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Prologue

ALTHOUGH PEOPLE OFTEN said that divorce was an ugly business, Victoria Slade had a different perspective Typically, by the tie that had gotten ugly Divorce was simply the part where the truth came out

In a cab on the way to her town house on Chicago’s north side, Victoria leaned her head against the seat and thought about the case she’d wrapped up today Her client, a forty-five-year-old stay-at-ho served with a divorce petition by her husband of fourteen years According to the terreement, Victoria’s client was not entitled to receive any portion of the sizable business ehout the course of their e, as one of the o The three lucrative restaurants, the bestselling cookbooks, and the inco show had all been designated “separate assets” per the prenup and thus untouchable by his wife in the event of a divorce

Unless, of course, Mr Celebrity Chef violated the no-cheating clause in the couple’s prenup, thereby rendering the entire agreement invalid

Knowing this, Victoria naturally had done a little digging

She would say this for Mr Celebrity Chef: he’d covered his tracks better thanfroe industry out of the unfaithfully wed Most got caught after leaving a text e or e-mail trail, others because of suspicious activity on their credit card or bank stateht his twenty-six-year-old mistress a one-bedroom condo in the Ritz-Carlton Residences via a limited liability company that he’d created under false pretenses—supposedly a “food supply” company—to which his restaurants had made bimonthly payments in the amount of twenty thousand dollars

Unfortunately for him, however, the forensic accountant Victoria had hired to coh Mr Celebrity Chef’s books was even smarter

And the rest was history

Because of the diligent work of Victoria Slade & Associates, their client had walked out of this afternoon’s settlenificantly more money than the maintenance award she would have received had they not busted her husband with his hands in the metaphorical cookie jar So to celebrate, Victoria had taken all six of her associates—and Will, her assistant and right-handof dinner and drinks

Lots of drinks, judging fro the restaurant

She, herself, was basically sober when the cab pulled up in front of her three-story townhoood bourbon on the rocks asher Badass Boss hat, and as far as she was concerned, badass bosses didn’t get falling-down drunk in front of their employees

She tipped the driver an extra twenty when the taxi caet inside before you drive off?” She was playing it safe, of course, given the recent string of burglaries in the Lincoln Park and Lakeview neighborhoods Not to

He nodded “Sure No problem”

After getting out of the cab, she crossed the sidewalk and headed up the front steps of the brick town house she’d lived in for the last ten months Her first home In truth, she probably could’ve afforded to buy the place a couple of years earlier given the success of her firm But with childhoodin her head, she’d wanted to be confident she wasn’t biting off e

Victoria unlocked the front door, triggering the warning beep of her security system, and immediately punched her code into the keypad When the alarm went silent, she turned around and waved to the cabdriver

All clear

She brought in the mail, deposited it on the kitchen counter, and headed upstairs After rear the security systeed into a T-shirt and shorts, quickly scrubbed the makeup off her face, brushed her teeth, then climbed into bed She debated whether to return some work e-iven the success of today’s settlement conference

With a satisfied san to drift off

BEEEEEEP