PART 5
“Claire.”
“Marcus.”
He looked at me carefully.
“What’s happening?”
I placed a folder on the table.
“An audit.”
His face tightened.
“Of the whole company?”
“Yes.”
“How far back?”
“Seven years.”
He slowly sat down.
Then he asked the question I knew was coming.
“Does Daniel know?”
I looked at him.
“Not yet.”
Marcus exhaled.
“Then you found something.”
I nodded.
“More than something.”
He stared at the folder.
“How bad?”
I opened it.
“Bad enough that we’re going to have to rebuild trust.”
Marcus looked at the papers.
Then he looked up.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
I thought about Daniel’s words from the night before.
Listen to the freeloader making threats.
Then I remembered my father’s voice from years ago.
Never confuse being quiet with being powerless.
I nodded.
“Yes.”
Marcus smiled faintly.
“Good.”
At 9:17 a.m., Daniel finally called.
I watched his name appear on my phone.
I answered.
“Hello.”
His breathing was heavy.
“Claire.”
“Yes?”
“Something is wrong with the company.”
“I know.”
“The bank froze two accounts.”
“I know.”
“My investment account is restricted.”
“I know.”
His voice changed.
“You did this.”
“I protected the company.”
“You had no right!”
“I had every right.”
“I’m your husband!”
“And I’m the controlling shareholder.”
Silence.
Then:
“You’re bluffing.”
“No.”
“Claire, don’t do this.”
“I already did.”
“You can’t destroy everything I’ve built.”
I stared at the lake through the window.
“You didn’t build it alone.”
“I built that company.”
“No.”
I paused.
“You built the company everyone could see.”
He said nothing.
“I built the foundation underneath it.”
“You’re insane.”
“Maybe.”
“You’re going to regret this.”
I almost smiled.
“You said that last night.”
He went silent.
Then I heard something in the background.
A woman’s voice.
His mother.
“Daniel, tell her she can’t do this!”
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
He had them all there.
I could hear Melissa too.
“She’ll lose everything if she fights us!”
I realized something.
They still didn’t understand.
They thought this was a family argument.
They hadn’t realized it had become a legal matter.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“Tell your family to stop contacting me.”
“Claire—”
“And tell Melissa to preserve every document relating to the $75,000 transfer.”
Silence.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“Why?”
“Because she’ll need them.”
“For what?”
I ended the call.
That afternoon, Nina arrived at my father’s lake house carrying three boxes.
She placed them on the dining table.
“This is everything.”
I looked at the boxes.
“Everything?”
“Everything we found so far.”
I opened the first.
Bank records.
Second.
Property records.
Third.
Emails.
I pulled out one document.
A transfer authorization.
Daniel’s signature.
My name was typed beneath it.
Controlling Shareholder Approval Required.
My signature had been copied.
I stared at it.
“That’s forgery.”
Nina nodded.
“Yes.”
My hands went cold.
“How many?”
“We’ve identified twenty-three so far.”
Twenty-three.
I sat down.
“How much money?”
“Approximately $9.4 million.”
I looked at Nina.
“And the people involved?”
“Daniel.”
“Who else?”
She placed another document on the table.
Melissa.
His mother.
His father.
Two outside consultants.
And one name I hadn’t expected.
I stared at it.
Andrew Bell.
My heart stopped.
Andrew was Daniel’s best friend.
He had been our wedding photographer.
He had been at our anniversary dinner.
He had laughed when Daniel called me a freeloader.
And now his name was on a transfer document.
I whispered, “How?”
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