Chapter 8 - His Mother Had Been Holding My Shares for Seven Years
For seven years, Cynthia had been holding stock that Thain never told me existed.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wanted to.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
She nodded.
“No. It isn’t.”
Thain had convinced her the arrangement was temporary.
Once the company stabilized, the shares would be transferred to me.
Then the valuation climbed.
One million became five.
Five became ten.
Every increase made the conversation harder.
Eventually, Thain asked Cynthia to sign a revised agreement eliminating the beneficial ownership language.
She refused.
“That’s why he’s trying to transfer more shares to you now,” I said.
Cynthia looked horrified.
“What?”
I showed her the draft.
Her face changed.
“I never agreed to this.”
For the first time, I realized Thain had not only been moving assets away from me.
He had been using his mother as cover without fully telling her either.
Cynthia handed the original agreement to Sloan the next morning.
Suddenly, the divorce was no longer about whether I might receive part of Thain’s startup interest.
There was evidence that some of that interest had been intended for me from the beginning.
Thain’s attorneys immediately requested settlement discussions.
I refused.
Not because I wanted revenge.
Because I still didn’t know the full truth.
Neither did the investors.
Marcus Bell’s fund hired outside accountants.
Within forty-eight hours, they found discrepancies in the company’s revenue recognition.
Nothing catastrophic yet.
But enough to extend due diligence.
Enough to keep the funding frozen.
Then Lyra called me late that night.
Her voice was shaking.
“I found something in my old messages.”
“What?”
“The week the affair started, Thain asked me a question.”
“What question?”
She forwarded the screenshot.
Thain:
If someone voluntarily leaves the marital home before filing, does that matter in divorce?
Lyra had replied with a joke.
Why? Planning something?
Thain:
Just curious.
The date was fourteen weeks earlier.
Two days before he first kissed her.
May you like
He hadn’t simply fallen into an affair.
Before it even began, my husband had already been thinking about how my leaving might affect a divorce.
