Chapter 4 - The Reckoning of Paige Dawson
Deprived of his company, his title, and his dignity, Ivan did what he always did when faced with a crisis: he ran to Paige.
He drove straight from the corporate headquarters to Paige’s luxury apartment complex in Interlomas—the very apartment he had leased for her using company expense accounts six months ago. He needed comfort, he needed validation, and most importantly, he needed to feel like the powerful benefactor he had always pretended to be.
He stormed up the marble staircase and slammed his hand against her front door.
"Paige! Open up!" he called out, wiping sweat from his forehead. "It's me!"
The door opened slowly. Paige stood in the doorway wearing an silk robe, holding a cup of tea. But she didn't look at him with the soft, admiring gaze he was used to. Her expression was sharp, cold, and guarded.
"Ivan?" she asked, leaning against the doorframe, making no move to let him inside. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the office? My phone has been ringing off the hook with reporters asking about the bus accident!"
"Evelyn has gone mad, Paige!" Ivan spat, shoving past her into the entry hallway. "She took the company! She used some shady legal shell firm to seize control of the board! I've been locked out of my own building!"
Paige froze, setting her teacup down on the console table. "What do you mean she took the company? What about your assets? Your stock options?"
"Frozen!" Ivan shouted, pacing back and forth across the plush carpet. "The bank accounts are tied up in emergency litigation! She filed for divorce three hours ago and froze all joint marital property! I don't even have access to my primary credit cards!"
Paige’s eyes narrowed. The soft, helpless victim act she had played for three months vanished instantly. "So... you don't have any money?"
Ivan stopped pacing, looking at her in confusion. "It's temporary! I just need a few weeks to hire a top-tier litigation team to challenge the takeover! In the meantime, I need to stay here with you, and I need you to lend me access to the liquid allowance account I set up for you—"
"That account was frozen an hour ago, Ivan," Paige said, her voice dropping into a flat, harsh tone. "My card was declined at the grocery store twenty minutes ago."
"What?" Ivan blinked. "Well... that's fine, we can use your personal savings until—"
"My personal savings?" Paige let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Ivan, I moved back from abroad because you promised me you would take care of Gemma and me! You said you had unlimited capital! I didn't leave my husband in Europe just to end up living with a bankrupt, disgraced ex-CEO who abandoned his own son on a highway!"
Ivan looked at her as if she had turned into a stranger. "Paige... what are you talking about? I saved Gemma! I chose your daughter over my own son! I ruined my family for you!"
"And that was your first mistake, wasn't it?" a cool, composed voice spoke from the living room.
Ivan whipped his head around.
Sitting on the cream velvet sofa in Paige's living room was my lead investigator, Sarah, along with two process servers dressed in dark suits.
"Who the hell are you?!" Ivan demanded.
Sarah stood up, pulling a thick blue folder from her briefcase. "Mr. Vance, I represent Mrs. Evelyn Vance’s legal team. We're here to serve Ms. Dawson with a formal third-party subpoena regarding illegal conversion of corporate assets and fraud."
"Fraud?!" Paige shrieked, her face turning crimson. "I didn't commit fraud!"
"Ms. Dawson," Sarah said smoothly, pulling out a stack of financial statements, "over the last three months, you received over $400,000 in direct wire transfers from Vance Dynamics' operational reserve funds, authorized under falsified consulting invoices signed by Mr. Vance. That constitutes federal corporate embezzlement."
Paige turned on Ivan like a viper. "You told me those were legitimate executive relocation stipends! You said your board approved them!"
"I... I thought I could cover it back with year-end bonuses!" Ivan stuttered, his face turning pale.
"Furthermore," Sarah continued, turning a page, "Mrs. Vance has purchased the mortgage on this residential unit from the primary developer through Aegis Real Estate. Ms. Dawson, you have twenty-four hours to vacate these premises before eviction proceedings begin."
Paige gasped, clutching her chest. "You can't do this! I have a child!"
"You have a child who was completely uninjured during a bus accident, yet you allowed Mr. Vance to prioritize her over a child with a compound fracture," Sarah said, her voice dripping with quiet disgust. "Mrs. Vance has ensured that a full transcript of the accident report and your financial involvement in this embezzlement scheme will be forwarded to the family court handling your custody arrangement with your ex-husband in Europe."
Paige’s face drained of all color. She looked at Ivan with pure, unadulterated hatred.
"Get out," Paige whispered to Ivan.
"Paige... please..." Ivan pleaded, reaching for her hand. "We can fight this together—"
"Get out of my apartment, Ivan!" Paige screamed, shoving him back toward the open front door. "You ruined everything! You lied to me about your power, you lied to me about your money, and now you've dragged me into a corporate crime investigation! Get the hell out!"
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She slammed the door in his face, the sharp lock clicking into place with a definitive thud.
Ivan stood alone in the carpeted hallway, staring at the polished wood of the door, completely stripped of his mistress, his wealth, his company, and his pride.
