Ricardo wasn’t just cheating on me. He was actively embezzling from his own company, a major multinational firm with a zero-tolerance policy and a notoriously ruthless legal team. And he had used our joint tax identification information to set up the dummy corporation. If the company found out, he wouldn’t just face a divorce court; he would face federal prison—and he had tried to drag me down as his unwitting accomplice.
On Wednesday morning, Beatrice filed the divorce petition, citing irretrievable breakdown and financial misconduct. Along with the petition, she filed an emergency motion to freeze all of Ricardo’s bank accounts, including the hidden ones.
By noon, Ricardo’s world began to completely implode.
My phone rang again. This time, it wasn’t a hidden number. It was Ricardo. I decided it was time to speak.
“Hello, Ricardo,” I said, my voice steady and cold.
“Ana!” he screamed, his voice hoarse, sounding as though he hadn’t slept in days. “You froze my accounts! I went to buy a coffee and my card was declined! I can’t pay the rent on… I can’t access anything! What did you do?!”
“I didn’t do anything, Ricardo. The courts did,” I replied smoothly. “You wanted to teach me a lesson, remember? You said I thought I was untouchable ever since Lily was born. Well, it turns out, when it comes to protecting my daughter and my future, I am.”
“You b*tch,” he hissed, his civility completely gone. “You think you’re going to ruin me? I will drag you through the mud. I will tell the judge you’re an unfit mother. I will take Lily away from you, and you’ll be left selling your pathetic little cakes on the street corner!”
“You can try,” I said softly. “But before you do, you might want to check your email. I sent a copy of a few choice bank statements to your personal address. Specifically, the ones involving ‘Salazar Logistics LLC’ and the wire transfers from your corporate office.”
The line went dead silent. The heavy, panicked breathing on the other end was the only sound.
“How… how did you get those?” he whispered, his voice trembling with a terror I had never heard before.
