Chapter 2 - THE THREE MILLION DOLLAR MISTRESS
Corbin called Selena the next morning.
Not to ask whether she had slept.
Not to ask whether she needed help packing her parents’ home.
He wanted the divorce papers signed.
“I’d like this to stay civilized.”
Selena almost laughed.
“You served me at a cemetery.”
“I know the timing was difficult.”
“Difficult?”
“I didn’t want to drag things out.”
No.
He wanted freedom before The Glass Monarch premiere.
Before interviews.
Before Vivian appeared beside him publicly.
“Send everything through Malcolm.”
Corbin sighed.
“Your father’s lawyer?”
“My lawyer now.”
“That seems dramatic.”
Selena looked at the forensic report on her desk.
“You may want to adjust your definition of dramatic.”
He ignored that.
“I’m asking for the Manhattan apartment, the Sag Harbor house, and my production interests.”
Selena blinked.
“You’re asking?”
“They’re marital assets.”
The Manhattan apartment had been purchased by a Renner trust before Selena married Corbin.
Sag Harbor belonged to another trust.
Corbin’s production interests were his.
He had apparently spent years assuming everything around him belonged partly to him simply because he lived near it.
“Your lawyer can discuss ownership with mine.”
“Selena, don’t turn this into war.”
“You already chose the battlefield.”
She ended the call.
Then Blythe Carter entered.
Blythe was Vellum Crown’s chief operating officer and one of the few executives who knew Selena’s ownership position.
She carried the preliminary audit.
“It’s worse.”
Selena braced herself.
Vivian’s companies had received $2.94 million.
Only about $640,000 could be linked to documented marketing or event services.
“What about the rest?”
“Unsupported.”
Corbin personally approved $1.7 million.
The other approvals came from executive producer Miles Kessler.
Selena knew Miles.
Smooth.
Connected.
Always expensive.
“Anything directly into Corbin’s accounts?”
“Not from those vendors.”
Good.
Facts before conclusions.
Then Blythe turned a page.
“But we found this.”
Obsidian Star had paid $480,000 toward a yacht charter program.
Corbin had hosted investors on luxury yachts throughout production.
He told Selena those trips were “industry networking” paid from his personal compensation.
They were not.
Vellum Crown indirectly paid.
Another $310,000 covered a villa in France during the Cannes market.
Vivian stayed there.
Corbin did too.
Selena looked out the window.
The affair had not only humiliated her.
Part of it may have been financed by her company.
Still, she refused to make the audit personal.
“Separate legitimate promotional expenses from anything improper.”
Blythe nodded.
“I already told finance.”
Then she hesitated.
“What?”
“We found a fourth vendor.”
Selena looked at the page.
Aster Row Productions.
Payments:
$4.6 million.
“Who owns it?”
“That’s the problem.”
The ownership was hidden through layered companies.
But a banking authorization named an individual.
Corbin Ashford.
Selena stared.
He had apparently created a side production company without disclosing his interest to Vellum Crown.
Potential conflict.
Possible self-dealing.
But again, not automatically fraud.
“What did Aster Row do?”
Blythe’s expression hardened.
“According to invoices? Location services, development consulting, and international production support.”
“Did it?”
“We can’t find evidence.”
Selena closed the folder.
Her father had been right.
Do not cancel the film out of anger.
Let the numbers speak.
The numbers were beginning to scream.
That afternoon, Corbin posted publicly for the first time since the funeral.
A photograph with Vivian.
Caption:
SOMETIMES THE HARDEST CHAPTERS LEAD TO THE RIGHT STORY.
Selena stared at it for three seconds.
Then put her phone away.
Tamara, sitting beside her, looked furious.
“You’re not responding?”
“No.”
“You could destroy him with one sentence.”
“I could.”
“So?”
Selena turned toward her best friend.
“I don’t want to become the woman who proves she has power by using it every time someone hurts her.”
Tamara softened.
“Your father would like that answer.”
“I know.”
Then Malcolm called.
“The divorce filing has an attachment.”
“What attachment?”
“A sworn financial disclosure from Corbin.”
Selena sat straighter.
“What did he disclose?”
“Among other things, that he owns no interest in Aster Row Productions.”
Her stomach tightened.
“But the bank says he does.”
“Yes.”
Corbin had signed a sworn document that directly contradicted the company records.
Then Malcolm added:
“And he claims you have no significant business interests beyond consulting income.”
May you like
Selena slowly smiled.
Her husband was asking a divorce court to divide a marriage while admitting he had no idea who he had been married to.
