Chapter Eight;The First Strike

NADIA POV

Rachel filed the papers on a Monday morning.

I did not go with her. I did not need to. I stayed in my hotel room and waited. I sat on the bed with my phone in my hand and my heart in my throat. I had been waiting for this moment for weeks. I had been planning it. I had been preparing for it.

But now that it was here, I was afraid.

Not of Julian. Not of what he would do. Not of what he would say.

I was afraid of what would happen if it did not work.

If the courts did not believe me. If the evidence was not enough. If Julian found a way to slip through the cracks like he always did. If he won. If he took everything. If he left me with nothing.

I pressed my hand against my stomach.

We are going to be okay, I told myself. We are going to be okay.

I did not know if I believed it.

But I said it anyway.

---

The first call came at ten in the morning.

It was Rachel. Her voice was calm. Too calm. The kind of calm that made me nervous.

"It is done," she said.

"What is done?"

"The assets are frozen. All of them. His personal accounts. The company accounts. The trust he set up for Serena. Everything."

I closed my eyes.

"He cannot touch any of it," she continued. "Not until the investigation is complete. Not until the courts have reviewed the evidence. Not until we have our day in court."

"How long?"

"Months. Maybe longer."

"What does he have?"

"Nothing. He has nothing."

I opened my eyes.

I looked out the window. The sun was shining. The city was bright. The world was going on like nothing had happened.

But everything had happened.

Everything had changed.

"Thank you," I said.

"You do not need to thank me. This is what I do. This is what I have always done. I just wish I had done it sooner."

"You did not know."

"I should have known. I should have seen the signs. I should have protected you."

"You are protecting me now."

She was silent for a moment. Then she spoke.

"What are you going to do next?"

"I am going to wait."

"Wait for what?"

"For him to realize what he has lost."

---

JULIAN POV

I woke up to a phone call from my accountant.

"Julian," he said. His voice was shaking. "We have a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"Your accounts are frozen."

I sat up in bed. I was still half asleep. I did not understand what he was saying. I did not understand how it was possible.

"What do you mean frozen?"

"I mean frozen. You cannot access anything. Not your personal accounts. Not the company accounts. Not the trust. Nothing."

I threw the covers off and stood up. My heart was pounding. My mind was racing. I did not know what was happening. I did not know who had done this. I did not know how.

"Who did this?" I demanded.

"The courts. There is a legal filing. A petition to freeze all assets pending an investigation."

"What investigation?"

"Fraud. Forgery. Embezzlement. The list is long, Julian. And the evidence is damning."

I felt the floor drop out from under me.

"Nadia," I whispered.

"What?"

"Nothing. I will call you back."

I hung up the phone.

I stood there in my bedroom. Alone. The room was cold. The room was empty. The room was silent.

She did it.

She actually did it.

I had underestimated her. I had thought she was weak. I had thought she was powerless. I had thought she would crumble. I had thought she would come back to me.

I was wrong.

She was not weak.

She was not powerless.

She was not going to crumble.

She was coming for me.

And she was going to win.

---

I called Serena.

"Do not tell me you do not know," I said when she answered.

"Know what?"

"The accounts are frozen. All of them. Every single one."

There was a pause. A long pause. I could hear her breathing. I could hear her thinking. I could hear her calculating.

"That cannot be possible," she said.

"It is possible. It is happening. Right now."

"Who did this?"

"Nadia. She filed a petition. She has a lawyer. She has evidence."

More silence.

"Do not panic," she said finally.

"Do not panic? I have nothing. I cannot access anything. I have no money. I have no company. I have nothing."

"You have me."

I laughed. A bitter, broken laugh. A laugh that held no humor. A laugh that held only despair.

"I do not even know if I have you," I said. "I do not know what you are. I do not know who you are. I do not know anything anymore."

She did not respond.

She just hung up.

---

NADIA POV

The second call came at noon.

It was David. My head of engineering. The one who had kept the records. The one who had been waiting for this moment.

"It is done," he said.

"What is done?"

"The patent. I found it. The original filing. The one with your name on it. The one Julian tried to erase."

My heart stopped.

"You found it?"

"I found it. It was buried in the archives. He tried to delete it. He tried to change the records. But he missed one. He missed the original."

I closed my eyes. I could feel the tears forming. I could feel the relief washing over me. I could feel the hope returning.

"Send it to Rachel," I said. "Send it to her right now."

"I already did."

"Thank you."

"You do not need to thank me. You built that patent. You built that company. You built everything. He just took credit for it."

I smiled. A real smile. A genuine smile. The first one I had smiled in a long time.

"He is not going to take credit for anything anymore," I said.

---

JULIAN POV

I went to the office.

I did not know what else to do. I did not know where else to go. I did not know who else to call. I just got in the car and went to the office. I just walked in the door and went to my desk. I just sat down and waited.

For what, I did not know.

The board was waiting for me. They had called an emergency meeting. They had questions. They had concerns. They had demands.

I did not have answers.

I did not have anything.

I walked into the conference room and faced them. Twelve faces. Twelve people who had once trusted me. Twelve people who had once believed in me. Twelve people who were now looking at me like I was a stranger.

"What is going on, Julian?" one of them asked.

"I am handling it."

"Handling what? The accounts are frozen. The company is in crisis. The media is having a field day. We need answers."

"I do not have answers."

"Then find some."

"I cannot."

The room went silent.

"What do you mean you cannot?"

I looked at them. I looked at their faces. I looked at their disbelief. I looked at their anger. I looked at their fear.

"I cannot fix this," I said. "I cannot fix any of it. I have nothing. I have no money. I have no power. I have nothing."

The room erupted.

I sat there and listened to them shout. I sat there and listened to them argue. I sat there and listened to them blame me.

And I did not say a word.

Because they were right.

Everything was my fault.

Everything was my doing.

And there was nothing I could do to fix it.

NADIA POV

That night, I stood in my hotel room and looked out the window.

The city was bright. The city was beautiful. The city was full of people who had no idea what was happening. People who had no idea that a woman who had been erased was about to rise.

I pressed my hand against my stomach.

"We did it," I whispered. "We made the first move. We made the first strike. And now he knows. Now he knows that I am not going to stop. Now he knows that I am going to take everything back."

I picked up my phone. I called Rachel.

"What is next?" I asked.

"The next step is the divorce hearing. The next step is the evidence. The next step is the trial."

"How long?"

"Months. Maybe a year."

"I can wait."

"I know you can."

I hung up the phone and sat down on the bed.

I looked out the window.

I thought about Julian. I thought about the way he had looked at me when I walked out the door. I thought about the way he had begged. I thought about the way he had said he did not care.

He cared now.

He cared now that he had lost everything.

He cared now that I was winning.

He cared now that I was not the woman he had married.

He cared now that I was someone new.