Chapter 2: The Ultimate Betrayal and Divorce Papers
Grant laughed too loudly.
“That’s impossible.”
The sound disturbed one of the nurses near Elise’s incubator.
She glanced at him sharply before returning to the monitor.
Grant lowered his voice.
“I founded Keller Medical Solutions.”
“You registered the company,” Margaret replied.
“You did not provide the original capital.”
“I raised every dollar.”
“No.”
Margaret opened her tablet.
“The first three million dollars came from E.H. Ventures.”
Grant frowned.
“That was a silent investor.”
“That was Emma.”
His eyes moved toward me.
For years, Grant had praised himself for convincing an anonymous investment group to support his company.
He never asked why the approval had arrived within twenty-four hours.
He never asked why the investor had accepted modest voting rights.
He only assumed his talent had impressed someone.
I had wanted him to succeed without feeling overshadowed by my family.
I had believed love meant giving someone room to become his best self.
Grant had used that room to become cruel.
“You lied to me,” he said.
“I protected myself.”
“You let me believe the company was mine.”
“I let you manage it.”
Margaret swiped to another document.
“According to the trust agreement, Mr. Keller could earn forty percent ownership after ten years, provided he maintained regulatory compliance and remained married to the beneficiary without evidence of financial misconduct.”
Grant looked down at the divorce papers.
“What happens now?”
“Your attempted transfer of trust assets triggered the misconduct clause.”
Margaret’s expression remained calm.
“Your conditional ownership has been suspended pending an audit.”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“You can’t just take away his company.”
Grandfather looked at her.
“What position do you hold there?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“Director of regulatory affairs.”
Margaret’s eyebrows rose.
“That will make the audit interesting.”
Vanessa became very still.
Grant pointed toward me.
“This is revenge because I left her.”
“No,” I said.
My voice sounded stronger than I felt.
“This is what happens when you steal from your wife while your children are fighting for their lives.”
A monitor alarm sounded inside the NICU.
Every head turned.
The nurse beside Elise’s incubator pressed a button and called for the neonatologist.
Dr. Lena Morales hurried in.
I pushed myself upright despite the pain in my abdomen.
“What’s happening?”
Elise’s oxygen saturation was falling.
Dr. Morales checked the ventilator tubing.
“The sensor isn’t reading correctly.”
Another nurse opened a sterile package and removed a replacement component.
I recognized the blue-and-silver label immediately.
Keller Medical Solutions.
The nurse connected the new sensor.
The reading dropped again.
Dr. Morales pulled it away.
“Get me a different manufacturer.”
The second device worked.
Elise’s numbers began to rise.
Everyone in the corridor remained silent.
I stared at the discarded Keller Medical package.
Grandfather followed my gaze.
Margaret photographed the batch number.
Grant’s face lost what little color remained.
Dr. Morales stepped out of the NICU.
“That sensor was defective.”
Grant shook his head quickly.
“One defective unit doesn’t mean anything.”
May you like
Dr. Morales looked at him with open disgust.
“It means everything when the patient weighs two pounds.”
