Chapter 8 - THE DIVORCE THEY PLANNED WITHOUT ME
I did not cry.
Not then.
Grief arrived as clarity.
Dates.
Documents.
Patterns.
Carter had met privately with two divorce attorneys.
He had requested valuations of my patent interests.
He had asked whether marital contributions could create claims against my family trust.
He had obtained copies of my investment schedules.
And he never said a word.
“You were going to leave me.”
Carter sat across from me in the library.
“I thought about it.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“Yes.”
The word landed quietly.
“Why?”
He looked exhausted.
“Because every room I walked into, someone eventually reminded me that Samantha Ashbourne saved Sterling.”
“I never did.”
“No.”
He swallowed.
“You didn’t have to.”
There it was.
My existence bruised his ego.
The billion-dollar rescue he had begged for became something he resented once he survived.
“And Khloe?”
“I didn’t hire her because of an affair.”
“That isn’t comforting.”
“I hired her because she understood what it was like to want something separate.”
“Separate from me?”
“Separate from Sterling.”
I stared at him.
“You were planning another company.”
“Yes.”
“And a divorce.”
“Yes.”
“And you needed my patents renewed before both.”
His silence told me everything.
If the patents were renewed for another term, Carter could stabilize Sterling, exit gradually, build Halcyon, and negotiate the divorce from a position of strength.
The seat on the jet suddenly looked almost theatrical.
Maybe it had been.
Then Marcus called.
“We reviewed your prenuptial agreement.”
I frowned.
“What about it?”
“There’s an amendment.”
“I never signed an amendment.”
“That’s the problem.”
He sent it.
The document claimed I had agreed that any appreciation in patent licensing revenue during the marriage would be treated as marital property.
My signature appeared beneath the clause.
It was beautiful.
Almost perfect.
And completely false.
“Who witnessed it?”
Marcus zoomed in.
Evelyn Sterling.
Of course.
But the notary signature surprised me.
The notary was Patricia Sloan.
Sterling Technologies’ board chair.
The woman currently overseeing the investigation.
If her signature was genuine, the corruption reached the board.
May you like
If it wasn’t—
someone was forging more than mine.
