Chapter 10: The First Strike
On Monday morning, Ryan was served with the divorce papers at his office.
According to Marcus, the process server had delivered them in front of several colleagues. Ryan had gone pale when he saw the documents.
That same afternoon, his company received a formal notice from Marcus’s firm regarding the misuse of corporate funds and the inappropriate relationship with a subordinate.
By Tuesday, Ryan’s boss had called him into a meeting.
Claire didn’t need to be there to know how it went.
Marcus called her with an update.
“They’ve placed him on administrative leave pending an internal investigation,” Marcus said. “His company is taking this very seriously. They don’t want a scandal.”
Claire was quiet for a moment.
“How is he taking it?” she asked.
Marcus hesitated.
“Not well,” he said. “He tried to call me three times today. He’s claiming the expenses were legitimate business costs and that his relationship with Chloe started after you were already separated.”
Claire let out a short, bitter laugh.
“He’s lying,” she said. “We both know that.”
“He is,” Marcus agreed. “And we have the evidence to prove it.”
After the call, Claire sat at her kitchen table and stared at nothing.
Ryan was finally starting to understand that this wasn’t going to be a simple, clean divorce.
He was about to lose a lot more than just his marriage.
And Claire was no longer the woman who would stay quiet to protect his reputation.
May you like
She had made her choice on that plane at 30,000 feet.
Now Ryan would have to live with the consequences of his.
