Elena stepped toward Mark, her tone shifting from defensive anger to desperate pleading as she reached out to touch his arm.
Elena: Mark, think about your reputation! If this gets out to the press, your real estate stock will plummet! The board will push you out as CEO!
Mark: I don't give a damn about the stock price, Elena. My primary duty as a father is protecting my daughter, and I failed her the moment I brought you into this house.
Elena: I loved you! I gave up my career in Miami to move here and build a life with you!
Mark: You gave up a failed modeling career to leech off my estate! You thought you could push Lily out of the picture so you'd be the sole heir to my life insurance policy!
Elena’s posture snapped back straight, her soft pleading instantly melting away into a cold, contemptuous smile.
Elena: You think you're so smart, don't you? You think you have everything figured out because you have a few bank receipts and a camera recording!
Mark: I have more than enough to ruin you, Elena. You won't see a single dime from the prenuptial settlement.
Elena: Go check the safe in your home office, Mark. Go take a look right now and tell me what's inside!
Mark narrowed his eyes, a sudden knot forming in his stomach as he watched the smug confidence return to Elena's face.
He turned away from her and walked quickly into the adjacent library, stepping behind the painting that concealed his floor-anchored steel safe.
He punched in his six-digit passcode, the heavy mechanical door clicking open with a dull thud.
Mark reached inside, his hands searching the dark interior, only to find the floor of the safe completely bare.
Mark: The bearer bonds... the property deeds... Where are they?
Elena walked slowly to the library doorway, leaning against the frame with her arms crossed over her chest.
Elena: Marcus picked them up three hours ago while you were stuck in airport traffic, darling.
Mark: That safe required my biometric fingerprint to open! How did you get access to it?
Elena: You sleep very soundly after working fourteen-hour days, Mark. It was embarrassingly easy to press your thumb against the reader while you were passed out on Sunday night.
Mark: Those property deeds represent over three million dollars in commercial assets!
Elena: And they are currently on their way to a private airstrip outside Fort Worth. By midnight, Marcus will be out of the country, and those assets will be liquidated into untraceable cryptocurrency.
Mark: You insane woman... You planned this whole thing from the start!
Elena: Of course I did! Did you really think a woman like me would stay married to a workaholic widower who spends all his time crying over his dead ex-wife?
Elena: I was going to leave quietly next month, but your bratty little girl got under my skin today and ruined the timeline!
Mark: You think Marcus is waiting for you at that airstrip? You really believe a criminal like him is going to share three million dollars with you?
Elena’s smile faltered slightly, a flicker of doubt finally crossing her cold eyes as Mark stepped closer to her.
Mark: Call him, Elena. Call Marcus right now on speakerphone and ask him where he is.
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