Chapter 5 - The Signature That Could Cost Her Everything
I stared at the document.
For several seconds, I couldn't make sense of the numbers.
Two million, four hundred thousand dollars.
My signature.
A guarantee I had never agreed to.
“Derek,” I whispered. “What is this?”
He didn't answer.
Daniel took the document and examined it.
“It's a personal guarantee attached to a commercial credit facility. The signature appears to have been submitted six months ago.”
“I never signed this.”
“I know.”
Derek finally spoke.
“It was standard paperwork.”
“You told me we weren't borrowing any more money.”
“We needed additional capital.”
“Then why didn't you ask me?”
He rubbed his face.
“Because you would have said no.”
That was the first honest thing he had said in months.
Marcus leaned forward.
“Where did the money go?”
Derek looked at him.
“Into the company.”
“All of it?”
Silence.
Ethan turned his laptop around.
“I found transfers to three outside accounts. One belongs to a consulting company registered eight months ago.”
“What company?” I asked.
He zoomed in.
“Vantage Strategic Holdings.”
Daniel looked up.
“Who owns it?”
Ethan hesitated.
“Vanessa.”
Margaret covered her mouth.
Derek stood.
“This is getting out of hand.”
Noah moved away from the doorway.
“Sit down.”
Derek glared at him.
“You don't give me orders in my own house.”
Noah's voice remained calm.
“Then stop acting like a man who needs them.”
I asked Daniel what I should do.
He explained that the document needed to be independently examined, that the financial institution should be formally notified, and that I should obtain separate legal representation for my personal interests.
He also made something very clear.
He would not represent me against Derek in a personal dispute while his firm had a relationship with Derek's company.
My brother had always been careful about boundaries.
I appreciated that more than ever.
Luke arranged for Sophie to stay with me at a nearby hotel while we addressed the situation. We had already spoken with a family-law attorney outside Daniel's firm.
Derek objected.
“You're taking my daughter?”
“Our daughter,” I corrected.
He looked away.
For the first time, he seemed to understand that his choices could have consequences beyond an uncomfortable argument.
That afternoon, we moved into a hotel suite.
Sophie sat on the bed holding her stuffed rabbit.
“Mommy?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Are we in trouble because of the dress?”
I sat beside her.
“No. You did nothing wrong.”
“Will Daddy come get me?”
My throat tightened.
“No one is going to take you anywhere without making sure you're safe.”
She rested her head against my shoulder.
Then she whispered, “Can I tell you something else?”
“Anything.”
She reached into her backpack and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
“I found this in Daddy's office.”
I opened it.
It was a handwritten note.
The handwriting was Vanessa's.
Once Claire is out, we can finally finish what we started. Don't forget the papers.
Below it was a date.
Three weeks earlier.
I read it twice.
“Where did you find this?”
“Under Daddy's printer.”
I held the note carefully.
Something about it troubled me.
Not just the words.
The date.
Three weeks earlier, Derek had told me he was considering selling the house because the mortgage had become too expensive.
He had asked me to sign several documents.
I had refused until my attorney could review them.
Now I understood why.
Someone had been preparing to remove me from my own life.
But there was something worse.
At the bottom of the note was a second sentence, written in different ink.
The girl must never see the original.
I looked at Sophie.
“What original, sweetheart?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A woman's voice whispered:
“Mrs. Bennett, if you want to know why Vanessa came into your house, you need to look inside the old storage unit.”
“Who is this?”
The caller took a shaky breath.
“Someone who helped your husband hide the truth.”
May you like
Then she hung up.
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