All Chapters of Making My Ex-Husband Crawl: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

80 Chapters

11| WHAT THE PAPERS SAY

Dante's Pov I was still thinking about the text when I got back to my office the next morning.Unknown number. No follow-up. Just that one line sitting in Valerie's phone like something that had been waiting for the right moment to land.I knew it was not Cassian. Cassian was loud when he was threatened. He grabbed arms in public corridors and made speeches. Whoever sent that text was something quieter. Something that had been watching long enough to know exactly when to speak.I called her at eleven.She picked up on the second ring. "I was wondering when you would call," she said."Did you sleep?" I said."Some," she said. "You?""Not much," I said. "I kept thinking about the text.""So did I," she said."Have you had it traced?" I said."Marcus is working on it," she said. "Prepaid number. Probably a dead end but we are trying.""Okay," I said. "What about the number itself. Did anything about it look familiar?""No," she said. "Nothing.""Could be someone inside Cassian's operatio

12| ON THE RECORD

Valerie's PovThe press conference room was full before I walked in.Thirty seats. Every one taken. Cameras along the back wall, recorders on the table, and the particular tension that comes from a room full of people who have all decided today is the day they get their story.I sat down at the table. Marcus sat to my left. Dante sat two seats to my right and did not make a thing of it. He just sat down like he had been in the room all along.The moderator opened it up."Ms. St. Claire," the first reporter said. "V. Intl has seen extraordinary growth in a very short period. Critics are calling it aggressive. How do you respond to that?""I respond by asking what the alternative is," I said. "Slow growth? Polite growth? Business is competitive. We compete. That is the whole answer.""There are suggestions that your methods target specific competitors," the second reporter said. "Thorne Industries in particular. Do you have a comment on that?""My methods target market opportunities," I

13| WHAT’S LEFT OF YOU

Cassian's POVI got to their building before they did.I knew the address because Park had followed them from the press conference. I stood in the lobby with my jacket on and my hands in my pockets as I waited.When the elevator opened, they walked out together. Valerie saw me first, shhe stopped walking for half a second. Then she kept going."Cassian," she said. "This is not the place.""I am not here to make a scene," I said. "I am here to talk.""You have said that before," she said. "And then you grabbed my arm.""I have something you need to hear," I said. "Both of you."Dante looked at me. He did not say anything, he just stood slightly to Valerie's left with his hands loose at his sides."I have documentation about the Swiss clinic. About who paid for those surgeries and how the money was moved.” I said. I have a lawyer who has been tracing the accounts and there are things in there that are not clean, Valerie.”She looked at me for a moment. "You are bluffing," she said."Tr

14| OPEN WATER

Valerie's POVThe yacht left the marina at seven in the morning.I stood at the railing with coffee and watched the city get smaller behind us. Dante came up beside me after a few minutes and stood there without saying anything, which was one of the things I was beginning to understand about him."You are thinking about the text," he said eventually."I am thinking about a lot of things," I said."Start with the text," he said. "Talk it through.""It is not Cassian," I said. "I have said that already and I still believe it. Cassian does not operate anonymously.""Agreed," he said. "So who else knows enough to send it?""Someone inside his circle," I said. "Someone who has been watching both of us long enough to know what the message would do.""To rattle you," he said."Or to rattle you," I said. "Whoever sent it knew you were there. They knew we had just kissed, the timing was too precise."He thought about that. "So someone was in the building.""Or someone had eyes on the building,

15| DIGGING

Cassian's POV The private investigator's name was Reeves. He came recommended by two people who did not want their names attached to the recommendation. I called him at six in the morning. He picked up on the first ring, which told me a few things about him. "I need everything," I said. "Dante Sterling, his connection to Valerie St Claire. When it started and how it started. Every transaction between them you can find going back five years." "That is a wide scope," Reeves said. "I know what scope it is," I said. "Can you do it or not?" "I can do it," he said. "It will not be cheap." "I did not call you because I thought it would be cheap," I said. "How long?" "For something this wide?" he said. "Two weeks minimum. One if you pay for the fast option." "What is the fast option?" I said. "More people," he said. "More access and risk." "Define risk," I said. "Some of the methods are not strictly orthodox," he said. "I do not care about orthodox," I said. "I care about result

