Holding our two kids’ hands, I rushed home to tell my husband I had inherited $24 million and a skyscraper in New York City. But he and his mistress were waiting on the porch with divorce papers. She smirked, “Pack your bags. This house has no room for a leech.” I smiled. “Actually, this house belongs to…”

I stared at the injunction document, the legal jargon blurring before my eyes.

"How could he freeze my inheritance before I even claimed it?" I demanded, my hands shaking.

Mr. Harrison guided me and the children inside the house, locking the door firmly behind us.

"Julian has a contact inside the probate court," Mr. Harrison explained, pacing across my living room.

"Someone tipped him off about Eleanor’s will days ago."

I felt sick to my stomach, realizing Julian had planned this entire ambush.

He packed my bags and brought his mistress here because he thought he already had the upper hand.

"He claims you have a history of severe delusions," the lawyer read from the paper.

"He submitted forged medical records stating you are a danger to yourself and the children."

Maya tugged on my sleeve, her large brown eyes filled with tears.

"Mommy, are we going to lose our house?" she whispered.

I knelt down and kissed her forehead, forcing a brave smile.

"Absolutely not, baby," I promised, hugging her and Liam tightly.

"Mr. Harrison, how do we destroy this injunction?" I asked, standing back up.

"We need proof that Julian forged these documents, and we need it before the custody hearing on Friday," he replied.

I walked over to the kitchen counter, my mind racing through eleven years of marriage.

Julian was careless, arrogant, and he always kept his most secret files in his home office safe.

"I know exactly where he keeps his dirty secrets," I told the lawyer.

I marched down the hallway and pushed open the door to Julian’s pristine office.

I moved the painting on the wall, revealing the digital safe he thought I didn't know the passcode to.

I typed in Chloe’s birthday, a date I had discovered on his phone months ago.

The safe beeped and clicked open.

I reached inside, pulling out stacks of financial ledgers, hidden bank statements, and flash drives.

"We have him," I smiled, tossing the evidence onto the desk.

Suddenly, my cell phone rang with an unknown number.

I answered it, putting it on speaker so Mr. Harrison could hear.

"Hello, Clara," Julian’s voice echoed through the room, dripping with malice.

"Did you really think I’d leave the real evidence in a safe you could guess the password to?"

I froze, looking down at the ledgers.

I opened one of the books, realizing all the pages were completely blank.

“Which daughter is yours?” should have been a harmless question

The first wineglass shattered at 8:07 p.m

The moment the mafia boss’s wife called me “an illiterate servant,”

"By the way," Julian chuckled darkly over the phone.

"Child Protective Services is pulling into your driveway right now."

Chapter 2 - The Frozen Assets