Chapter 8 - The Deposition
Three weeks later.
The high-rise conference room at Pendelton, Ross & Vance was bathed in sharp afternoon sunlight. Long mahogany tables were stacked with hundreds of legal binders containing bank records, forensic audit reports, and corporate communications.
I sat at the head of the table, dressed in a sleek charcoal grey suit, my hair styled in an elegant, professional sweep. Beside me sat Arthur Pendelton and Harrison Vance, who had officially been named the new CEO of Vance-Carter Dynamics.
Across the table sat Ryan Carter and his lead defense attorney, Marcus Vance (no relation to Harrison).
Ryan looked like a hollow shadow of his former self. He had lost weight, dark bags hung beneath his sunken eyes, and his hands shook slightly as he adjusted his tie. In three short weeks, he had been fired from his company, stripped of his executive board positions, indicted by a federal grand jury for offshore tax fraud, and abandoned by Madison, who had fled back to her parents' estate in Florida after her private accounts were frozen by federal marshals.
"We are on the record," the court reporter announced, her fingers hovering over the stenography machine. "This is the deposition of Ryan Vance Carter in the matter of Carter v. Carter."
Marcus Vance cleared his throat, looking across at Arthur. "Before we begin questioning, my client would like to make a personal statement to Mrs. Carter."
Arthur looked at me. I gave a slight, dismissive nod. "Proceed."
Ryan looked up, meeting my eyes for the first time since the morning he had thrown the divorce papers onto my lap. His voice was raspy, completely devoid of its former booming arrogance.
"Emily..." Ryan began, his voice trembling. "I... I want to deeply apologize for what I said to you six weeks ago. I was under immense pressure from the upcoming corporate audit. I was stupid, arrogant, and blind. I didn't mean those terrible things I said about your appearance... or your value."
I stared at him, my expression unyielding and cold.
"You didn't mean them, Ryan?" I asked softly, my voice cutting through the quiet room. "Or do you simply regret that those words were recorded?"
Ryan swallowed hard, unable to look me in the eyes. "I know I hurt you. But please... think about our history, Emily. We built a life together for seven years. Don't let the federal prosecutors destroy everything I spent my life building. If you testify regarding those offshore licensing documents, I am facing six to eight years in a federal penitentiary."
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the polished table, locking my eyes onto his broken face.
"When I was lying on that hospital bed six weeks ago, bleeding and exhausted after carrying your three children for nine months," I said, every word dropping like a heavy stone, "did you think about our seven years of history? When you walked into my nursery with a twenty-two-year-old girl and called me a scarecrow, did you care about my pain?"
Ryan stayed silent, tears brimming in his bloodshot eyes.
"You didn't care about my humanity, Ryan," I continued smoothly. "You only cared about your image. You thought I was weak because I sacrificed my body to give you a family. You assumed my silence was submission. You made a terrible calculation—you forgot that a writer notices every lie."
Arthur Pendelton opened a thick binder in front of him. "Let the record reflect that Mrs. Carter will not be withdrawing her sworn affidavits provided to the Department of Justice. We will now proceed with line-item questioning regarding the four million dollars transferred to the Aegis Global account on November 14th."
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Ryan buried his face in his shaking hands, slumping over the table as his attorney began whispering frantically into his ear.
I sat tall and proud, watching the man who had tried to destroy me completely crumble under the weight of his own crimes.