16| FULL DISCLOSURE

Dante's POVShe was already in my office when I got back from my morning meetings.She had let herself in with the key card Marcus had given her. she was sitting in the chair across from my desk with a coffee and a tablet, reading something, looking completely at home.I stood in the doorway for a moment before she looked up."You gave me a key card," she said. "Do not act surprised.""I am not surprised," I said. "I am glad." I dropped my jacket on the hook and sat down. "What are you reading?""The Reeves report," she said. "Your copy.""How did you get my copy?" I said."Marcus," she said."Marcus works for me," I said."Marcus likes me," she said. She set the tablet down on the desk and looked at me. "You need to tell me the full amount.""The full amount of what?" I said."The money," she said. "Everything you moved through the holding account. I have the number from the report but I do not think it is the full picture."I sat back. "No," I said. "It is not the full picture.""So

17| ON THE STEPS

Valerie's PovHe was waiting on the steps when I arrived.On the actual steps of the V. Intl building, standing with his hands in his pockets like he had been there long enough to decide it was a reasonable place to be. My driver pulled up, I stepped out, and there was Cassian.Marcus fell into step beside me. "Security?" he said, low."No," I said. "Stay back."I walked up and stopped two steps below him so he was not looking down at me."This is not a good idea," I said."I just need ten minutes," he said. "That is all. Ten minutes for old times' sake.""Old times' sake," I said. "You mean the old times when you were forging my signature on asset transfers?Or the old times when you told me the world would mock me if I left the house?""I made mistakes," he said. "I am not pretending otherwise.""Then what are you here for?" I said."To talk," he said. "Two people. Before all of this got to where it is.""There is no before all of this," I said. "All of this exists because of what y

18| EMPTY ROOMS

Cassian's PovThe joint account was empty by noon.I found out from my banking app. A notification on my phone while I was still in the car outside the V. Intl building watching Lydia's driver pull away from the kerb.I sat there for a moment. Then I called the bank."Mr. Thorne," the account manager said. He had the voice of a man who had delivered this kind of news before and had not enjoyed any of those times."Yes, we can confirm a full withdrawal from the joint savings account was authorised this morning by Mrs Thorne under the existing joint access agreement.""How much is left?" I said."The account currently holds four hundred and twelve dollars, sir."I did not say anything for a moment."Mr Thorne," he said. "Are you still there?""What about the mortgage review?" I said. "I received a letter.""Yes," he said. "The mortgage lender has flagged three consecutive threshold shortfalls and has initiated a formal review. I would strongly recommend contacting your advisor before th

19| WHAT WINNING FEELS LIKE

Valerie's PovMarcus sent the update at six in the evening.Three lines. The board had called the emergency meeting. The resolution had been drafted. Cassian had thirty days to find twenty million or he was out as CEO.I read it twice. Then I put the phone down on the kitchen counter of Dante's penthouse and stood there for a moment.Dante came in from the other room. He looked at me. Then at the phone. "Good news or complicated news?" he said."Both," I said. "The board moved against him."He was quiet for a second. "How do you feel?""I do not know yet," I said.He came and stood beside me and looked at the message on the screen. "He has thirty days," he said."He does not have the contacts to raise twenty million in thirty days," I said. "Not in the position he is in. Nobody credible is going to hand him that kind of capital with the stock where it is, the supplier losses public and the divorce already filed.""So it is done," he said."Almost," I said. "Almost done."He looked at

20| THE LAST ROOM

Cassian's PovThe networking event was my lawyer's idea."You need to be seen," he said. "You need to be in a room with capital and you need to look like a man who still has options. Hiding in the penthouse does not get you twenty million in thirty days."So I went.The Ashford Club. Thursday evening. The kind of event where men in expensive suits stood in clusters and talked about money using words that meant other money.I had been comfortable at events like this for years. I had worked rooms like this. I had left them with handshakes that turned into deals.Tonight felt different from the moment I walked in.Three separate conversations stopped when I entered. People looked at me, then looked away in the particular way that means they already know and have already decided.I took a drink from the first tray that passed me and found a position near the window.Davies had sent me the capital contact list that morning. Eight names. People who had expressed informal interest in distre

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