Chapter 5 - The Shark's Office
Elias Thorne’s office was located on the 60th floor of a skyscraper that overlooked the lake.
The walls were all glass,
the furniture all chrome and dark leather.
It was a room designed to make people feel small.
But as I sat across from him,
I felt like I was exactly where I belonged.
Elias was a man in his sixties,
with hair like silver wire and eyes that could see through a brick wall.
He didn't offer me coffee.
He didn't offer me sympathy.
He simply reached for the ledger.
I handed it over.
He spent twenty minutes reading in silence,
his fingers tracing the old ink.
The only sound was the hum of the city far below.
Finally,
he looked up,
a predatory glint in his eyes.
“This is a death warrant,”
he said,
his voice hushed with a rare respect.
“If this goes to the SEC,
the Pierce Group is finished.”
“Not just Nathan,”
I added.
“Eleanor,
Richard,
the whole board.”
“They’ve been using the company as a personal piggy bank for three decades.”
Elias leaned back,
folding his hands.
“And the mistress?”
I pulled out the photos and the bank statements.
“Brooke Landon is a consultant for a subsidiary that doesn't exist,”
I explained.
“She’s been paid over two million dollars in the last eighteen months.”
“Money that should have been part of the marital assets.”
Elias nodded slowly.
“Nathan has been diverting funds to hide his affair.”
“That’s not just infidelity.”
“That’s fraud against the marital estate.”
“In the state of Illinois,
that gives us a massive lever.”
He looked at me,
assessing my resolve.
“What is the goal,
Mara?”
“Is it money?”
“Is it a quiet exit?”
I leaned forward,
my voice dropping to a whisper.
“I want a total dissolution.”
“I want seventy percent of the liquid assets.”
“I want the Lake Forest estate.”
“And I want Nathan removed from the board of the foundation I started.”
“And if they refuse?”
Elias asked,
a small smile playing on his lips.
“Then the ledger goes to the federal prosecutor,”
I replied.
“And Eleanor can spend her golden years in a federal prison.”
Elias laughed,
a short,
sharp sound.
“I like you,
Mara.”
“You’ve been playing the quiet wife for too long.”
“They have no idea what’s coming.”
He picked up his phone,
pressing a button for his assistant.
“Get the Pierce legal team on the line.”
“Tell them we’re hosting a meeting at noon.”
May you like
“And tell them to bring Eleanor.”
“Because we’re about to have a family talk.”
