Chapter 7 - The Monster Mother-in-Law Celebrates Too Early
Back in the city, Wendy was already acting like a queen who had reclaimed her throne.
Through Marcus’s discreet surveillance feeds, we watched Wendy host an extravagant luncheon at the prestigious Grandview Country Club in early March. She wore an ivory Chanel suit, dripping in diamond jewelry that had been purchased with stolen retiree funds.
Sitting with her circle of wealthy socialite friends, Wendy held court with dramatic sighs and a lace handkerchief.
“It has been such an agonizing trial for my poor Luca,” Wendy lamented loudly, ensuring everyone at neighboring tables could hear her tragic performance. “His wife, Jessi... poor dear, she came from such a low-income, troubled background. Her father was just an ordinary laborer, you know. After the unfortunate kitchen accident, her mind simply fractured. She ran off in the middle of the night, abandoning her marital duties and her medical care.”
“Oh, Wendy, how dreadful!” exclaimed Mrs. Kensington, the wife of a prominent municipal judge. “And what about the baby?”
“We believe she is hiding in some squalid shelter,” Wendy said, dabbing an imaginary tear from her eye. “Luca is beside himself with grief. But next month, the court will finally grant him full conservatorship over her father’s little estate so Luca can properly manage the family finances and fund a private search team to rescue our grandchild.”
“Luca is such a saint,” another woman cooed. “Any other man would have divorced her on the spot.”
“He is a devoted Christian man,” Wendy sighed modestly. “He carries his cross without complaint.”
Meanwhile, across town at the offices of Aegis Capital, Luca was popping champagne with his sleazy attorney, Bradley.
“The judge on the bench is Callahan,” Bradley said, leaning back in his leather chair and puffing on a cigar. “He’s old school. He hates wives who abandon the marital home. Since Jessi hasn’t responded to any public summons or registered at any state hospital under her name, Callahan will issue a summary default judgment in fifteen minutes flat. The property goes into your corporate trust by noon on April 18th.”
Luca raised his crystal glass, clinking it against Bradley’s. “To dead fathers and stupid wives.”
“To easy millions,” Bradley laughed.
Luca took a deep sip, feeling invincible. He had already signed a conditional contract with the commercial developers to close the sale of my father’s land on April 19th—the very day after the hearing. He had already put down a non-refundable deposit on a luxury yacht in Miami.
They were so intoxicated by their own arrogance that they failed to notice the gray sedan parked across the street from Aegis Capital every single day.
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They didn't notice the forensic accountants from the State Attorney General’s Financial Crimes Bureau quietly interviewing his former bank tellers.
And they certainly didn't notice that Detective Robert Miller, head of the Major Crimes Division, had officially reopened Case File #8841—labeled: The Attempted Murder of Jessi Vance.
