I had discovered the documents six weeks earlier, hidden in a locked cabinet Adrian thought I knew nothing about. He had forgotten I worked in forensic accounting before I married him. He had forgotten I built a career tracing money through shell companies and fake invoices.
He had forgotten because he never bothered to learn who I was.
Richard pointed at me. “You ungrateful little snake.”
My father stepped forward once.
Richard fell silent.
I continued. “Tonight wasn’t random. The insults. The accusation. The slap. You wanted witnesses to believe I was unstable. A gold digger. A liar.”
Adrian whispered, “Mara, please.”
“Please?” I laughed softly. “You slapped your pregnant wife in front of two hundred people.”
His mother finally began to cry.
Too late.
My father’s attorney, Ms. Chen, entered behind him, carrying a leather folder.
Richard saw her and lost more color.
She opened it. “Richard Vale, Adrian Vale, effective immediately, Monroe Capital is calling the outstanding loans attached to Vale Development Group.”
Richard gripped the table. “You can’t.”
“We can,” Ms. Chen said. “Default was triggered when you submitted falsified collateral reports.”
A man at table seven stood abruptly. Then another. Then three more.
Board members.
Investors.
