Chapter 4 - The Office Ambush
I dressed quickly in a sharp new suit I had delivered to the hotel at dawn, leaving Emma safely under the watchful eye of a trusted professional nanny.
I arrived at my corporate headquarters just as the morning sun began reflecting off the glass skyscrapers.
The security guard at the front desk looked nervous when I walked into the lobby.
"Ms. Hayes, your husband insisted on waiting in your private office, and he brought a guest," the guard stammered.
I told the guard it was fine, but I quietly instructed him to have building security wait out of sight near the executive floor.
When I pushed open the double glass doors of my office, I found Daniel sitting behind my mahogany desk with his feet propped up on the polished wood.
Sitting on the leather sofa across from him was Chloe, wearing a designer dress that I recognized from my own closet.
"What do you think you are doing here, Daniel?" I asked, keeping my voice dangerously calm.
Daniel chuckled, dropping his feet to the floor and leaning forward with a sickeningly arrogant smile.
"Just claiming what is rightfully mine, Sarah," he said smoothly.
He gestured to the expensive artwork and the panoramic view of the city skyline behind him.
"My mother told me I shouldn't let you push me around, especially after you kidnapped our daughter."
Chloe crossed her legs and offered me a condescending, pitiful smile.
"Daniel has told me all about how abusive and controlling you are, Sarah," Chloe said sweetly.
I stared at her, genuinely amazed by the sheer audacity of this woman sitting in my office, wearing my clothes, and spending my money.
"You stole half a million dollars from a toddler's trust fund to buy a house for your mistress," I said, looking directly at Daniel.
Daniel didn't even flinch.
"That money was marital property, and I simply made a real estate investment for my family's future," he replied.
I walked over to the security panel on the wall and locked the office doors from the inside.
"You have exactly thirty seconds to leave this building before I have you arrested for trespassing and corporate espionage," I warned him.
Daniel stood up, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a thick stack of folded legal documents.
"I'm not going anywhere, and neither is my money," he sneered.
He threw the papers across my desk, sending them sliding toward me.
"I filed an emergency ex parte order this morning with a judge who happens to be a very close friend of my mother's family."
May you like
I looked down at the official court seal stamped on the front page.
"It grants me immediate and exclusive physical custody of Emma, and it freezes all of your personal assets until the divorce is finalized," Daniel stated.
