My Wife Chuckled And Ordered: ‘Dump Your Business And Start Paying Me.’ I Signed…

” I smiled at Carter, who was rubbing his shoulder. “Your law partner might have mentioned that to you.” Oh, wait. He doesn’t know about your little hobby, does he? What do you want? Carter’s voice had lost all its smoothness. Want? I don’t want anything, Carter. I already have everything I need. I closed the laptop. You see, when Rowan files for divorce tomorrow, she’s going to discover something very interesting.

All those assets she’s planning to split, they don’t exist anymore. What are you talking about? The company, the investments, the offshore accounts, all of it has been transferred to holding companies that Rowan has no legal claim to. The house is mortgaged to the hilt as of this morning. The cars are leased. Even my bank accounts have been emptied.

Rowan’s face had gone white. You can’t do that. I can, and I did. You see, sweetheart, you made one crucial mistake. You assumed I was stupid. You assumed I’d sit there like a good little husband while you and your boyfriend robbed me blind. Carter was pulling out his phone. This is fraud. I’m calling the police. Go ahead.

Everything I did was perfectly legal. Mara made sure of that. You might want to call your law partner instead. Explain why there are photos of you [ __ ] a client all over the internet. His phone slipped from his hands. You didn’t. I did. uploaded them to every gossip blog in Austin about an hour ago.

Your professional reputation should be completely destroyed by morning. Rowan started crying. Real tears this time, not the crocodile tears she’d used to manipulate me for years. Eli, please think about Maddie. I am thinking about Maddie. That’s why I’m making sure she doesn’t grow up thinking it’s okay to lie and cheat and steal from people who love you.

Carter grabbed Rowan’s arm. Come on, we’re leaving. Yes, you are. And Carter, don’t come back ever because next time I won’t be so civilized. They left without another word. Carter’s Porsche spitting gravel as they tore out of my driveway. I poured myself another bourbon and sat down to wait for the fallout. It didn’t take long.

My phone started ringing at 6:00 the next morning. First, it was Jenna, Rowan’s best friend and partner in crime. Eli, what the hell did you do? Good morning, Jenna. Lovely day, isn’t it? Those photos are all over the internet. Everyone’s seen them. Rowan’s devastated. Is she? That’s terrible. Maybe she should have thought about that before she decided to star in her own porn collection. You’re a monster. No, Jenna.

I’m just not a victim anymore. Next was Shelley, Rowan’s coworker and Carter’s Wednesday girl. She was crying so hard I could barely understand her. Eli, please, you have to take those photos down. My husband saw them. He’s filing for divorce. Gee, Shel, that’s rough. Maybe you should have thought about that before you decided to help my wife destroy our marriage.

I never meant for this to happen. Sure you did. You all did. You just thought I was too weak to fight back. The calls kept coming. Neighbors, mutual friends, even Rowan’s brother Nate, a knuckled dragging ex-contractor who’d always treated me like I wasn’t good enough for his precious sister. You piece of [ __ ] he growled into the phone.

What you did to Rowan is unforgivable. What I did to Rowan, Nate, your sister spent 6 months [ __ ] another man in my bed. But I’m the bad guy. She made a mistake. That doesn’t give you the right to humiliate her like this. Actually, it gives me every right, but thanks for calling. It’s good to know where everyone stands. By noon, the story had made it to the local news blogs.

Prominent Austin attorney caught in sex scandal. Carter’s law firm released a statement saying they were investigating the matter. His partnership was toast. Rowan called it too, her voice from crying. Eli, please. I’m begging you. Take the photos down. Can’t do that, sweetheart. Once something’s on the internet, it’s there forever. You should know that.

You work in PR. I’ll do anything. Please. Anything. How about you give me back the 12 years you stole from me? How about you give me back the trust you destroyed? How about you give me back the respect you pissed away while you were playing house with Carter? I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. No, you’re not. You’re sorry you got caught.

There’s a difference. That evening, Mara came over with Chinese takeout and a bottle of champagne. Jesus, Eli, you really went nuclear, didn’t you? They started the war. I just finished it. Carter’s firm dropped him this afternoon. Rowan’s been fired, too. Apparently, her boss didn’t appreciate the negative publicity.

Good. Maybe now they’ll understand what it feels like to lose everything. Mara studied my face over her wine glass. You know this isn’t over, right? They’re going to fight back. Let them try. I’ve got more ammunition where that came from. She was right, of course. The next morning, I woke up to find my car keyed and my mailbox smashed.

Someone had thrown eggs at my windows and spray painted [ __ ] on my garage door. Nate’s handiwork, no doubt. The man had all the subtlety of a brick through a window, but if they wanted to escalate, I was ready to play. Carter made his move 3 days later. I was dropping Maddie off at school when two police officers approached me in the parking lot.

Eli Mercer, we need to talk to you about some allegations that have been made. What kind of allegations? Child endangerment. Your ex-wife claims you’ve been drinking heavily and behaving erratically around your daughter. I looked over at Maddie, who was watching from the school steps with wide eyes. Officers, I haven’t had a drink in 3 days.

You’re welcome to test me right now. That won’t be necessary, but we do need you to come down to the station and answer some questions. 2 hours later, I was sitting in an interrogation room while a detective named Morrison read from a report that painted me as an unhinged alcoholic who’d threatened to hurt himself. and others. According to this, you told your wife you were going to make everyone pay and that you had nothing left to lose.

