Chapter 9 - THE OTHER WOMAN DISCOVERED SHE HAD BEEN LIED TO
Elise called me four days later.
I almost didn't answer.
Then I remembered that she knew things Grant had never told me.
I accepted the call.
“Emily?”
“Yes.”
“I think we need to talk.”
I looked toward Ivy, who was playing on a blanket beside my desk.
“Then talk.”
Elise hesitated.
“Grant told me you were separating before Ivy was born.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“He told you what?”
“He said your marriage had been over for months. He claimed you were staying together temporarily because of the pregnancy.”
I closed my eyes.
Our marriage had been difficult during the final weeks of my pregnancy.
I was uncomfortable.
Exhausted.
Worried about childbirth.
Grant became increasingly distant.
But we had never agreed to separate.
In fact, he held my hand during Ivy's delivery and told me how much he loved me.
“When did your relationship start?” I asked.
A long silence followed.
“Seven months ago.”
I stared at the wall.
Ivy was five months old.
That meant Grant had been seeing Elise before our daughter was born.
While I was preparing the nursery.
While I was choosing tiny pajamas.
While I was wondering why the man I loved seemed so impatient with me.
I felt physically sick.
Elise continued.
“He told me you knew about Northline.”
“No.”
“He said you were helping behind the scenes.”
“No.”
“He told me the money came from an investment account you had agreed to use.”
“No.”
Her breathing changed.
Then she whispered:
“Oh my God.”
I didn't comfort her.
She was still responsible for her own decisions.
She knew Grant was married.
She had helped prepare documents using my professional identity.
And her account had been used to upload a financing application containing a signature I disputed.
But apparently Grant had also been telling her a version of reality designed to make his own actions seem acceptable.
“Did you submit the home-equity application?” I asked.
She hesitated.
“I uploaded the package the broker sent me.”
“Did you sign my name?”
“No.”
“Who prepared the signature page?”
“Grant said his attorney had arranged the authorizations.”
I closed my eyes.
Once again, Grant had inserted someone else's assumptions between himself and accountability.
Elise continued.
“Emily, I never intended to take your house.”
“Then why did you accept a financing proposal that used it as collateral?”
She didn't answer.
That was enough.
Then she told me something I hadn't expected.
Grant had personally guaranteed a substantial part of Northline's startup financing.
The amount was $240,000.
But Northline didn't have enough revenue to meet its projected obligations.
Redwood had postponed its potential consulting engagement.
Two smaller clients were questioning the company's financial representations.
And Elise had discovered that Grant's contribution to the business was not as secure as he claimed.
“He told me he had family assets available,” she whispered.
“What family assets?”
“Our house?”
“Yes.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“It's my premarital property.”
“He said you were transferring part of the equity into the business.”
“I never agreed to that.”
Elise became very quiet.
Then she said:
“He also told me you had a large inheritance coming.”
I almost laughed.
I had my own savings and investments, but there was no mysterious inheritance waiting to rescue Northline.
Grant had apparently been promising money that didn't belong to him.
Elise continued.
“The financing agreement gives the lender the right to demand repayment if the collateral isn't properly documented.”
I understood immediately.
The disputed home-equity application wasn't merely about raising money for a startup.
Grant had been trying to provide security for an obligation he had already undertaken.
Without my consent.
Then Elise said something that made me sit forward.
“There's another document.”
“What?”
“A personal financial statement Grant submitted to the lender.”
I waited.
Elise sounded frightened.
“It lists you as a co-owner of Northline.”
I stared at the phone.
“I don't own any part of Northline.”
“According to the statement, you own thirty percent.”
My heartbeat accelerated.
May you like
Grant hadn't simply used my house and my professional work to finance his business.
He had been representing me as a partner in a company I had never agreed to join.
