Chapter 5 - The Counter-Attack
The Bennett family did not take defeat quietly.
By Tuesday morning, Robert Bennett’s high-priced corporate defense attorneys launched their counter-offensive. They filed emergency motions claiming that the restraining orders were obtained under "false pretenses," alleging that I had fabricated my appendicitis to sabotage Vanessa’s wedding and that Daniel was suffering from a temporary psychological breakdown induced by "spousal manipulation."
They also attempted to freeze Daniel’s corporate stock options tied to the family real estate holding firm, Bennett & Associates, where Daniel had worked as a senior auditor for ten years.
“They think they can starve us out,” Daniel said grimly, tossing a certified letter onto the wooden kitchen table of the Ballard carriage house.
He had spent the morning on the phone with forensic accountants and employment lawyers. The letter from his father’s legal team stated that because Daniel had “abandoned his familial duties and acted with gross insubordination,” his position at the firm was officially terminated, and his quarterly dividend distributions were being withheld pending a legal audit.
I looked up from the kitchen counter where I was making oatmeal for Sophie.
“Do we have enough savings to get through a protracted legal battle?” I asked, keeping my voice steady.
Daniel walked over, wrapped his arms gently around my waist from behind, and rested his chin on my shoulder.
“Don't worry about the family firm, Claire,” he murmured, kissing my cheek. “Three months ago, when I finally started waking up to what my mother was doing, I accepted a position as the chief financial officer for a tech startup in downtown Seattle. My new salary is higher, the benefits are better, and my boss doesn't share DNA with a tyrant.”
I turned around in his arms, smiling for the first time all week. “You accepted a new job without telling me?”
“I wanted it to be a surprise for our anniversary,” he laughed softly. “Turns out, it’s our escape hatch.”
That afternoon, Daniel’s new corporate attorney, a sharp litigator named Sarah Chen, filed a massive countersuit against Bennett & Associates for wrongful termination, retaliatory financial withholding, and breach of employment contract. Furthermore, she attached a copy of the criminal assault charges against Marjorie directly to the corporate filing, exposing the family’s toxic governance to their primary investors and commercial real estate partners.
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When Robert Bennett received the lawsuit at his Mercer Island office, he reportedly threw a crystal decanter against the wall, shattering it into a thousand pieces.
The untouchable Bennetts were suddenly facing a very public, very humiliating reckoning.
