Chapter 4 - UNCOVERING THE LEDGER
For forty-eight hours straight, Grace and Judge Vance combed through the digital files on the flash drive. What they uncovered went far beyond simple marital cruelty. Derek Ashford had systematically embezzled millions from joint family trusts, funneled venture capital through illegal shell corporations, and orchestrated fraudulent medical records to legally declare Grace 'mentally incompetent' so he could seize her maternal inheritance without a contested divorce.
Furthermore, the files contained explosive proof regarding Derek’s corporate backers—shady real estate syndicates that had illegally acquired public land through bribery. Grace stared at the glowing monitor, her heart pounding with a mix of fury and liberation. Derek had spent years treating her like a delicate ornament to be managed and discarded. He had no idea that she was the sole legal heir to the Sterling fortune, and that her grandfather’s legacy held the legal power to tear his entire corporate empire down to dust.
