked, his brain short-circuiting at the word wife.
"Wife?" Kyle scoffed, attempting to regain his footing. He pointed a trembling finger at me. "She’s lying to you, pal. She’s my wife. We never got divorced. She’s committing bigamy, and she owes me half of everything she’s built!"
Julian let out a low, dark laugh that carried no humor. "You really are as stupid as she described."
I stepped forward, closing the distance between me and the man who had tormented my youth. "Kyle, do you honestly think a woman who manages millions of dollars in corporate equity would leave a legal loose end tied to a parasite like you?"
Kyle's face flushed red. "You never served me papers! I would know!"
"You were unlocatable," I explained slowly, as if speaking to a child. "You lost your home after your viral stunt. You didn't leave a forwarding address. My attorneys filed for divorce in absentia on the grounds of abandonment and domestic abuse. A judge granted it three years ago. The decree was published in the legal notices of your local paper for four consecutive weeks. The fact that you couldn't afford a newspaper subscription is not my problem."
The words struck him like physical blows. The realization that he had no legal claim, no leverage, and no payout began to sink in.
"No... no, that's illegal!" Kyle stammered, panic finally rising in his chest. "You stole my money when you left! Seventy-five grand!"
"That money was entirely from my salary, deposited into an account bearing only my name," I corrected coldly. "But let's talk about money, Kyle."
Julian reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and pulled out a slim, folded document. He handed it to Kyle, who took it with shaking hands.
"What is this?" Kyle asked, staring at the financial seal on the paper.
"I am the CEO of Sterling Acquisitions," Julian said softly. "When my wife told me that you had magically appeared in our city two days ago, I had my team do a little digging into your current financial situation. It turns out, you owe over a hundred and twenty thousand dollars in legal judgments and outstanding loans to a variety of extremely aggressive creditors."
Kyle went completely pale.
"I bought your debt this morning, Kyle," Julian continued, his voice perfectly pleasant but laced with lethal intent. "All of it. Every single penny. Which means I am now your sole creditor. And as of 9:00 AM tomorrow, I am calling in the full balance. When you inevitably default, my legal team will seize whatever miserable assets you have left, garnish any wages you ever manage to earn for the rest of your life, and ensure you cannot so much as secure a lease on a studio apartment without my explicit permission."
Kyle stood entirely paralyzed. The document in his hands was shaking violently. The confident, mocking prankster who had left me in the desert to die was gone, replaced by a broken, terrified shell of a man realizing he had just walked into his own execution.
"You... you can't do this," Kyle whispered, tears of genuine fear finally welling in his eyes. He looked at me, begging. "Lena, please. I have nothing. I'm sorry. I was stupid. Just... just call him off. Please."
I looked at the man begging for mercy in front of me. I searched my heart for any lingering shred of sympathy, any small piece of the girl who used to love him.
There was nothing.
"Good luck, Kyle," I said softly. "It's a long walk home."
Julian raised two fingers in the air. Immediately, three massive, impeccably dressed hotel security guards materialized from the crowd.
May you like
"This gentleman is trespassing," Julian instructed the guards. "Escort him off the property. If he resists, call the police."
Kyle didn't fight. He didn't shout. As the guards took him by the arms, all the fight completely left his body. The last image I ever had of my ex-husband was him being marched through the glittering ballroom doors, his head bowed, humiliated and utterly defeated, disappearing into the dark, rainy Seattle night.
