Chapter 4 - The Separation of Assets
The police didn't hesitate. Based on the severity of the medical report and the undeniable horror of the doorbell footage, Derek was handcuffed right there in the hospital corridor, his loud curses echoing off the sterile walls. Lauren wasn't arrested yet—her lawyers would ensure she got bail—but she was served with an immediate emergency protection order. She was legally barred from coming within five hundred feet of Emily or me.
Two days later, Emily was officially discharged. I moved her directly into a quiet, luxury hotel downtown, guarded by a private security detail I hired using my corporate connections. She was safe, surrounded by books, coloring markers, and the absolute certainty that her father wasn't going anywhere.
"Dad?" Emily asked one afternoon, looking up from her drawing. "Is Mom mad at me?"
I knelt beside her chair, taking her small hands in mine. "No, sweetheart. Mom and Derek made some very bad choices, and the adults are fixing it. But I want you to listen to me very carefully: nothing that happened is your fault. And I am never, ever leaving you. Do you understand?"
She looked at me for a long moment, the fear that had hollowed out her eyes for days finally melting away into a bright, beautiful smile. She threw her arms around my neck, holding tight. "I believe you, Dad."
While Emily healed, I went to work on the corporate front. Lauren’s family had always relied on my income to fund their failing logistics business. That afternoon, I sat in my office at the insurance firm, pulling up the financial audits of Vance Logistics. Over the last three years, Lauren had secretly funneled over two hundred thousand dollars from our joint accounts into her brother's company to keep it afloat.
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In my line of work, tracing hidden money was second nature. Within four hours, I uncovered a massive trail of fraudulent insurance claims Derek had filed through his company to cover his gambling debts.
I didn't just have them on child abuse. I had them on federal corporate fraud.
