Chapter 2 - THE SECOND LOAN
The next morning, Daniel was still in my house.
Not because I had changed my mind.
Because he refused to leave.
At 7:14 a.m., I walked downstairs and found him standing in the kitchen drinking coffee from the mug my mother bought me before she died.
Somehow, that made me angrier than the mistress.
"Put that down."
He looked at the mug.
"Seriously?"
"Yes."
He placed it on the counter.
Then he gave me the expression he always used whenever he wanted me to believe I was overreacting.
"Emily, last night got out of control."
"No. Last night became honest."
"Sophia shouldn't have been there."
"Interesting. I thought she was moving in."
He exhaled.
"Can we talk like adults?"
"Absolutely."
I opened my laptop.
"Tell me about the $450,000."
His face changed.
There it was.
The truth.
Or at least the edge of it.
"It was business financing."
"Without telling me?"
"You were already stressed."
I stared.
"You hid nearly half a million dollars because you were protecting me from stress?"
"It was temporary."
"What did you spend it on?"
"Expansion."
"What expansion?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Carter Development acquired another property."
"Which property?"
"Downtown."
"Address?"
"Emily."
"Address?"
He looked away.
I already knew.
He was lying.
"Leave."
"This is my home too."
"No. It is where you have lived."
His eyes sharpened.
"Don't push me."
Something cold moved through me.
"Is that a threat?"
He immediately softened his voice.
"No."
"Good."
I turned the laptop around.
The county recorder's website showed the deed.
Only one owner.
Emily Hayes Carter.
Daniel stared.
"I'll contest it."
"You can."
"I contributed to the mortgage."
"No mortgage."
That silenced him.
He had forgotten that too.
I had bought the house outright with inheritance money before liquidating the apartment to help his company.
Daniel's pride had always prevented him from discussing that detail.
Now it was suddenly very important.
The front door opened.
Richard Carter walked in without knocking.
Of course he had a key.
I made a mental note.
New locks.
Immediately.
"Emily," he said. "Enough."
I laughed.
"Good morning to you too."
Richard closed the distance.
"Daniel is under tremendous pressure."
"Then maybe he shouldn't maintain a mistress."
"This is not about Sophia."
"Correct. It's about fraud now."
Daniel slammed his hand against the counter.
"It isn't fraud!"
I looked at him.
"Then explain the second loan."
Richard's expression changed.
Barely.
But I saw it.
He knew.
I turned to him.
"You knew too."
"Don't be dramatic."
"What was the money for?"
Richard stayed silent.
I opened Daniel's company website.
Carter Development Group.
Luxury apartments.
Commercial redevelopment.
Urban revitalization.
A polished company built on money I had helped save.
"Was the loan for the company?"
Daniel answered too quickly.
"Yes."
I looked at Richard.
He avoided my eyes.
My phone buzzed.
A message.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
A photograph filled the screen.
Daniel and Sophia.
Standing outside a modern glass building.
Under the photograph was one sentence.
ASK HIM WHO BOUGHT THE PENTHOUSE.
My heart slowed.
Not raced.
Slowed.
I looked at Daniel.
"What penthouse?"
His face drained.
Richard swore under his breath.
Daniel reached for my phone.
I stepped back.
"What penthouse?"
"Emily—"
"Who bought it?"
No answer.
I typed the building's address into a property search.
Unit 31A.
Purchase price: $612,000.
Owner:
CARTER HOLDINGS RESIDENTIAL LLC.
I stared.
"Is this where Sophia lives?"
Daniel said nothing.
That was enough.
The second loan hadn't funded his company.
It had funded his affair.
But when I opened the LLC registration, another name appeared beside Daniel's.
Not Sophia.
Richard Carter.
I looked up.
"You helped him."
Richard's expression went hard.
Then another message arrived from the unknown number.
This one contained a bank statement.
And when I saw the signature authorizing the $450,000 line of credit, my stomach dropped.
May you like
It wasn't Daniel's signature.
It was mine.
