Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Wife He Discarded: From Doormat to Dynasty: Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 30

One week before the Sterling Tech investors' meeting, Elena sat in Arthur's apartment, surrounded by boxes of evidence. Financial records covered the coffee table, patent documents were spread across the floor, and her laptop showed a presentation that would destroy Mark’s life."Are you sure about this slide?" Arthur asked, pointing to Elena's screen.Elena looked at the document showing Mark's theft of her original algorithm. "That's the code I wrote twelve years ago. The same code that's now worth billions of dollars.""And you can prove you wrote it?""I have the original files with timestamps, the email chains where Mark and I discussed it, and the patent application with both our names before Mark filed an amended version with just his name."Arthur nodded, making notes. "This is going to be devastating for him."Elena felt a mix of satisfaction and nervousness. In one week, she would stand in front of five hundred business leaders and expose her ex-husband as a fraud. It was ev

The night before the Sterling Tech investors' meeting, Elena couldn't sleep. She paced around Arthur's apartment at 2 AM, going over her presentation one more time. Tomorrow, she would either reclaim her life or lose everything she'd built.Arthur found her in the kitchen, making her third cup of coffee."Elena, you need to sleep.""I can't. What if I forget something important? What if Mark's lawyers find a way to discredit our evidence?"Arthur took the coffee mug from her hands. "Everything is going to be fine. We have documentation for every claim, witnesses for every allegation, proof of every crime."Elena's phone rang. She looked at the screen and felt her stomach drop."It's Mark. At 2 AM!""Don't answer it."Elena stared at the phone. "What if something happened to the kids?"Against Arthur's advice, Elena answered."What do you want, Mark?""Elena, I'm calling to offer you one last chance."Mark's voice was different, not his usual confident tone, but something desperate and

The Sterling Tech investors' meeting was set to begin in one hour. Elena stood backstage in the Ritz-Carlton ballroom, watching through the curtain as five hundred of the most powerful people in business took their seats."Nervous?" Arthur asked, appearing beside her with two bottles of water."Strangely, no." Elena accepted the water gratefully. "I keep thinking I should be terrified, but I just feel... ready."Arthur looked out at the crowd. "There's Senator Anderson. And Judge Williams. And half the Fortune 500 CEOs in the country."Elena spotted familiar faces throughout the audience. People who had known her when she was married to Mark, who had watched her "breakdown" at the charity gala, who probably expected to see a bitter woman making wild accusations.They were about to be very, very surprised."Elena," Arthur said quietly, "whatever happens out there, I want you to know something."She turned to look at him. "What?""Meeting you changed everything for me. Not just the inve

The ballroom was chaos after Elena's presentation. FBI agents had handcuffed Mark and were leading him out while reporters shouted questions. Business leaders were on their phones, probably calling their lawyers and PR people to distance themselves from Sterling Tech.Elena stood backstage, watching it all happen. She felt strangely calm, like she was watching someone else's life unfold."Elena, you need to see this," Arthur said, rushing over with his phone.Elena looked at the screen. It was a news alert: "Sterling Tech Stock Crashes 80% After Fraud Allegations. Trading Suspended.""Eighty percent?" Elena couldn't believe it."It would be more, but they stopped trading to prevent total collapse," Arthur explained. "Elena, you just wiped out Mark's entire fortune in one presentation."Elena watched through the curtain as Mark was escorted past the crowd of reporters. He looked broken and defeated. Nothing like the confident man who had threatened to take her children away just hours

Elena was making breakfast when her phone rang at 7 AM. Unknown number."Elena.""Elena, it's me."Mark's voice made her blood run cold. He wasn't supposed to be able to call her because of the restraining order."Mark, you're not allowed to contact me. I'm hanging up.""Wait. Please. It's about the kids."Elena hesitated. She should hang up and call Judy immediately. But something in Mark's voice sounded desperate, even more than before."What about the kids?""I need to see them, Elena. Before I go to prison. Just once, to say goodbye."Elena looked up the stairs where Sophia and James were getting ready for school. "Absolutely not.""Elena, please. I know I messed up everything. I know you hate me. But they're my children too.""You should have thought about that before you threatened to kidnap them."Mark was quiet for a moment. "I was desperate. I said things I didn't mean. But Elena, whatever I did to you, whatever crimes I committed, I love those kids."Elena felt herself waver