“You misappropriated forty thousand dollars in company funds for hotels and gifts,” Magnus continued. “We have the receipts. Elena categorized them for us. You’re fired, Julian. Effective immediately.”

Julian staggered out of the building, stripped of his title, his income, and his reputation.

But the mystery of the pregnancy still gnawed at him.

He took a taxi to the fertility clinic he and Elena had used years earlier and demanded to see the administrator, citing his rights as a patient.

The doctor, looking uncomfortable, pulled out the file.

“Mr. Thorne, we proceeded with the embryo transfer last month, according to the authorization forms.”

“I never authorized a transfer!” Julian shouted.

“You did,” the doctor said, sliding a document across the desk. “Five years ago, when you froze the embryos, you signed a general consent form allowing your wife to use them in the event of separation, death, or at her discretion, to ensure her reproductive rights were protected. It’s a standard clause in our premium package.”

Julian stared at his signature.

He had signed away his future years ago, too arrogant to read the fine print.

A month earlier, Elena had walked into the clinic, become pregnant with his child using his own legal consent, and was now using that pregnancy to claim the family property.

In the state of New York, the court would almost certainly grant primary residence to the parent with custody of a newborn.

She wasn’t just taking his money.

She was making sure he would never set foot in his own home again.

Part 3: The King of Nothing

The divorce trial, held four months later, was less a legal battle and more a public execution. Julian, represented by a court-appointed attorney because he could no longer afford top-tier legal defense, looked gaunt and hollow. Elena sat on the opposite side, radiant with her pregnancy, flanked by a team of sharks paid for by the Sterling Trust.

Julian tried to argue that it was a trap. He tried to claim the pregnancy was a calculated maneuver to secure assets. Standing before the judge, his voice trembling, he said:

“Your Honor, she planned this. She waited until the trust vested. She used an old contract to get pregnant without my knowledge. This is bad faith.”

The judge, a stern woman with zero tolerance for corporate embezzlement, looked at Julian over her glasses.