Victoria stepped forward.
“Mr. Bradford,” she said, “your signing authority on all Bradford Industrial Group accounts has been terminated effective immediately. Your employment has been suspended pending investigation into contractual violations and financial improprieties. You have seventy-two hours to vacate this residence before foreclosure proceedings begin.”
Thomas stared, mouth opening and closing like a door with no key.
Sophia climbed out and scanned the suits, the police lights, the wreckage. Elena saw calculation in her eyes, the kind that measures love by net worth.
“There must be a mistake,” Thomas said, voice rising. “Morrison International is just the entity that bought us out. What does this have to do with my wife?”
Victoria lifted a hand toward Elena.
“Elena Christine Morrison Bradford is the founder and CEO of Morrison International Holdings,” she said. “The person who has owned your company, and controlled these assets, for six months.”
Silence dropped hard.
Thomas turned slowly to Elena. Understanding dawned. Elena waited for remorse.
Instead, Thomas’s face tightened with entitled fury.
“You lied to me,” he spat. “You let me think you were nothing.”
Elena’s laugh was short and bitter.
“I let you show who you were,” she corrected. “That was the point.”
Thomas stepped toward her, rain plastering his hair down, anger spilling out of him like oil.
“If you’d told me, I would’ve done things differently.”
Elena’s eyes didn’t blink. “You would’ve behaved,” she said. “Not loved.”
Sophia shifted a step backward, already detaching. When Thomas reached for her arm, she slipped out of his grasp and moved toward the car.
“Sophia,” Thomas said, panic cracking his voice.
Sophia paused just long enough to prove the truth.
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