Chapter 2 - THE SEVEN A.M. SLAUGHTER

By noon, the shockwaves had shattered Grant’s perfectly constructed alternate reality.

I sat in the plush leather chair of my private hospital suite, holding Lily against my chest. Her rhythmic breathing grounded me. My phone hadn't stopped buzzing for hours, but I only answered the calls that mattered. The board had officially instated me as interim CEO. The locks on the executive floors had been changed. Grant’s corporate credit cards were deactivated.

"He's furious," Miriam said, stepping into the room with a fresh cup of coffee. "He just tried to access the joint accounts. I had the bank freeze them the moment the board vote concluded. He has no access to the liquid capital."

"What about Vanessa's luxury apartment?" I asked, stroking Lily’s soft hair.

"Technically leased under Caldwell Meridian's executive housing program," Miriam replied with a sharp, satisfied grin. "I've already drafted the eviction notice. She has forty-eight hours to vacate company property."

I looked out the window at the sprawling Seattle skyline. Grant had always loved the view from the top. He loved the illusion of power. But he had forgotten who laid the foundation.

Across town, in the gleaming penthouse of the executive housing building, Grant was realizing exactly how little he actually owned.

According to the private investigator I had hired, Grant had stormed into Vanessa's apartment like a hurricane. Vanessa, a former marketing executive who had traded her career for the promise of being a billionaire’s wife, was waiting with their son. She had expected Grant to arrive with the signed divorce papers and the keys to my kingdom.

Instead, he arrived with nothing but the suit on his back and a pending criminal investigation.

My phone rang. It was a restricted number. I knew who it was. I swiped to answer and put it on speaker.

"Claire." Grant's voice was unrecognizable. The polished, suave CEO was gone. In his place was a desperate, cornered animal. "Claire, listen to me. We need to talk. You went too far today."

"I went exactly as far as the truth required, Grant," I replied smoothly.

"You're destroying my life! You're destroying the company!" he yelled, the sound of glass shattering echoing in the background. Vanessa was likely throwing things. "You can't do this. I built Caldwell Meridian. I made it what it is!"

"You sold what my mother invented," I corrected him. "You were a mouthpiece. A very expensive, very disloyal mouthpiece. And now, you're unemployed."

"I'll sue you," he snarled. "I'll drag your name through the mud. I'll tell the press you're mentally unstable. Postpartum psychosis. No one will trust a hysterical woman running a medical tech company."

"Do it," I challenged, leaning forward. "Call the press. Tell them how the 'hysterical woman' uncovered your shell companies. Tell them how you forged my signature while I was pushing your daughter into the world. Do you know what the penalty for forging a notarized document is in this state, Grant? It's a felony."

The line went dead quiet. He hadn't considered the legal ramifications of his hubris. He had honestly believed I would just cry, sign the papers, and disappear.

"I have nothing," he whispered, the reality finally breaking through his ego.

"You have exactly what you deserve," I said. "And Grant? I meant it when I said remember this moment. This is what it feels like to be nothing."

I hung up.

Miriam raised an eyebrow. "He's going to fight dirty."