Chapter12 Suing for Division of Marital Assets
After finalizing all the details with her lawyer and clarifying the process for suing to divide marital property, Miranda hung up.
She rubbed her throbbing temples. The suffocating anger Harrison had stirred up finally began to dissipate.
Meanwhile, at Whitmore Corporation's top floor CEO office.
An assistant rushed in anxiously holding a tablet.
"Harrison, we've got a problem! Check the trending topics!"
Harrison was irritably reviewing documents. Hearing this, his brow furrowed deeply. He looked up impatiently. "What's got you so worked up?"
Diva handed over the tablet, her fingers trembling.
On the screen, a glaring headline sat at number three on the trending list, followed by a dark red "explosive" tag.
"Ex Wife Sells Harrison Designed Jewelry for One Dollar. Relationship Breakdown Suspected?"
Harrison's pupils contracted sharply.
He clicked on the topic. The first photo showed the jewelry set he'd delivered just this afternoon, lying in an open velvet box, sparkling brilliantly.
On the product details page, the "one dollar with free shipping" price tag and the note "ex wife has no use, available for transfer" felt like loud slaps across his face, each word stinging.
The comments section had completely exploded.
"Holy crap! I recognize this set! It's a top tier custom luxury brand piece. Has to be at least three million, right? One dollar? What kind of new flex is this?"
"Girl above, the key words are 'Harrison designed' and 'ex wife'! This is loaded!"
"I'm dying. She divorced him and is still grinding his face into the ground! I love this ex wife energy!"
Bang!
Harrison's face turned black as thunder.
Miranda!
How dare she humiliate him like this!
Taking his gesture of goodwill, his design, his olive branch, and treating it like trash to sell for a dollar?
And making it go viral!
"Sir." The assistant was too scared to breathe.
"Immediately!" Harrison said through gritted teeth. "I don't care how much it costs or whose name you use. Buy that jewelry back! Now!"
"Yes, yes, yes!"
The assistant fled like she'd been pardoned, practically rolling out the door.
Half an hour later, Miranda sat in a coffee shop below the company building, meeting with the "lucky person" who'd purchased the one dollar jewelry.
Seeing Harrison's assistant's familiar face, she wasn't surprised at all. She even lazily curved her lips.
"Miranda." Diva wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, speaking carefully. "About the jewelry..."
"Ha. I knew it." Miranda took a sip of coffee, her posture lazy and distant. "Harrison sent you, didn't he?"
"Yes." Diva nodded reluctantly.
"You can have it." Miranda set down her coffee cup with a crisp clink. "But one dollar? That's the price for strangers. The price for Harrison is different, naturally."
The assistant's heart sank. She knew today wouldn't end without major bleeding. "So what do you have in mind, Miranda?"
Miranda held up five slender, pale fingers and waved them gently.
"This jewelry cost three million to commission originally. Now, I want five million."
"Five million?!" Diva's eyes nearly popped out.
This was straight up robbery!
Miranda looked at his shocked expression and laughed coldly. "What? Harrison won't even spend that much?"
Hearing this, the assistant didn't dare haggle.
Before coming, Harrison had given his absolute orders.
"I'll buy it! I'll transfer the money right away!" he fumbled for her phone and hastily operated it.
Soon, Miranda's phone received a bank notification.
Seeing the extra five million in her account, her mood brightened considerably. She pushed the jewelry box she'd prepared forward.
"Pleasure doing business."
Ha. Consider it compensation from Harrison for emotional distress.
...
Evening.
Miranda drove to a top tier private club in the city center.
For Project Starlight to launch smoothly, the hundred million from the Prescotts and her own shares weren't enough. Tonight she'd arranged to meet several well respected technical experts and investors in the industry, hoping to secure more support.
In the private room, after several rounds of drinks, the atmosphere was quite warm.
"This Project Starlight concept of yours is really bold, Miranda! If you can pull it off, it'll definitely disrupt the entire industry!" Mr. Li sitting across from her said with admiration.
Miranda raised her glass, smiling confidently and composed. "That's why I need support from you seniors."
With her back to the restaurant entrance, she didn't notice several unfriendly gazes landing on her.
"Hey? Isn't that Miranda?" Ariana walked by arm in arm with a few wealthy girlfriends and stopped in surprise.
"What's she doing here having dinner with a bunch of old men? Look at how she's smiling. Tsk tsk."
"I heard the Lancaster Group is going down. Don’t tell me she’s turned into one of those women who drink with men for cash."
A flash of malicious glee crossed Ariana's eyes. She sighed with fake concern. "No way. My cousin used to be so proud. She wouldn't do something like that."
One girlfriend immediately caught on. She pulled out her phone and from a devious angle snapped a photo of Miranda smiling brightly as she poured drinks for several middle aged men.
In the photo, Miranda's figure was graceful, her smile radiant, while the men across from her all had eyes slightly unfocused from alcohol.
The photo was extremely misleading.
The girlfriend immediately posted it to their high society circle's group chat, specifically tagging Harrison.
"@Harrison, look at your ex wife. Just got divorced and she's already out escorting. I really feel bad for you. For money, she's thrown out all her principles."
This group was full of trust fund kids connected to Whitmore and Lancaster. The message instantly exploded.
"Dying laughing. Miranda's really sunk this low?"
"Wasn't she all high and mighty before? Can't keep up the act anymore?"
"She must be desperate for cash. Harrison really was blind."
When Harrison saw the group message, he was still fuming over the five million.
Miranda's bright smile in that photo looked like naked provocation to him.
He coldly replied in the group.
"Whatever she does has nothing to do with me anymore. Don't tag me in this stuff going forward."
Just as everyone was mocking Miranda for escorting, a message popped up.
From Miranda's best friend, Castillo.
"Castillo: Are you all blind? She's talking business! Those men are big names in tech! You spoiled brats who only know partying wouldn't understand anyway!"
"Castillo: Miranda finally escaped that cheating scumbag Harrison, and you people can't stand seeing her do well?"
Castillo had always been hot tempered and spoke bluntly and harshly. A few sentences shut everyone up.
Seeing Castillo's words, Ariana immediately put on a weak act.
"Ariana: Castillo, why are you so worked up? Do you know some inside story that's making you jump to defend her while trashing Harrison's reputation?"
"Castillo: Ariana, what right does a shameless homewrecker like you have to talk? Where was all this weakness when you were stealing someone's husband?"
"Castillo: Miranda's just doing business and you gossips call it escorting. I've already screenshotted all the chat records. Say one more thing and wait for my lawyer's letter! I've got nothing but time and money to sue you all into bankruptcy!"
With those words, the group fell instantly silent. No one dared speak up again.
Are you kidding? The Viola family wasn't to be trifled with, and Castillo was famous in their circle as a "lunatic." For Miranda, she'd do anything.
Ariana stared at her phone screen, her face turning iron with rage, gripping her phone tightly.