Chapter 1 - THE SIGNATURE THAT WASN'T MINE
Rachel arrived at my apartment the next morning carrying a thick folder and an expression that made my stomach tighten.
“You were right to cancel everything,” she said, spreading documents across my kitchen table. “But your family’s spending is the smallest part of this.”
I stared at the first page. A private lender had approved a $2.4 million business loan secured by a personal guarantee bearing my name. The signature looked almost identical to mine.
Almost.
“I never signed this.”
“I know,” Rachel replied. “Your father submitted it six months ago.”
The next document was worse. A company called Northstar Development LLC had received nearly $1.7 million from Bennett Construction, my father’s struggling business. According to the registration papers, I was its sole owner.
I had never heard of Northstar.
Rachel tapped a line near the bottom of the file. “If the money disappears and the company collapses, the investigators may initially come looking for you.”
Cold anger replaced my fear. My father hadn’t merely expected me to finance his lifestyle. He had made plans to sacrifice my future to protect his.
Then Rachel turned over one final page.
It was a copy of a wire transfer authorization, dated three days before he threw me out.
May you like
The recipient was a numbered offshore account.
And the person who approved it was my mother.
