Chapter 9: The Last Attempt
Daniel Whitmore had never been good at losing.
Even now, with his company taken from him, his accounts frozen, and his reputation in ruins, he still couldn’t accept that Emily had beaten him. In his mind, she was still the quiet, emotional woman he had divorced — the one who cried during arguments and always tried to keep the peace.
He refused to believe that she had been the one pulling the strings all along.
So he did what desperate men do when they have nothing left.
He showed up at her father’s house.
It was a rainy Tuesday afternoon when Daniel parked his car across the street from Richard Hayes’ brownstone. He had been sitting there for almost forty minutes, rehearsing what he would say. He told himself he just needed to talk to her. That if he could see Emily face to face, he could make her understand. Maybe even get her to call off the investigators.
When he finally got out of the car, his expensive coat was already damp from the rain.
He walked up to the front door and rang the bell.
Richard Hayes opened the door himself.
For a long moment, neither man spoke.
Then Richard said calmly, “You shouldn’t be here, Daniel.”
“I need to talk to Emily,” Daniel said, trying to sound firm. “This has gone too far. We can still work something out.”
Richard didn’t move from the doorway.
“Emily doesn’t want to talk to you,” he replied. “And even if she did, I wouldn’t let you near her.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“She’s my wife.”
“No,” Richard said coldly. “She was your wife. You made sure of that the day you served her divorce papers and tried to take her money. Now she’s just the woman whose life you tried to destroy.”
Daniel took a step forward, but Richard didn’t flinch.
“You think you’re clever,” Richard continued. “You thought you could spend nearly a million dollars of her money in one night and walk away untouched. But you made one very big mistake, Daniel.”
He looked the younger man directly in the eyes.
“You underestimated my daughter. And you underestimated me.”
Daniel’s face flushed with anger.
“You can’t keep me from her forever,” he said. “She’ll have to talk to me eventually. We still have legal matters to settle.”
Richard smiled, but there was no warmth in it.
“The only thing you’ll be settling from now on is with your lawyers,” he said. “Because starting tomorrow, every single account, every property, and every asset you touched during your marriage is going to be under a microscope. And when we’re done, there won’t be anything left for you to fight over.”
Daniel opened his mouth to argue, but Richard cut him off.
“Go home, Daniel. And don’t come back here again. Because if you do, I won’t be the one answering the door next time. It’ll be the police.”
He closed the door firmly in Daniel’s face.
Daniel stood there in the rain for several long seconds, staring at the closed door. Then he turned and walked back to his car, his shoulders hunched.
For the first time, he truly understood.
May you like
Emily wasn’t going to forgive him.
And she wasn’t going to stop.
