Chapter 4 - The Shoebox Explodes
Jerome pulled a stack of paper from the folder and slid the first sheet across the polished mahogany table. It stopped directly in front of Scott.
“Exhibit A,” Jerome announced, his voice suddenly snapping like a whip. “A receipt from the St. Regis Hotel, dated seven months ago. A luxury suite booked under the name Scott Hastings, accompanied by a room service charge for two bottles of Dom Pérignon. You were married to my client at this time. Were you drinking two bottles of champagne alone, Mr. Hastings?”
Scott’s arrogant smirk faltered. He stared at the receipt, his jaw tightening. “I… that was a business trip. I entertained a client.”
“A client,” Jerome repeated dryly. He slid another piece of paper across the table. “Exhibit B. A receipt from Cartier, dated five months ago. A diamond tennis bracelet. My client, Avery, never received this bracelet. However, I notice Ms. Jensen is currently wearing a remarkably similar piece of jewelry on her left wrist today.”
Kayla instinctively yanked her arm under the table, her face draining of color. Scott’s lawyer, Vance, sat up straight, suddenly looking very nervous. “Now, hold on a minute—”
“I am not finished,” Jerome barked, the absolute authority in his voice silencing the room. He began pulling out receipts from the shoebox faster now, raining them down onto the table like a deadly storm. “Dinner at Le Bernardin, four months ago. A weekend getaway to Aspen, three months ago. A charge for a private couples massage in Belize. Six months of systematic, documented, expensive infidelity. All funded by joint marital accounts, all while you were legally bound to my client.”
Scott’s face turned a mottled, angry red. “You went through my things?!” he yelled, slamming his fist on the table and glaring at me. “You psycho! You stole my private documents!”
“I secured marital assets,” I said, my voice cold and steady. “And it’s a good thing I did, considering you just committed perjury on the record.”
“This is irrelevant!” Scott shouted, looking at his lawyer for help. “It’s a no-fault state! Who cares who I slept with? I’m filing for divorce, the house is mine, and she gets nothing! I want the papers signed today!”
Jerome leaned back, a dark, triumphant gleam in his eye. “You’re quite right, Mr. Hastings. In a standard divorce, infidelity might only affect alimony. But this isn't a standard divorce, is it? Because we aren't just here to divide your marital assets. We are here to discuss your grandmother’s estate.”
The color completely vanished from Scott’s face. He looked as though he had been physically struck. “How… how do you know about that?”
“Eleanor’s will is a matter of public probate record, Scott,” Jerome said gently, as if explaining something to a slow child. “And it seems you neglected to tell your attorney about a very specific morality clause buried on page twelve.”
Jerome slid a final, highlighted document across the table. Scott’s lawyer grabbed it, his eyes darting frantically across the text. As Vance read the clause, his face twisted in horror. He slowly lowered the paper and looked at his client with pure disgust.
“You idiot,” Vance whispered. “You told me she left it to you free and clear. You told me the rush was just to avoid taxes.”
“What does it say?” Kayla demanded, her voice shrill and panicked. She snatched the paper from the lawyer’s hand. Her eyes scanned the highlighted yellow text. “...the entirety of this estate shall bypass Scott David Hastings entirely... irrevocably transferred in full to my granddaughter-in-law, Avery Hastings...”
Kayla dropped the paper as if it were on fire. She turned slowly to look at Scott. “Scott? What does this mean? What about the seven million dollars? What about the house we were going to buy?”
Scott was hyperventilating. He looked at me, his eyes wide with a desperate, feral panic. “Avery, please. You can't do this. That’s my family’s money. That’s my grandmother!”
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“Your grandmother,” I said, leaning forward so he could see the absolute zero in my eyes, “hated what you became. She knew exactly what you were doing. She set this trap, Scott. I just triggered it.”
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