Chapter 3 - THE VACATION THEY CHARGED TO MY COMPANY
At 8:04 the following morning, Derek's company card stopped working.
I knew because he called me six times.
I didn't answer.
Nolan's financial compliance team had placed a temporary hold on discretionary corporate spending after identifying the undisclosed related-party payments.
Payroll remained untouched.
Employee benefits continued.
Supplier invoices were still being processed.
The company wasn't being destroyed.
Only access to questionable spending had been restricted.
Unfortunately for Derek, he had booked his romantic getaway using Bellwether's corporate travel account.
The first call came from the Cabo resort.
Their payment authorization had failed.
The second came from the private transportation company.
The third came from Derek himself.
I finally answered on the seventh attempt.
“Emily, there's a problem with my card.”
“That's unfortunate.”
“Did you do something?”
“What would I have done?”
A pause.
“Northlake froze our corporate travel account.”
“Did they?”
“Don't play games. I need you to call them.”
I glanced at Nolan.
He was sitting across from me, drinking coffee.
“Why do you need the corporate card in Seattle?”
Derek went silent.
Then he said, “The seminar hotel made an error.”
“Ask the company to correct it.”
“Emily—”
“I'm sure you'll manage.”
I ended the call.
Nolan raised an eyebrow.
“That was restrained.”
“I wanted to throw the phone through the window.”
“Also a reasonable impulse.”
Then Olivia entered carrying the preliminary audit report.
The consulting payments were only the beginning.
Derek had used corporate funds for luxury hotel stays, expensive jewelry, private dining, and travel that had no documented business purpose.
Several charges matched dates when he told me he was working late.
Or traveling for investor meetings.
Or attending conferences I never questioned.
I saw a charge for a weekend in Miami.
That was the weekend I spent alone at our first hotel after Derek canceled our anniversary trip.
Another charge was for a diamond bracelet.
Clara had worn one just like it at my bridal shower.
I remembered admiring it.
She told me her grandmother had given it to her.
Now I understood.
I pressed my palms against the table.
“How long?”
Olivia looked uncomfortable.
“The current records suggest at least eleven months of questionable personal expenditures. We're still reviewing older transactions.”
Eleven months.
Almost a year.
Derek had been living two lives while I planned our future.
Then Nolan opened a message from our corporate attorney, Rachel Foster.
A copy of a document had been submitted to a commercial lender three days earlier.
It purported to authorize a personal guarantee from me.
The guarantee would expose assets held outside Bellwether to obligations connected to the proposed restructuring.
I stared at the signature.
Emily Hart.
It looked exactly like mine.
But I had never signed it.
My hands started shaking.
“That's forged.”
Rachel nodded.
“The lender hasn't funded the transaction. We've notified them that the authorization is disputed and asked them to preserve the submission records.”
Nolan looked at me.
“This is why Derek wanted you to sign the other papers tomorrow.”
I suddenly understood.
If I signed the restructuring documents, he could argue that I had already agreed to the broader financing arrangement.
My legitimate signature might help conceal the fraudulent one.
“Who submitted the guarantee?”
Olivia checked the transmission history.
“Derek's executive account.”
“Who prepared it?”
She opened the metadata.
My stomach dropped.
Clara Whitfield.
The woman helping me choose bridesmaid dresses had apparently also been preparing documents that put my personal assets at risk.
Then Rachel placed another document on the table.
A proposed contribution agreement involving Rosehaven House.
My grandmother's historic property on Lake Geneva.
The place where Derek and I planned to marry.
It wasn't corporate property.
It belonged to my family trust and had been leased to Bellwether under a long-term operating agreement.
Derek's proposed restructuring would transfer valuable development rights connected to the estate into Crescent Bay Holdings.
I stared at Rachel.
“Can he do that?”
“Not without valid authorization from the trust.”
She paused.
“And he doesn't have it.”
Then Olivia opened the email attached to the proposal.
From Clara to Derek.
Once Emily signs on Sunday, Rosehaven becomes our leverage. After the wedding, she won't be able to walk away without losing everything.
I sat completely still.
May you like
Derek and Clara weren't planning to leave me immediately.
They were planning to marry me into a trap first.
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