Chapter 4
Elena opened the front door to find two men in dark suits standing on the stone porch, their expressions formal and detached. One of them held a thick manila envelope bearing the official seal of the state district court.
"Mrs. Madison?" the taller man asked politely.
"Yes," Elena replied, her voice steady.
"Process server. These are for Mr. Madison." He extended the heavy envelope.
Elena accepted it with a calm, deliberate motion, her fingers brushing the stiff paper. "Thank you. I'll make sure he receives them immediately."
Behind her, footsteps hurried across the hardwood floor. Maddy appeared in the foyer, his face pale as he took in the scene. "What is this?" he demanded, his voice pitching slightly upward in panic. "Who are you?"
The process server gave Maddy a brief, indifferent glance before turning away and stepping down the porch. "Have a good morning, sir."
Elena turned around, holding the envelope out toward Maddy. She didn't hand it to him; she placed it on the marble entry table, right beneath the antique silver bowl where they used to drop their car keys. Maddy stared at the heavy paper as if it were venomous. He reached out with trembling fingers, tore open the flap, and pulled out several pages of dense legal text.
His eyes scanned the top paragraphs, and the color drained entirely from his face. "A restraining order? A financial freeze? Elena, you filed an emergency injunction against the corporate accounts?"
"Not just the corporate accounts," Elena corrected softly, walking past him toward the living room. "The secondary holdings in the Cayman Islands, the offshore trust, and the personal real estate portfolio under your shell corporation. Clara filed it at dawn."
Maddy crumpled the papers in his fist, his composure finally shattering. "You absolute fool! Do you have any idea what this does to the upcoming acquisition deal with Vanguard? If word gets out that our assets are frozen under suspicion of fraud, the board will vote me out by noon!"
"Then I suggest you call an emergency board meeting and resign before they do," Elena said, pouring herself another cup of coffee from the tray on the side table. "It will save you the embarrassment of being carried out by security."
May you like
Maddy stared at her, the mask of the confident, untouchable executive completely gone, replaced by a desperate, cornered man. "You can't do this to us. We’re partners."
"No, Maddy," Elena said, turning to look him straight in the eye. "For ten years, I was your audience. Now, the show is canceled."
