Part 9: Scattering of the Pearl Strand
My attorney stepped forward with impeccable timing, handing a thick, bonded packet of documents to every single independent director at the table.
"In those packets," I announced, my voice cutting through Victor’s heavy, erratic breathing, "you will find copies of the formal criminal complaints filed at exactly eight o'clock this morning with the state police, the medical licensing board, the insurance fraud division, and the district attorney’s office. You will also find a pre-drafted resolution for Victor Lang’s immediate, cause-based termination."
Victor let out a desperate, cracking laugh. "You cannot terminate me from Lang & Vale, Mara! I am your husband!"
"You were my husband," I corrected coldly.
The heavy mahogany doors of the boardroom swung open. Two plainclothes detectives from the white-collar crime unit stepped into the room, their badges glinting under the lights.
Lila instantly dissolved into hysterical, loud sobbing, burying her face in her hands. Claudine’s fingers clutched the massive strand of South Sea pearls at her throat with such violent, trembling force that the silk thread snapped.
Clack-clack-clack.
The heavy white beads scattered wildly across the polished boardroom floor, rolling under the chairs like tiny, broken bones.
Victor ignored his mother, leaning down until his face was inches from mine, his voice dropping into a desperate, venomous whisper. "Mara, think about what you're doing. Think about the baby. Think about the scandal."
I rose from the head chair slowly, drawing myself up to my full height, looking down at the man who had spent twelve years trying to hollow me out from the inside.
May you like
"I am thinking about my baby," I whispered back. "That's why I'm cleaning the house."
The formal board vote took less than two minutes. It passed with absolute unanimity.
