A SON IN LAW TURNS BILLIONAIRE AFTER DIVORCE

Chapter 13

“Susan, I’m dropping your case.”

Susan went completely still the moment she heard those cold words through the receiver. She froze in the middle of her bedroom, holding the phone tightly against her ear.

Her lawyer, Joe Dexter, sounded utterly furious. “How much have you been hiding from me, Susan? Do you have any idea how badly you’ve completely blindsided me?!”

Susan frowned, her brows knitting together in annoyance. “What on earth are you talking about, Joe? Why are you screaming?”

“Mark isn’t Leonard’s biological son, is he?!” Joe snapped through the line, his voice rising in anger.

So that was it. Susan drew a slow, deliberate breath, leaning back against her vanity desk. She had known this secret was going to come out sooner or later, but she hadn't expected Leonard to move this fast.

“No, he isn’t,” she admitted smoothly, not a single trace of shame in her voice. “But so what? That has absolutely nothing to do with Leonard hiding marital assets before our divorce was finalized.”

“Actually, it has everything to do with it now!” Joe cut her off sharply, banging his hand on his desk on the other end of the call. “I just got a phone call from your ex-husband’s attorney. Leonard isn't just defending himself against your petition, Susan. He’s filed a massive counter-lawsuit!”

Susan’s heart skipped a beat. “A counter-lawsuit? For what? He walked away from everything!”

“He wants the property settlement reopened on the grounds that you fraudulently deceived him about Mark’s paternity for eight years!” Joe shouted into the phone. “He’s claiming full financial fraud, demanding his share of the marital assets back, and he’s seeking astronomical damages for emotional distress and marital deception!”

Susan tightened her grip on the phone until her knuckles turned white. “He’s bluffing! He doesn't have the stomach for a real court fight!”

Joe let out a long, frustrated sigh that sounded like a growl. “And do you even know who Leonard hired to represent him? Do you have any clue who I just spoke to on the phone?!”

Susan said nothing, her throat suddenly feeling dry.

“Thomas Stone!” Joe snapped, pronouncing the name like a death sentence. “He’s the top divorce litigator in the entire city of Sydvale! The guy specializes exclusively in high-asset divorces, charges three grand an hour, and he almost never loses a case!”

Susan gave a short, bitter, cold laugh. “Almost never loses still means he loses sometimes, Joe. If he’s never lost a case like this before, then maybe this will be his very first time.”

Silence stretched over the line for several agonizing seconds. Joe seemed utterly stunned by her absurd confidence.

Finally, Joe let out a heavy, defeated sigh. “Fine. You want to play hardball against Thomas Stone? We can try. But this is no longer the simple, routine asset case you originally brought into my office. My f*e is going up. Significantly.”

Susan’s eyes narrowed into slits. So that was what all this dramatic screaming had been about from the very beginning. The greedy man just wanted more money.

When Joe named his new upfront retainer and hourly rate, Susan’s jaw tightened in anger. It was far, far more than they had originally agreed upon in their contract.

But as she stood there in her room, she realized she didn’t have much of a choice. Compared to the twelve-million-dollar mansion—and whatever other secret millions Leonard was hiding—the extra legal fees were a small drop in the ocean. She needed to make sure she didn't lose this case now.

“Fine,” Susan said through gritted teeth, her voice dripping with venom. “Just make sure you destroy him in court.”

“I’ll draw up the paperwork,” Joe said flatly, and hung up the phone.

Click.

As long as she got her half of those millions, every single penny spent would be worth it. After hanging up, Susan stared at her dark phone screen, pure irritation and anger boiling wildly in her chest.

A little later that afternoon, Michael called everyone downstairs for lunch.

“Come on, everyone! Let's go eat!” Michael’s loud voice boomed down the hallway. He was in a surprisingly grand mood, convinced that their upcoming lawsuit was going to turn the Miller family into multi-millionaires overnight.

Susan almost stayed behind in her room, mentally exhausted from dealing with her lawyer. But after a moment’s hesitation, hungry and needing a distraction, she fixed her makeup and followed her family out the front door.

They drove to an upscale restaurant in the heart of Maple Grove. The atmosphere inside was bustling, filled with clinking wine glasses, soft jazz music, and wealthy local residents enjoying their afternoon meals.

Michael strutted inside like he already owned the place, leading Magret, Joseph, Mark, and Susan toward a table near the glass windows.

“Order whatever you want today!” Michael boasted, pulling out his chair with a grand flourish. “We’re celebrating early! Soon, we’ll be eating at places five times more expensive than this!”

“I want the most expensive steak on the menu!” Joseph grinned, clapping his hands together greedily.

Susan sat down, barely listening to their noisy chatter. She unfolded her napkin, picked up her glass of ice water, and casually glanced around the dining room.

And then, her entire body went rigid.

Her glass slipped from her fingers, splashing cold water across the table.

Susan’s eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated shock. Her heart dropped straight into her stomach, and her breath caught entirely in her throat.

Because across the restaurant, sitting at a sunlit corner booth, she saw someone she never, in a million years, expected to see again.