Chapter 3 - THE SIGNATURE I NEVER WROTE
There are betrayals that break your heart.
Then there are betrayals that can put you in prison.
By noon, I was sitting with a forensic accountant and a lawyer Evelyn insisted had never represented Arden.
I checked that myself.
Her name was Naomi Brooks.
She reviewed the forged signature.
“Do you have examples from around the same date?”
“Yes.”
Mortgage documents.
Tax filings.
Boat insurance.
Naomi compared them.
“This is sophisticated.”
“Meaning?”
“Someone practiced.”
My stomach turned.
Julian had access to hundreds of examples of my signature.
Anniversary cards.
Checks.
Legal documents.
“Can we prove he did it?”
“No.”
“Then what can we prove?”
“That you didn’t authorize the agreement if the supporting records hold.”
Good.
Truth first.
Not revenge.
Then my phone rang.
Julian.
Naomi looked at me.
“You can answer if you want. Don’t discuss the investigation.”
I answered.
“Hello.”
“You froze my cards.”
“No.”
“Someone did.”
“Probably Arden.”
“You did this.”
“Julian, your company is investigating your company expenses. I’m not the accounting department.”
He breathed hard.
“Where are you?”
“Why?”
“We need to talk.”
“No.”
“We are married.”
“That has not improved your credibility.”
“Clara.”
His voice softened.
The old voice.
The one that used to make me forgive too quickly.
“I know last night was ugly.”
“Ugly?”
“I was angry.”
“You brought your mistress onto my yacht.”
“I made a mistake.”
“You put her in my honeymoon robe.”
Silence.
“I was trying to make you understand.”
“Understand what?”
“That we’re done.”
I almost laughed.
“You needed champagne and costume changes for that?”
His softness vanished.
“Stop being clever.”
“There he is.”
Then he said something that changed everything.
“You have no idea what Evelyn is doing.”
My pulse shifted.
“What does that mean?”
“She’s using you.”
“For what?”
“To destroy Thomas.”
“Her son?”
“She wants him out.”
“Why?”
Julian stopped.
Then:
“Because Thomas knows what she did ten years ago.”
The line went silent.
“Did what?”
Julian exhaled.
“You think Arden grew cleanly?”
I said nothing.
“You think your father’s investment was just good timing?”
My stomach tightened.
“What are you implying?”
“Ask Evelyn why your father died before he could sell his shares.”
I went cold.
“My father died of a heart attack.”
“Did he?”
I stood.
“Julian.”
He laughed quietly.
“Now you’re listening.”
Then he hung up.
Naomi had heard my side.
She did not speculate.
Neither did I.
But I called my mother.
She still kept my father’s old files in storage.
“Mom, did Dad ever want to sell his Arden shares?”
Silence.
Then:
“How do you know that?”
My heart dropped.
“So he did?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“A month before he died.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were twenty-eight. You had just married Julian. Your father didn’t want you involved.”
My father had died nine years ago.
One year into my marriage.
“What happened to the sale?”
“He changed his mind.”
“How do you know?”
“Evelyn called me.”
Of course.
“What did she say?”
“That he decided to keep the shares for you.”
“Did Dad tell you?”
“No.”
My hands shook.
“Mom, did Dad have heart problems?”
“Not that we knew.”
I sat down.
Then she remembered something.
“He called me the night before he died.”
“What did he say?”
“He sounded upset.”
“About what?”
“He said he had discovered something in Arden’s books.”
My mouth went dry.
“What?”
“He wouldn’t tell me over the phone.”
“Did he tell anyone?”
“One person.”
“Who?”
My mother hesitated.
“Julian.”
The room seemed to narrow around me.
May you like
My father had trusted my husband.
And less than twenty-four hours later, he was dead.
