Chapter 7 - The Deposition
Two months later, the legal proceedings began.
The deposition room was freezing. Julian sat across from me, looking ten years older. The arrogant, slick businessman who had mocked my pregnancy was gone. He looked exhausted, his hair unkempt, his suit hanging loosely off his thinning frame.
I sat tall in a bespoke white suit, holding a pen. Richard sat beside me, looking like a lion ready to pounce.
Julian’s court-appointed lawyer—a nervous public defender because no high-end firm would take a case with frozen assets—cleared his throat. “Mrs. Hale, my client maintains that the transfer of funds was an agreed-upon marital investment.”
Richard slid a thick binder across the table. “Document 4A. A forensic analysis of the signature on the wire transfer authorization. The handwriting expert confirms it is a 100% forgery executed by Julian Vance. Document 4B: Security footage of Mr. Vance accessing the notary seal in my client's home office while she was asleep.”
Julian stared at the table. He couldn't even look me in the eye.
“Furthermore,” Richard continued relentlessly, “we have audio recordings of Mr. Vance’s mother, Sylvia, offering to commit perjury in exchange for a financial payout, proving a conspiracy to defraud my client.”
Julian’s head snapped up. “My mother did what?”
May you like
I smiled thinly. “She tried to sell you out for ten thousand a month, Julian. She threw you under the bus the second her credit card declined.”
The absolute devastation in Julian’s eyes was the most satisfying thing I had ever witnessed. His mother, the woman who had poisoned our marriage, had betrayed him for cash. The illusion of his perfect life shattered into a million irreversible pieces.
