Chapter 7 - The Scapegoat
Stripped of his CEO title, his house, his credit cards, and his luxury cars, Julian was forced to move into a tiny, two-room motel on the outskirts of Queens—a place that smelled of stale tobacco and damp carpet.
His red Porsche had been repossessed by the leasing company two days after his eviction. His friends in the Manhattan business elite stopped answering his calls. The board members who had toasted his health at charity galas six months ago now deleted his emails without reading them.
The only person who remained by his side was Chloe.
But Chloe was no longer the sweet, laughing girl who had sipped champagne with him in Wailea.
Inside the cramped motel room, Chloe stood over Julian, screaming at the top of her lungs as she threw her empty designer shopping bags onto the stained bed.
“What do you mean your credit card was declined at the grocery store?!” Chloe shrieked, her face contorted in anger. “I left my apartment in Miami for you! You promised me a three-million-dollar penthouse in Tribeca! You said your mother’s death would make us multi-millionaires!”
Julian sat on the edge of the bed, holding his head in his hands, his hair greasy and unwashed.
“Shut up, Chloe!” Julian barked weakly. “The court froze my accounts! It’s a temporary measure! Once my lawyers challenge Clara’s trust authority in supreme court next month, I’ll get control of the firm back!”
“Your lawyers?!” Chloe laughed harshly, pulling her coat around her shoulders. “Your lawyers dropped you yesterday because you couldn't pay their fifty-thousand-dollar retainer fee! You’re broke, Julian! You’re a pathetic, washed-up fraud!”
“I gave you two million dollars!” Julian screamed, standing up and grabbing her by her arms. “I bought you diamond necklaces! I bought you luxury cars! You owe me!”
“Get your hands off me!” Chloe shoved him back onto the bed with shocking force. “I don't owe you anything! You used stolen company money to buy those things! And guess what? The FBI called me two hours ago! They know about the Cayman accounts, Julian! They know my name was on Aura Holdings!”
Julian’s heart dropped into his stomach. “The... the FBI?”
“They offered me a immunity deal,” Chloe sneered, reaching into her purse and pulling out her lipstick. “If I testify against you regarding the money laundering scheme and hand over the offshore bank access keys, they won't file federal charges against me.”
Julian stared at her in absolute horror. “You... you betrayed me? To the federal government?!”
“I’m protecting myself, Julian,” Chloe said coldly, checking her reflection in the small vanity mirror. “Did you really think I loved you? You’re twenty years older than me, you smell like cheap whiskey, and you’re a terrible lay. I was only with you for the money. And now that you don't have a single cent, you’re completely useless to me.”
She grabbed her designer handbag, walked to the motel door, and paused, looking back at him with a cruel, mocking smile—the exact same smile she had used on the phone when I called from the hospital.
“Enjoy the motel, ex-CEO,” Chloe laughed. “I hear federal prison food is lovely this time of year.”
May you like
She slammed the door behind her.
Julian collapsed back onto the stained mattress, clutching his head as tears of pure, pathetic desperation finally spilled down his cheeks. He had given up his family, his wife, his mother, his reputation, and his freedom for a woman who had sold him out to federal agents for a plea bargain.
