Chapter 5 - THE HUSBAND WHO FORGED MY NAME
Grant Whitmore had used my name to secure a six-million-dollar loan.
The discovery made everything suddenly clear.
His expensive cars.
The luxury vacations.
The constant pressure on Rachel to impress his parents.
It wasn't wealth.
It was desperation wearing a designer suit.
I placed the agreement on the table.
“Rachel, where did you find this?”
“In Grant's study.”
“Does he know you took it?”
“No.”
I reached for my phone.
“I'm calling Margaret.”
Rachel looked frightened.
“Are you going to have him arrested?”
“I'm going to find out what happened. The authorities will decide whether crimes were committed.”
Margaret answered immediately.
I explained the forged document.
Her voice sharpened.
“Evelyn, don't alter it. We need the original preserved.”
“Understood.”
She asked me to send a photograph and said Meridian's legal counsel would review it.
Rachel watched silently.
When I finished, she whispered, “I thought Grant loved me.”
My heart broke.
“Maybe he believes he does. But love doesn't require you to surrender your judgment.”
She wiped her cheeks.
“He used to be different.”
“Tell me.”
“When we met, he brought me flowers. He remembered everything I said. He told me I was the most important person in his life.”
“And later?”
“He started telling me what to wear. Who to invite. Which friends were embarrassing.”
I closed my eyes.
She continued.
“He said you made us look poor.”
I felt the words like a physical blow.
“And you believed him?”
Rachel started crying again.
“I wanted his family to accept me.”
I looked at my daughter.
For the first time, I saw just how much she'd been trying to become someone else.
I reached across the table.
“You never had to earn anyone's respect by being ashamed of your mother.”
“I know.”
Her voice cracked.
“I'm so sorry, Mom.”
I squeezed her hand.
“I love you. But we have a lot to talk about.”
She nodded.
Then her phone rang.
Grant.
She ignored it.
He called again.
And again.
Finally, a text appeared.
Come home now. Your mother doesn't know what she's dealing with.
Rachel showed me.
I took a screenshot.
Then another message arrived.
If she doesn't stop, I'll tell everyone what Daniel Carter really did before he died.
My breath caught.
Daniel?
My husband?
The man who had helped build Meridian?
I stared at the words.
May you like
Because Grant had just threatened to reveal something about a man who'd been dead for nine years.
And I had no idea what he meant.
