… of a card. But my empire wasn’t built on paper or plastic; it was built on resolve.
In the days that followed, I enacted my contingency plan. A plan I’d sketched out in a Moleskine during a rainy afternoon in Paris, just in case. I’d never imagined I’d need it. But here we were.
First, I severed every financial tie. Ethan was about to discover the harsh realities of an ambitionless life. He’d treated our marriage like a stepping stone, a perch to enhance his image without ever contributing. Now, without the cushion of my assets, he was on his own. I transferred all joint holdings into a trust with stipulations that made them nearly impossible to access without significant legal maneuvers. The Tribeca penthouse was secured under my name alone, precluding any claims he might feign to stake.
