My Composure After Divorce Became His Greatest Torment Chapter 22
A formal legal letter arrived ten minutes later.
Prescott Group demanded that I return the file within forty-eight hours, disclose its location since its discovery, and submit to an information security investigation.
The final page stated that until the matter was resolved, the group reserved the right to pursue civil action against me for damages.
Tessa read the letter in my office and let out a cold laugh.
“Walk me through it again. When you found the file, what exactly did you do?”
I opened my old laptop.
The photos I had taken of the sealed envelope, the email to Nathan’s assistant, the call logs—it was all preserved in the evidence folder my lawyer had compiled.
The photos showed the seal was intact.
The email noted the time and place of discovery and clearly requested that Nathan arrange for its retrieval.
The next email in the chain was Caroline’s *Baby Transition Plan*.
They were sent less than twenty minutes apart.
Tessa turned the screen toward my lawyer.
“She’s not bringing this up because the file was actually leaked.”
The lawyer pointed to the letter from the group. The complainant’s name was redacted, but the document’s file name still contained Caroline’s initials.
“She knows Elise found the file, and she knows it was never picked up. Now that Nathan has moved in next door, she’s afraid they’ll reconcile. She wants to paint Elise as a threat.”
I didn’t correct her.
Whether Nathan still loved me was irrelevant.
What mattered was that Caroline, once again, believed that waving the Prescott name in my face would be enough to make me afraid.
The lawyer asked, “Should we offer to return the file privately in exchange for them withdrawing the letter?”
“No.”
I closed the laptop.
“Tell them the file will be returned, but only in the presence of both our legal teams, the group’s chief counsel, and an independent notary. The seal, the condition of the envelope, and the handover process will all be documented.”
Tessa glanced at me and smiled.
“And?”
“I’m a shareholder,” I said, pushing the annual report across the desk. “I want to know why a non-employee was able to answer an executive assistant’s phone, direct a company driver, and give orders regarding a document marked confidential.”
“I also want to know why this same person felt empowered to demand a shareholder’s private medical information in the name of the company and the family.”
The lawyer cautioned, “If you formally request a compliance investigation, this won’t be contained.”
“I’m not the one trying to contain it.”
I signed the response letter.
“They’ve mistaken my silence for weakness one too many times.”