Chapter 6 - THE COUNTERATTACK
I drove straight to Sarah Jenkins’ office, arriving past midnight. She was still there, working late on another
case. When I threw the manila folder and my notes about the Cayman Islands transfers onto her desk, her
professional composure cracked.
"This is sick," Sarah said, reading through the pre-drafted custody petition. "She was planning to use Clara’s
natural postpartum exhaustion as a weapon to declare her unfit. If she had filed this before we were prepared, she
could have gotten temporary emergency custody. It would have destroyed Clara."
"But she didn't file it yet," I said, my voice tight with rage. "And what about the Cayman Islands transfers? Fifty
thousand dollars a month for five years. That’s three million dollars."
Sarah’s eyes lit up. She immediately opened her laptop and began typing. "Aura Holdings LLC... let's see. If she
is using trust fund money to fund an offshore company, and if that company is registered in her name or used for
her personal benefit, it is a massive federal crime. It’s embezzlement, tax evasion, and a severe breach of trust."
Within an hour of searching public registries and using her firm's proprietary legal databases, Sarah found the
connection. Aura Holdings LLC was registered to a sole beneficiary: Evelyn Vance. The funds transferred from
my father's trust were being used to pay off the mortgage on a luxury villa in the south of France and to fund a
lavish lifestyle that she had kept hidden from the family.
"We have her," Sarah whispered, a fierce look of triumph on her face. "This is a textbook breach of fiduciary
duty. Not only can we get her removed as trustee, but she is also looking at potential prison time if the IRS gets
wind of this."
"What do we do now?" I asked.
"We don't go to court yet," Sarah said, leaning back. "A court battle takes months, and you need a place to live
now. We use this to force her hand. We call an emergency meeting. We lay the evidence on the table, and we give
her an ultimatum. She signs over the house to you, she resigns as trustee of the Vance Family Trust, and she agrees
to a lifetime restraining order. If she refuses, we hand this file to the federal prosecutor."
I felt a massive weight lift from my shoulders. The monster who had controlled my entire life, who had made
my wife faint from exhaustion and called her a drama queen, was finally cornered.
I called Clara and told her the news. On the other end of the line, she let out a sob, but this time, it was a sob of
pure relief.
May you like
"Is it really over, Leo?" she whispered.
"Not yet, baby," I said, looking out the window at the dark city skyline. "But we are about to finish it."
