THE NURSE TOLD ME MY HUSBAND'S WIFE AND SON WERE ALREADY WITH HIM. I HAD BEEN HIS WIFE FOR SEVEN YEARS.

Paige froze on the threshold, her eyes wide with sudden panic. She looked at me, then past me into the brightly lit foyer, realizing instantly that she had walked into a trap.

"I... I should leave," she stammered, stepping back toward the wet driveway.

"If you leave right now, Paige," I said, my voice cutting through the night air like a razor, "I will have the Minneapolis Police Department at your Edina townhouse within twenty minutes executing a warrant for grand larceny and corporate fraud."

She stopped dead in her tracks. "What?"

"Come inside," I commanded softly. "Let's not make the neighbors gossip."

Slowly, trembling, Paige walked into the house. I closed the heavy oak door behind her and led her into the dining room.

When Martha saw Paige step into the room, her smug expression shattered into pure horror. "Paige! What are you doing here?"

"She invited me," Paige whispered, her eyes darting between Martha and me. "She said Alistair needed the Cayman transfer documents."

I walked over to the head of the dining table, picked up my phone, and tapped the screen to stop a recording app that had been running for the last forty-five minutes.

"Thank you, Martha," I said, setting the phone down. "Your confession regarding your knowledge of the forgery and your son's intentional asset concealment was remarkably detailed. It will make a wonderful Exhibit A in court."

Martha’s face went from pale to ghostly white. "You recorded us?"

"Minnesota is a one-party consent state for audio recording," I replied smoothly, picking up a stack of documents I had prepared earlier that afternoon. "Now, Paige, let's talk about you."

I handed Paige a document. She looked down at it, her hands shaking so violently the paper rattled.

"That," I explained, "is a formal subpoena for your financial records, along with an asset freezing order issued by the Hennepin County District Court two hours ago."

"You... you can't freeze my accounts!" Paige cried out. "Those are my personal assets!"

"They were your personal assets until my private investigator tracked the origin of the funds," I corrected her. "Every dollar used to purchase your Edina townhouse, every wire transfer into your offshore trust, came directly from Finch Synergy's client escrow accounts—accounts that were funded by investors I brought to the table. Alistair didn't just cheat on me, Paige. He embezzled federal investment capital to pay for his mistress."

Paige collapsed into one of the dining chairs, dropping her head into her hands. "He told me you knew! He told me you were getting divorced and that the money was part of your property settlement!"

"He lied to you," I said coldly. "Just like he lied to me. Just like he lied to his investors."

I turned to Martha and George. "Tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM, Alistair is scheduled to sign the final paperwork for his Series B funding round with Vextor Capital. He believes I am going to walk into his hospital room and sign the spousal debt guarantee."

"Jacqueline, please," George begged, his voice cracking. "Don't ruin him. He's our son. If the investors find out about the embezzlement, he'll go to prison!"

"He should have thought about that before he forged my signature," I snapped, my eyes flashing with unyielding steel. "Here is what is going to happen."

I leaned over the table, looking at all three of them.

"Paige, you are going to hand over the flash drive containing the offshore account keys right now. If you cooperate, my legal team will recommend leniency when the federal prosecutor reviews your involvement."

Paige frantically unzipped her purse, pulled out a silver USB drive, and slammed it onto the table. "Take it! I don't want to go to jail!"

"Paige, shut up!" Martha screamed, turning on the younger woman. "You treacherous little parasite!"

"And as for you, Martha," I continued, ignoring the screaming match breaking out between the two women who had shared my husband's betrayal, "you and George are going to leave my house tonight. You will pack your things, you will stay away from Alistair, and if I catch either of you trying to warn him before tomorrow morning, I will personally file civil fraud charges against you both as co-conspirators."

Ten minutes later, the house was empty.