“Apologies, let’s get back on track. Uhm . . .” he trailed off, glancing down at the stack of papers on his desk.
“There is no money,” Eliana supplied dryly.
“No money. Right.” Richard coughed once, shuffled the papers, and cast one final stink-eye towards Clem, before straightening. “Okay, so I think the most obvious route here would be to file for divorce immediately and report your suspicions about his workplace fraud to his employer. If you’re right, the dollar amount could be a felony. That would mean serious prison time. We’d have a strong case for getting you sole custody of your daughters.”
“Nowthat,” Clem said, “we can agree on. And it is a perfect segue into my final piece of information.” She slapped a file folder on the desk, arching a brow at Richard. “Before you even ask, the answer isno. I will not expand on where the files came from. It doesn’t matter anyway, because we won’t be using this evidence in court proceedings. These are for planning purposes and knowledge sharing only.” Richard nodded, though it clearly pained him to do so, and Clem raised her palm, allowing him to lift the file and shuffle through the documents.
Clem turned back to Eliana. “You were right about everything. From what we can tell, based on emails and digital footprint, is that Jesse’s boss and the Incentives Director are working together in a scheme to cash in falsified rebates for company products using dummy employee accounts. Jesse appears to be the one processing the paperwork and turning a blind eye, in exchange for their approving some pretty significant, and almost certainly fraudulent, reimbursements through the company’s travel expense program.”
Milo whistled under his breath. “How much have they embezzled?”
“Hundred thousand, best we can tell. Maybe more.”
“Who is ‘we’?” Richard casually pried, flipping between pages. Too casual.
“‘We’ is me,” Clem answered.
“Are you telling me you have multiple personalities now?”
Clem tilted her head, a curious smile spreading. “Why? Would that scare you?”
“Okay.” Eliana snapped her fingers, widening her eyes at Clem.
“Fine,” Clem huffed. “I’m simply pointing out that Dick here is right, you have cards you can play. And if you want my advice, Eliana, I say you throw his ass away to rot. At least figuratively, if not literally.”
Richard opened his mouth, then shook his head as if thinking better of whatever he was planning to say. Instead, he directed his question to Eliana. “Are you ready to proceed?”
Eliana chewed her lip for a long moment, thinking. She shook her head. “I don’t want to be the reason he goes to jail.”
“Uh . . .youwouldn’t be the reason,” Clem pointed out, clucking her tongue. “You didn’t make him steal.”
“I know,” Eliana agreed. “I get it. I do. But this is such a twisted situation. And I’m not excusing his choices. There is no excuse. But I made so many mistakes. Allowing him to overstep so far. Letting him cut me out.”
“You didn’t know,” Milo said, his voice soft.
“But Ishould’ve.” Eliana’s eyes were pleading as she turned to look at them each in turn. Willing them to understand. “And how am I supposed to look my girls in the eye on their graduation day, when their dad can’t be there because he’s behind bars—becauseIturned him in? Whatabout their wedding days? Are they eventually supposed to take my grandkids to the prison to meet Grandpa? Or are they supposed to stand in solidarity with me and pretend he’s dead?” She sighed, feeling bone tired. “I can’t right the wrong of what he’d done by stealing away the opportunity for him to have a relationship with our daughters. I can’t let them become collateral damage.”
“Els, babe, you’re bordering on martyrdom here . . .” Clem began. “You have to stop thinking about everyone else for five fucking minutes and do what’s best foryousometimes. Jesse wrongedyou.”
“Exactly,” Eliana agreed. “He wrongedme. Not the girls. Sending him away would only benefit me.” She turned to Richard, waving a hand at the financial paperwork strewn across his desk. “And truly,wouldit benefit me? We talked about how I would be entitled to the shared assets, but what assets are there? The house that has two mortgages? The girls’ college money? There’s nothing for me to take. But you know what there is?” She looked at each of them, not understanding why they didn’t see what she saw. “There is a shit-ton of debt. Could he not argue that the debt is marital debt? Would that leave me with a thirty-thousand-dollar bill?”
“It’s a possibility that he may go down that route.” Richard nodded slowly. “But it’s unlikely a judge would rule that way, considering the criminal activity and the nature of the credit charges.”
“But can youguaranteeme that I won’t come out of this with no custodial support, no alimony, and a mountain of debt on my shoulders?”
“It would be incredibly unlikely,” Richard frowned. “But no—I can’t guarantee that a judge will swing your way if Jesse contests the divorce.”
Eliana slumped in her seat, her eyes returning to Clem. “I can’t risk it. I need everything lined up, foolproof. A smoking gun. I need a plan to keep that debt his responsibility. A plan to protect my custody rights. To support myself.” Eliana held up a hand when Richard began to speak. “IknowI can ask for alimony. But given the state of our finances, do you really think I should plan around it? I’ve been saving. I’ve got over seven thousand in the bank. If I could get a little more stored up, I would feel a lot more comfortable. Especially considering all the costs involved with finalizing the divorce.”
Richard folded his lips inward, his gaze thoughtful. “So what would you like to do?” he asked.
“I want to continue as things are. Working. Collecting evidence. I want to give the girls a semi-normal life until I’m ready to file for divorce, and ensure a smooth transition through the process.”
“It’s a nice goal,” Richard began. “But I have to point out that Jesse will continue spending, and the debts will only rise, further complicating the divorce process.”
Eliana nodded. “I have an idea in mind for that, actually. But not just that—I have plans to meticulously dismantle Jesse’s world until there’s nothing left for him to love besides our daughters. Nothing left for him to fight for or against. I want to get even, and then I want to walk away with no debt and no strings.”
“Hell yeah. As you should.” Clem grinned, her words punching through the silence following Eliana’s announcement with the delicacy of a rhinoceros. “Right, Dick?”
