Chapter 4 - Lauren's Apartment
At 2:14 a.m., Matthew stood inside Lauren Thorne's apartment on East Seventy-Fourth Street and watched his empire begin to fracture.
I learned the details later from text messages, building footage, and Lauren's eventual statement.
But by the end, I could picture the scene almost perfectly.
Lauren wore a white satin robe.
Matthew still wore the charcoal suit.
He had lost his tie somewhere between our penthouse and her building.
His phone would not stop ringing.
First Atlantic Bank.
Two directors.
His chief financial officer.
The Axion CEO.
Three journalists.
Matthew answered none of them.
He paced instead.
"What did you tell Clare?"
Lauren asked.
"Nothing."
"Then why is Sterling involved?"
"I don't know."
"You said she was cut off."
"She is."
Lauren crossed her arms.
"Apparently not."
Matthew stopped.
"Don't start."
"Your acquisition financing is frozen, your board is calling an emergency meeting, and your wife was taken out of your building by ambulance."
Lauren's voice rose.
"You told me you were going home to scare her."
Matthew glared at her.
"I handled it."
"Handled it?"
"Keep your voice down."
"My neighbors don't know you're married?"
He looked at her with enough fury to silence her.
Then his phone rang again.
This time he answered.
"What?"
His CFO, Daniel Cho, was on the other end.
Matthew listened.
His face changed.
"What do you mean, suspended?"
Lauren watched him.
"No."
He paced toward the window.
"No, Daniel, there is no governance issue."
A pause.
"Because I am the chief executive."
Another pause.
"Then tell the board I will be there at seven."
He disconnected.
"What happened?"
Matthew stared at the screen.
"First Atlantic froze the revolver."
Lauren's face went pale.
"Can they do that?"
"They can temporarily restrict additional draws if there's a material governance investigation."
"Is there?"
"There is now."
He hurled his phone onto the couch.
Lauren flinched.
For the first time that night, she looked afraid of him.
"Matthew."
"What?"
"What exactly did you do to her?"
He didn't answer.
Lauren stepped closer.
"How bad?"
"Stop."
"Did she go to the hospital because you hit her?"
His face hardened.
"You wanted me to put her in her place."
Lauren backed away.
"I never told you to hurt her."
"You stood in my office yesterday and cried because she embarrassed you."
"I said she needed to stop interfering."
"You said she thought she owned me."
Lauren stared at him.
"That isn't the same thing."
Matthew laughed once.
It sounded ugly.
"You liked it when I told you I'd handle her."
"I thought you meant divorce her."
"You knew what I meant."
"No."
Her voice changed.
"No, I didn't."
Matthew stepped closer.
Lauren immediately moved behind the kitchen island.
That movement would matter later.
Fear leaves memories people cannot edit.
His phone buzzed again.
A text from the chairman of the board.
EMERGENCY MEETING.
6:30 A.M.
INDEPENDENT DIRECTORS ONLY FOR FIRST SESSION.
DO NOT CONTACT STAFF ABOUT THE AUDIT.
Matthew read it twice.
Then another message appeared.
His executive access to the company's financial systems had been temporarily restricted.
Lauren saw his face.
"What?"
He looked up.
"They locked me out."
"Who?"
"My own company."
Then the final message arrived.
This one came from Henry Henderson.
It contained only four sentences.
You are directed not to contact Clare Sterling Hayes.
All communication will go through counsel.
Evidence has been preserved.
Choose your next move carefully.
Matthew stared at the name.
Sterling.
Not Hayes.
Sterling.
The name he had mocked for seven years.
The name he believed I had abandoned.
And somewhere between 2:14 and 2:15 that morning, he finally understood something I had forgotten myself.
May you like
You can walk away from a powerful family.
That does not mean the family stops loving you.