Detective, have you seen the photos of my wife having sex with her lawyer? Morrison’s expression didn’t change. That’s not relevant to these allegations. It’s completely relevant. My wife is trying to get custody of our daughter by making false accusations. She’s using you to fight her battles for her. Do you own any firearms, Mr.

Mercer? No, I don’t even own a kitchen knife sharper than a butter knife. You can search my house if you want. They did search my house. Spent 4 hours going through every room, every closet, every drawer. Found nothing more dangerous than a bottle of Advil, and some expired cough syrup. But the damage was done.

By the time they left, half the neighborhood had seen the police cars in my driveway. The whispers started immediately. That night, Mara called with more bad news. Carter filed an emergency motion for custody. He’s claiming you’re mentally unstable and potentially dangerous. Can he do that? He’s not even Mattiey’s father.

He’s representing Rowan. And apparently she’s claiming you threatened to kidnap Maddie and disappear. That’s insane. I would never hurt my daughter. I know that, but we need to be prepared. They’re playing dirty now. Then it’s time I played dirtier. I called Cal. I need everything you can dig up on Carter Veil.

Financial records, client complaints, parking tickets, everything. Already on it. Guy’s got more skeletons than a medical school. What kind of skeletons? For starters, he’s been skimming money from his client’s settlement accounts. Small amounts. Hard to trace, but it adds up. I’ve got bank records going back 3 years. Embezzlement. That’s a felony.

Gets better. Remember how I told you he’s been seeing Shelly, too? Well, she’s not his only side piece. Guy’s got a whole rotation going. And one of them is 17. 17? Technically legal, but she’s a client’s daughter. He’s been paying her rent in exchange for services. Got photos, bank transfers, the whole nine yards. Send me everything tonight.

Eli, what are you planning? I’m planning to remind Carter why it’s dangerous to corner a wolf. The next morning, I handd delivered a package to the Travis County District Attorney’s Office. Bank records, photographs, sworn statements from three of Carter’s victims. Enough evidence to put him away for 10 years.

I also sent copies to the Texas State Bar, the Austin American Statesman, and every news outlet in the city. Carter was arrested at his apartment that afternoon. The perw walk made the evening news. Rowan called me screaming, “You destroyed him. You destroyed everything.” “No, Rowan.” Carter destroyed himself. I just made sure everyone found out about it.

He was going to marry me, was he? Because according to the bank records, he was planning to disappear to the Cayman Islands with about $2 million of his client’s money. Guess you weren’t part of that plan. The silence on the other end of the line was deafening. You’re lying. Check his computer. Oh, wait. You can’t. The FBI seized it this morning.

She hung up. An hour later, Nate called. You son of a jerk. Rowan’s in the hospital. What happened? She tried to eliminate herself, took a bottle of pills if I hadn’t found her. For a moment, the rage flickered. Rowan and I had history, good history, before everything went to hell. But then I remembered the laughter in her text messages.

The way she’d mocked me to her friends. Is she going to be okay? She’ll live. No thanks to you, Nate. I didn’t force her to cheat on me. I didn’t force her to try to steal my money. I didn’t force her to make false accusations about me. She made her choices. You could have handled this quietly. Instead, you had to humiliate her in front of the whole city.

She humiliated herself. I just made sure everyone saw it. This isn’t over, Eli. Not by a long shot. The line went silent. I poured myself a drink and waited for whatever came next. Nate made his move two weeks later. I was working late at the office when the building’s security system went off. The cameras showed three figures in dark clothing breaking in through the loading dock.

I called 911, then settled back to watch the show on my security monitors. I’d upgraded the system after the divorce proceedings started. Motion sensors, highdefinition cameras, and a few surprises that Nate and his friends were about to discover. They made it as far as the elevator before the first trap triggered. magnetic locks engaged, sealing them inside while strobing lights and a 100 decel alarm turned the elevator car into a sensory nightmare.

The police arrived 12 minutes later to find three grown men huddled in the corner of the elevator, crying like children. Nate was the ring leader, of course. The other two were friends of his from the construction crew, unemployed losers looking to make a quick buck by trashing my office. You set us up, Nate screamed as they dragged him away in handcuffs.

No, Nate, you set yourselves up. I just made sure you’d get caught. The break-in attempt made the news along with Nate’s connection to Rowan and the ongoing custody battle. Public opinion, which had been split, swung decisively in my favor. The narrative was clear. Vindictive ex-wife and her criminal brother trying to destroy innocent businessmen.

The custody hearing was a formality. After that, Rowan, fresh out of the psychiatric ward and facing her own legal troubles, barely put up a fight. I got full custody of Maddie with Rowan getting supervised visits twice a month. Carter was sentenced to 8 years in federal prison. His law license was revoked, his assets seized to pay restitution to his victims.

The 17-year-old girl’s father had also filed a civil suit that would keep Carter in debt for the rest of his life. Rowan’s social circle evaporated overnight. Jenna and Shelley wanted nothing to do with her, afraid of being dragged down by association. Her PR career was finished. No one in Austin would hire her after the scandal.

She moved back in with her parents in Dallas. a broken woman in her 30s living in her childhood bedroom. I should have felt satisfied. I should have felt vindicated. Instead, I felt empty. 6 months after the divorce was finalized, Rowan called me. It was the first time we’d spoken since the custody hearing. Eli, it’s me.