“You think you can scare me with these numbers?” she cried.

“You think you can drag my family through the mud and I’ll just let you?”

She took a step toward my father, her expensive heels clicking sharply on the hardwood border of the room.

“I will destroy you before you ever get this into a courtroom,” she said.

“The evidence is already with the federal prosecutors, Claire,” my father said.

“Then I’ll give them something else to look at,” she snapped.

She turned her gaze to me, her eyes narrowing into slits.

I felt a cold sweat break out on the back of my neck, but I did not look away.

I sat up straighter, my hands clasped tightly in my lap.

“You want to play dirty, Daniel?” Claire asked, her voice dropping to a harsh whisper.

“I will tell the world what kind of man you really are.”

“I will go to every news outlet in this city and tell them about your little experiment.”

“A millionaire CEO who forced his wife and daughter to live in a drafty, run-down house in the middle of winter.”