Chapter 15 - The Alliance Of Spite
In a high-rise office overlooking Wacker Drive, Arthur Pendelton sat behind a slab of polished black granite.
Across from him, Daniel sat forward on the edge of a leather armchair, sweating through his synthetic shirt.
"Eleanor refuses to co-sign the indemnity," Pendelton stated bluntly, dropping a faxed declaration onto the desk.
"She says if we file against Claire’s offshore trusts, she will retain independent counsel to contest our standing."
"My mother is old and frightened," Daniel insisted frantically, his voice cracking.
"She doesn't understand that Claire is bluffing!"
"Claire Montgomery doesn't bluff," Pendelton said coldly.
"I dealt with her during the syndication of the Loop office towers three years ago."
"You thought she was just your quiet wife taking notes in the corner, didn't you, Sterling?"
"She caught a forty-basis-point interest miscalculation in our loan covenants that would have cost your firm twelve million dollars."
Daniel felt a wave of nausea rise in his throat.
"You never told me that."
"Why would I?" Pendelton sneered.
"I was trying to fleece you, and she stopped me without raising her voice."
The side door to the conference room swung open, and Julianna walked in, carrying a tablet.
Her eyes were dark with exhaustion, but there was a sharp, predatory spark in her expression.
"We don't need the Cook County courts," Julianna announced, setting the tablet in front of Pendelton.
Daniel turned, his brow furrowing.
"What are you talking about?"
"Claire just registered a new boutique advisory firm in Boston," Julianna said, pointing at the state corporate filings on the screen.
"She’s onboarding three ultra-high-net-worth families from the North Shore who quietly pulled their accounts from your old firm."
Pendelton leaned over to look, his interest visibly reignited.
"Which families?"
"The Van Der Bilt trusts and the Hastings group," Julianna replied with a thin, poisonous smile.
"They trusted Claire’s forensic work for twenty years."
"They didn't leave Daniel because of his affair; they left because they knew Claire was the brain behind the treasury."
Daniel slammed his open palm onto the armrest.
"Those were my accounts!"
"They were her clients, Daniel," Julianna corrected without mercy.
"But here is our leverage: she registered that firm while your divorce decree was technically in the ninety-day appeal window."
Pendelton tapped his lip thoughtfully.
"A breach of fiduciary non-compete during pendency of marital dissolution."
"It won't win in front of a jury," Daniel admitted, looking between them.
"It doesn't need to win," Julianna whispered, leaning down between the two men.
"It just needs to hit the Boston and Chicago business wires before she closes her first fund."
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"Institutional money hates scandal."
"If we make enough noise, her investors will panic, her seed capital will freeze, and she will be forced to buy our silence."
