Chapter 4

Three days after the summit, I intentionally approved a high-risk overseas advance payment through Lumina's internal workflow.

The sum matched the exact amount of remaining liquid capital on the company's books.

Seeing the funds cleared, Julian couldn't hold back.

He drafted a fake procurement contract for overseas equipment, trying to route that money directly to Natalie's Cayman shell company.

He thought he was being brilliant. What he didn't know was that Frank, the CFO, was already working for me.

At two in the afternoon, I pushed open the doors to Julian's corner office.

He was sitting behind his mahogany desk on a FaceTime call with Natalie.

Seeing me walk in, he slammed his laptop shut, his expression turning pitch-black.

"Who said you could come in? Did you forget how to knock?" he barked.

I stepped up to his desk and slapped a bank stop-payment receipt directly across his face.

The sharp edge of the paper sliced across his cheek, leaving a thin red welt.

"Explain this, Julian," I said, leaning over the desk and looking down at him. "Why is thirty million dollars in equipment procurement being wired to a Cayman offshore account that doesn't even have a physical address?"

Julian's pupils constricted at the sight of the receipt. But he quickly forced a sneer.

"That's a classified strategic project. You don't know the first thing about operations. Who told you to meddle?"

"Tell accounting to release that wire right now! The company's life depends on it!" He jumped up, trying to tower over me.

I let out a cold laugh.

"The company's life? Or the rest of Natalie and Leo's comfortable lives?"

Julian froze completely. He stared at me in pure disbelief, as if he were looking at a ghost.

"What nonsense are you spewing?" his voice cracked.

"Nonsense?" I twirled a flash drive between my fingers. "Julian, did you really think you were untouchable?"

"The penthouse you bought Natalie. The private school tuition you paid for Leo. The core patents you smuggled out."

"Every single transaction. I have the receipts."

Realizing his game was up, Julian's face twisted into raw malice.

He lunged around the desk, grabbed me by the throat, and slammed me against the floor-to-ceiling glass.

"You're dead, Evelyn!" he hissed through gritted teeth, his grip choking off my air. "Since you know, I'm done pretending. Damn right I used you!"

"Who the hell do you think you are? You and your family were nothing but stepping stones for my rise!"

"Sign the divorce papers and walk away with nothing! Otherwise, I'll make sure you can't survive in this city!"

I couldn't breathe, but I didn't struggle.

I stared calmly into his manic, bulging eyes.

"Julian... you're not just a pathetic leech," I choked out with difficulty, "you're legally illiterate."

I raised a trembling hand and pointed toward the small gadget disguised as an air purifier sitting across the room.

"Everything you just said... and your little assault... is streaming live to the cloud right now."

Julian trembled. His hands slipped off my neck. He spun around in sheer panic and smashed the air purifier to bits.

I rubbed my bruised throat and stepped back toward the door.

"We're getting a divorce," I told him, my voice devoid of warmth. "And this is just the beginning. Tomorrow night, during our fifth-anniversary livestream, I have a parting gift for you."