Chapter 3 - The Panic of the Parasites
The night was quiet, but the city’s elite social circles were in absolute chaos. By midnight, the video of Daniel’s arrest and the detailed breakdown of his financial crimes had gone viral across every local news outlet and social media platform. The headline was everywhere: "Tech Mogul Daniel Bennett Arrested: The Secret Life of an Abuser and Fraud."
I sat on the plush velvet sofa in my living room, sipping a hot cup of chamomile tea. For the first time in two years, the air in my house didn't feel heavy. The suffocating weight of walking on eggshells was gone.
Eleanor Thorne sat across from me, her laptop open as she monitored the fallout.
"Daniel’s partners at Bennett Capital have already issued a public statement," Eleanor said, showing me the screen. "They have officially stripped him of his title and terminated his contract for gross moral turpitude. They are cooperating fully with the federal forensic audit. Your evidence was so airtight, Claire, their legal team didn't even try to defend him."
"And Sarah?" I asked, referring to my former assistant who had helped Daniel skim profits from my firm.
"She’s currently at the police station singing like a canary," Eleanor chuckled. "The moment she saw the email blast and realized she was facing ten years as a co-conspirator in a federal fraud case, she turned on Daniel. She’s giving the DA every password, every offshore account number, and every text message Daniel ever sent her instructing her to falsify your firm's records."
The sound of a car engine revving loudly outside interrupted us. I walked over to the window and pulled back the curtain.
Down at the front gate, Gloria and Vanessa were struggling to drag four massive suitcases down the driveway. Because I had revoked their access to the automated garage and the family vehicles, they had been forced to call a cheap rideshare service. But with their accounts frozen, they couldn't even pay the fare. I watched as the rideshare driver argued with Vanessa, eventually throwing their luggage onto the curb and speeding off into the night.
"They're finding out what it's like to have no safety net," I murmured.
"It gets worse for them," Eleanor added, joining me at the window. "Tomorrow morning, the bank is foreclosing on Gloria’s penthouse. It turns out Daniel had leveraged her property as collateral for his failing tech investments. Without your business capital to prop him up, his entire financial house of cards has collapsed."
Suddenly, my phone rang. The caller ID displayed an unknown number, but I knew the area code. It was the central processing unit at the county jail.
I pressed speaker.
"Claire! Claire, please don't hang up!" Daniel’s voice burst through the line. He sounded completely different now—the arrogant, booming tone was gone, replaced by a frantic, high-pitched desperation. "You have to help me. The inmates here... they know who I am. They saw the news. They're targeting me, Claire! I'm locked in a holding cell, and the guards won't listen to me!"
"You should have thought about that before you put your hands on me, Daniel," I said coldly.
"I'm sorry! Okay? I'm sorry!" he sobbed openly into the phone. "I was stressed! The business was failing, and I took it out on you! It was a mistake! We can fix this, Claire. We love each other! Think about our wedding day! Think about everything we built together! If you drop the domestic assault charge, my lawyers can get the financial stuff down to a misdemeanor. I'll give you the house, I'll give you everything, just please get me out of here!"
I listened to him beg, remembering the dozens of times I had cried on the bathroom floor, nursing a bruised rib or a split lip, while he drank whiskey in the living room and told me I was lucky he didn't throw me out.
"Do you know what the difference between us is, Daniel?" I asked quietly.
"What? Anything, Claire! Just tell me!"
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"When you hit me tonight, you thought you were teaching me a lesson," I said. "But I was actually completing an audit. And the numbers don't lie, Daniel. You are completely, utterly bankrupt. Professionally, financially, and morally. Enjoy your new home."
I pressed the red button, cutting off his screams of panic, and blocked the jail's number permanently.
