All Chapters of My Deadbeat Daughter Crushed It: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Michelle looked at me with a smug, self-assured smile.“Olivia, don’t take it personally. At work, we’re used to being direct. It saves time. I suppose it’s different when you’re a stay-at-home mom with all day to dance around the point.”She took a sip of her drink, then added, “Also, Olivia, you really shouldn’t think of me as a stranger. I know what George likes to eat and where he spends his nights probably better than you do.”I fought down the nausea rising in my chest and tightened my grip on the purse resting in my lap.“If George has something to say to me, he can say it himself. You and I have nothing to discuss.”“Oh, Olivia, there’s no need to get worked up.”She reached out and caught my arm, then casually pulled a photograph from her purse and slid it across the table.She tapped the face of the young man in the picture.“Take a good look. Doesn’t he look just like George?”My heart lurched painfully in my chest. “George and I have been together for twenty, may

George’s angry outburst died before he could finish.Zoe simply raised a finger to her lips. When she spoke, her voice was colder and steadier than I had ever heard it.“Yeah, you deserved it. You’ve been cheating on Mom for decades, and we have more than enough evidence to prove it. “Most people in your position would at least have the sense to keep their heads down. George, are you really that eager to get served?”She took the divorce agreement from my hands.After one glance, she tore it in half.“Oh, you two are definitely getting divorced. But you brought the wrong agreement. The one you need to sign is in that stack. Also, you’re the one walking away with nothing, George.“While we’re at it, we’re going to settle everything else you’ve done over the past few decades too. The evidence, the settlement proposal, the financial records, it’s all right there. We’ll talk after you read through it.”Steve was wide awake too.The three of them scrambled to pick up the papers an

George looked as if he had just been slapped. He was caught somewhere between outrage and panic.“That’s impossible! You? You landed me that contract? You got me promoted? You can’t even hold down a real job! “All you do is lie in bed while watching shows and playing games all day. You think I haven’t noticed?”He turned to glare at me as if this were somehow my fault. “Olivia, did you put her up to this? You roped Zoe into backing your lies just so you could avoid the divorce!”Before I could say anything, Zoe laughed.“If Mom were that cunning, she would’ve dumped you years ago.”She strolled over to the coffee table, shuffled through the papers for a moment, then pulled out a page and tossed it at George.“See for yourself. It’s the addendum to that thirty-million-dollar contract. Check the section naming the client’s requested partner. Recognize the signature at the bottom?”George snatched up the page and scanned the first few lines.All the color drained from his face

“You’re right about one thing. Having an affair by itself isn’t going to cost you everything. But wasting marital assets on your mistress? That’s a very different story.”She opened one of the files and slid a page across the table toward George.“Starting four years ago, you were transferring fifty thousand dollars a month to Michelle. After you took over those projects, you doubled it to one hundred thousand. “Then, there were vacations, gifts, jewelry, and all the other extras. Altogether, you’ve spent about six-point-seven million dollars on her.”“That money came out of marital income and assets. “You secretly funneled millions to the woman you were having an affair with, and Mom’s attorney can ask the court to credit every bit of that against you when the marital estate is divided.”George’s breathing grew ragged. His chest heaved violently. “But that was my salary.”“Your salary is joint marital property.”Zoe’s tone was completely flat, as if she were reading from a

Zoe sighed.“I kept thinking that whatever else he was, he was still your husband. Maybe he’d come to his senses, and we could still have some kind of family. “Instead, he only got worse. Then, he had the nerve to bring his mistress and her son right into our home.”She looked at me. Her eyes were bright with an almost childlike hint of pride.“Mom, you don’t have to be scared anymore. I have money, a company, and an entire team behind me. “As for that promotion he’s so proud of, and all those connections he thinks he has, I know exactly where they came from. He’s not going to get away with what he did.”I opened my mouth. I still had so many questions for her.However, when I saw the exhaustion around her eyes, I could not bring myself to ask even one.She had kept all of this from me for years.She had let me believe she was a hopeless freeloader, all because she did not want me to worry.I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close.“Zoe, I’m sorry. All this time,