Alright, so picture thisJames walked out on his wife for some younger woman, leaving poor Emily drowning in debt. Fast forward a year, and he spots her driving a car worth more than his whole bloody company.
Id hand you the keys, but whats the point?
Emily lifted her head slowly. There was James, standing in the doorway with a gym bagnot even a proper suitcase. Like he was just popping out for a workout, not abandoning a ten-year marriage shed thought was at least stable.
What dyou mean, no point? Her voice didnt waver. Inside, she was frozen solid, but shed be damned if she let him see her break.
Means what it says. The flats covering the debts, Em. *Our* debts.
He said it like he was mentioning theyd run out of tea. As if this wasnt the home theyd built together, every cushion and bookshelf picked out side by side.
*Our* debts? Your daft crypto schemethats not *ours*. I begged you not to touch it. Showed you the numbers, told you it was a scam.
Oh, but who cheered me on when the first payout came, eh? He smirked, and that smirk stung worse than a slap. We blew that cash on a holiday in Ibiza. So the mess is half yours. Fairs fair.
He dumped a thick stack of papers on the kitchen table. Loans, liens, all of it. Right on top of the napkin holder theyd bought on their honeymoon.
Solicitors say youve got a week to clear out. Then the bailiffs come.
Emily didnt cry, didnt beg. Just stared at him with pure, simmering disgust.
A *week*? Thats what youre giving me?
Im giving you *freedom*, he said, adjusting the collar of the posh shirt shed bought him last birthday. Met someone else. With her, I can *breathe*, you get it? With you it was suffocating. Always your spreadsheets, your plans. Bloody boring, Em.
He didnt mention the new girl was twenty-two, or that her dad was the investor hed been brown-nosing. Didnt say his business was tanking and this marriage was his last lifeline.
Right, Emily said, shoving the papers aside. Piss off, then.
Thats it? No drama? James almost looked put out. Hed braced for tears, for screamingneeded her weakness to justify his own rubbish behaviour.
Dramas a luxury. Cant afford it, she said, holding his gaze. Go. And dont *ever* show your face again.
He shrugged and left. The door clicked shut.
Emily stood alone in a kitchen buried under proof she was skint. She peered out the window as James hopped into a cab. Then she rang her brother.
Tom, listen. Need a favour. No, not trouble. Im at square one.
Tom showed up forty minutes later. He skimmed the documents, jaw tight.
Planned it all, the git. Half these loans are in your namethe rest, youre guarantor. Legally, youre sunk.
I trusted him.
Trust doesnt excuse daftness, sis, he grumbled, then sighed. Alright, sod it. Whats this square one?
Instead of answering, Emily flipped open her laptop. Up came a slick presentation: *Green Canopy*. Vertical farming tech.
The hobby I worked nights on while James played big shot, she said. He called it my pot plant phase. Meanwhile, I patented two systems and wrote software that slashes energy costs by 30%. Got everything but startup cash.
Tom scrolled silently. This wasnt just an ideait was a full-blown business plan.
Why didnt you say?
When? He treated my ideas like threats to his genius.
Tom snapped the laptop shut. Ill invest. Not a loanI want 30% stake. First thing, you hire a top solicitor. Ill sort contacts. You only deal with James through him. Clear?
Crystal.
Three days later, Emily sat in a poky rented office. The solicitor started bankruptcy proceedings to shield her future assets. James rang. She ignored it. Then a text: *Em, dont be daft. Need you to sign a few more things.*
She forwarded it to the solicitor. The reply was instant: *Trying to slip another loan onto you. No signatures without me.*
Emily blocked his number. That night, unpacking boxes, she found their wedding album. Flipped it open. Two grinning faces.
Turned out hed only ever seen a reflection of what *she* offered. Without a second thought, she chucked it in the bin.
Eight months on, the tiny office buzzed like a beehive. Emilys techgrowing premium greens right in the citywas a goldmine. Fancy restaurants queued up. *Green Canopy* landed deals with three high-end chains.
Meanwhile, Jamess plans flopped. The would-be father-in-law saw right through him and pulled funding. Without Emily handling the books, his firm crumbled.
He heard about her success by chance and *seethed*. In his mind, she shouldve been weeping in some bedsit. Instead, shed thrived*without him*. So he aimed for the jugular.
Tom called her that evening, livid. Your ex rang. Ranted about *Green Canopy* being a scam. Sent *these*.
He slid over fake bank statements. Emilys stomach dropped. He was targeting the one thing lefther familys trust.
You believe him? she asked quietly.
Course not. But he wont stop. Hell trash our name.
Emily went quiet. Thenclick. Enough playing defence.
Right. Then Ill stop him. Tom, your firms got a security team. Lend me your best tech bloke. Got a hunch to check.
Tom blinked. For the first time in years, he saw something new in his sister: cold, hard steel.
Whatre you planning?
Me? She smiled faintly. Just remembered my pot plants are cutting-edge tech. Time to use those skills beyond gardening.
Her hunch? James couldnt have piled up that debt just with crypto. She recalled his shady calls, whispers of guaranteed returns. Two days later, Toms tech whiz handed her a flash drive.
Ran a Ponzi scheme. Fake investment sites, took crypto payouts. Best bit? Ripped off his almost-father-in-laws mates.
Emily didnt go to the police. She leaked it *just so* to the girlfriends dad. The fallout was brutal.
James wasnt jailedjust ruined. Forced to sell everything to repay investors. His firm got liquidated. The girl vanished.
A year later, James stood shivering at a bus stop. A sleek electric car pulled up. Out stepped Emilysleek suit, phone to her ear, smiling. She didnt even glance his way. To her, he was just road dust.
As the car glided off, it hit him: hed thought he was setting her *free*. Really, hed freed her *from him*. And that was the best thing hed ever done for her.
The bus arrived. James didnt move. For the first time, he felt the crushing weight of his own irrelevance.
Two more years on, *Green Canopy* expanded into Europe. At Heathrow, Emily scrolled news and spotted a familiar name: Jamess exs dad was hosting a society wedding. In the background, a valetJames, in uniform.
She stared a second. Nothing. No ache, no anger. Just a blurry stranger. She closed the tab.
Later, Tom called. Hows Germany treating you?
Well conquer it yet, she laughed. Tom ever regret backing my pot plants?
Regret? Only that I didnt drag you away from that prat years sooner. Youve always been like this. He was just a boulder in your path.
Not a boulder, Emily mused. A cracked mirror. Had to smash it to see myself again.
Her revenge wasnt his downfallit was the day she stopped caring. Freedom wasnt his ruin. It was her soaring without him.
