Chapter 4 - Six Months of Lies
The photograph changed everything.
Until then, I could still tell myself the fraud had been desperate and recent.
The timestamp destroyed that illusion.
Six months.
They had been planning something for six months.
Rebecca enlarged the image.
The unknown man was eventually identified as Victor Hale, a private financial consultant whose résumé sounded respectable until Rebecca's investigator dug deeper.
Victor specialized in distressed companies.
Daniel's company was distressed.
Very distressed.
We reconstructed the timeline.
Nine months earlier, Daniel lost two major clients.
Seven months earlier, he quietly borrowed money.
Six months earlier, he met Victor.
Five months earlier, someone began requesting copies of documents related to CBR Holdings.
Three months earlier, a forged authorization appeared.
Then came the deed.
“They needed collateral,” Rebecca said.
“The mansion.”
“Probably.”
I felt sick.
Daniel hadn't slapped me because of one argument.
The marriage had been rotting long before his hand touched my face.
At noon, I received an unexpected visitor.
Daniel.
Security called upstairs.
“He says he needs five minutes.”
Rebecca wanted me to refuse.
I agreed to see him in a conference room with cameras recording.
Daniel entered carrying flowers.
White roses.
My favorite.
Once, that would have mattered.
“Claire.”
I looked at the flowers.
“Why are you here?”
“To apologize.”
“For hitting me?”
“For everything.”
He pushed the roses toward me.
I didn't touch them.
“I was under pressure.”
“From what?”
“Business.”
“So you hit your wife?”
“No. That's not what I'm saying.”
“Then say what you mean.”
He sat down.
For the first time, Daniel looked tired.
“My company has problems.”
“I know.”
His eyes lifted.
“How much do you know?”
“Enough.”
He leaned back.
“Melissa.”
I said nothing.
His jaw tightened.
“She stole confidential documents.”
“You mean documents showing money taken from my companies?”
“I was going to replace it.”
Four million dollars.
Apparently my marriage had reached the stage where theft became borrowing if your husband intended to repay it someday.
“Did you forge my signature?”
“No.”
“Did your mother?”
“No.”
“Did you know about the deed?”
His hesitation answered me.
“Daniel.”
“It wasn't supposed to hurt you.”
I almost laughed.
“What exactly was supposed to happen?”
“We needed temporary collateral.”
“You tried to use my house.”
“Our house.”
“My company owns it.”
“We're married!”
“And that gave you permission to forge documents?”
“I didn't forge anything!”
His voice rose.
Security shifted outside.
Daniel noticed and lowered it.
Then he leaned toward me.
“Claire, if my company collapses, hundreds of people could lose jobs.”
There it was.
The moral blackmail.
He needed my money, therefore stealing it was somehow noble.
“I can help employees without helping you commit fraud.”
His face hardened.
“So that's it?”
“What?”
“You'll let me lose everything.”
I stared at him.
“I didn't create your debts.”
“You benefited from my success.”
That almost impressed me.
“My money funded your success.”
Silence.
I finally asked the question I'd avoided.
“Did you ever love me?”
His expression softened.
“Of course.”
“More than my money?”
He looked offended.
Then I realized he hadn't answered.
Daniel stood.
“I made mistakes.”
“You made choices.”
He picked up the flowers.
At the door, he turned.
“My mother is sixty-four years old. Don't make her homeless because you're angry with me.”
“I haven't decided what happens to Evelyn.”
“You'd better decide carefully.”
I looked up.
“Is that a threat?”
His expression changed.
“No.”
Then he left.
Rebecca entered thirty seconds later.
“You heard?”
“All of it.”
“What do you think?”
“I think he came here to learn how much we know.”
She nodded.
“So do I.”
That evening, our investigator called.
Victor Hale had been located.
But he wouldn't talk.
Not yet.
Instead, he sent one message through his attorney.
He was willing to cooperate if given protection from civil claims.
Rebecca asked why.
His answer arrived fifteen minutes later.
Because Daniel Bennett isn't the person who hired me.
I stared at Rebecca.
“Then who did?”
She already knew.
“Evelyn.”
My mother-in-law had hired the financial consultant.
But the bigger shock came the following morning.
Victor provided one page from his contract.
Under “objective” were five words:
TRANSFER CONTROL OF CBR ASSETS.
Not the mansion.
Not Daniel's company.
My entire holding company.
And beneath it was a proposed date.
May you like
My thirty-fifth birthday.
Only eleven days away.
