Chapter 6
Adrian did not move for what felt like an eternity, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
The supreme arrogance that had defined his entrance had completely vanished, replaced by a raw, primitive panic.
"You're lying," he finally whispered, his voice trembling as he picked up his dropped phone with shaking fingers.
"You're stuck in this bed, you don't have the capital to execute an acquisition of that scale."
"Your father's estate was locked in a trust that you couldn't access without my co-signature for corporate investments."
I smiled, a slow, predatory expression that caused him to take a subconscious step backward toward the exit.
"You should have read the fine print of that trust agreement more carefully when we married, Adrian," I murmured.
"The co-signature clause was only valid as long as we were living together as a harmonious married couple without legal separation."
"The moment you handed me those divorce papers, signed by your own hand in front of a medical witness, you triggered the emergency dissolution clause."
"The trust assets were instantly unlocked and transferred to my sole discretion, free from any marital asset claims."
"You literally gave me the keys to my own treasury by trying to throw me out of your life."
He began frantically tapping on his phone screen, his breathing becoming shallow and ragged as he opened his corporate banking application.
I watched his eyes widen as he looked at the real-time balance sheets, seeing the sudden freeze alerts placed on his line of credit.
"This can't be happening," he muttered to himself, ignoring me completely now as he tried to call his chief financial officer.
"Pick up, Robert, pick up the phone right now," he demanded into the receiver, pacing the small space of my hospital room.
I reached over to my tablet, tapping the screen once to authorize Arthur to release the official corporate disclosure notice to the stock exchange.
"It's already done, Adrian," I said, my voice cutting through his frantic whispering like a heavy bell tolling.
"At exactly 9:30 AM, the Securities and Exchange Commission received notice of a material change in majority ownership for Vale International."
"The press release is hitting the financial newswires right now."
"By the time you get to your car in the parking lot, your board of directors will be calling an emergency meeting to discuss your removal as Chief Executive Officer."
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"You wanted a public image, didn't you?"
"Let's see how the financial press handles the story of a CEO who dumped his injured wife, only to discover she bought his entire life out from under him."
