Chapter 4 - The Empty Financial Statement
Alice hired Daniel Mercer without telling Aiden.
Daniel specialized in complex divorces and hidden business assets.
He studied the old agreement beneath a bright desk lamp.
“This may still be enforceable.”
“May?”
“Aiden will argue that the ownership interest was absorbed into the marriage or abandoned. We need proof that the company created from your investment still exists.”
“Holland Development exists.”
“On paper, it barely does.”
Daniel turned his laptop toward her.
Six months earlier, Holland Development had transferred most of its profitable projects to a new company called Crestview Urban Partners.
Aiden’s sworn financial disclosure valued his interest in the original company at only sixty-two thousand dollars.
“Who owns the new company?” Alice asked.
“A private trust.”
“Whose trust?”
“The records don’t say.”
Alice leaned back as the baby pressed painfully against her ribs.
Daniel continued.
“The transfer happened four days after you told Aiden you were pregnant.”
The timing chilled her.
Aiden had not made a desperate decision after falling in love with Madeline.
He had begun moving assets while decorating the nursery with Alice.
Daniel pointed to the old agreement.
“If we prove Crestview Urban Partners is simply Holland Development under another name, your ownership clause follows the assets.”
“And if he lied under oath?”
“Then this becomes much larger than a divorce dispute.”
Alice closed her eyes.
She had spent years believing Aiden’s secrecy was arrogance.
May you like
Now she understood it had been preparation.
👉 Daniel’s search revealed that the hidden trust had one beneficiary—and it was not Aiden.
