Chapter 2 - THE TRANSFER MADE WHILE I SLEPT
The missing $186,000 had left Valerie’s business account at 2:13 in the morning.
She had been asleep beside Gavin.
At least, she had believed he was beside her.
Her bank provided the access history before noon.
The transfer had been approved using Valerie’s digital credentials.
Two-factor authentication had been confirmed through her phone.
Everything looked legitimate.
Except for one detail.
The transfer originated from Gavin’s personal laptop.
Valerie stared at the device report while Evelyn sat across from her.
“He knew my passwords.”
“Apparently.”
“He knew my phone code too.”
“Did he ever have access to the phone overnight?”
“For four years.”
Evelyn leaned back.
“Then this may be larger than divorce.”
Valerie hated how calm she felt.
Shock had limits.
Eventually betrayal became administrative.
“What account received the money?”
“Garrison Development Services.”
Valerie knew the company.
Gavin’s construction firm had used Garrison as a subcontractor.
Or so he claimed.
Evelyn’s investigator discovered Garrison had no employees, no office, and no active contractor license.
Its registered agent was one of Gavin’s college friends.
From Garrison, the money moved again.
Ninety thousand went toward debts attached to Gavin’s company.
Forty thousand paid a line of credit.
Thirty thousand went into Blue Harbor Residential.
The company owned by Chloe.
Valerie stared at that number.
“My business helped buy my own house for my husband’s mistress.”
Evelyn did not insult her with false comfort.
“Yes.”
Valerie laughed once.
It sounded ugly.
For years, Gavin had referred to her company as “the plant thing.”
When she crossed $200,000 in annual sales, he joked that she finally had “real grocery money.”
When she hired employees, he asked when she planned to stop playing entrepreneur.
The previous year, Verde Living had earned $1.7 million in revenue.
Gavin had stopped laughing.
Apparently he had started stealing.
Valerie spent the afternoon changing every password, freezing discretionary transfers, and separating company access.
At four, Gavin called.
“Why can’t I log into the Verde account?”
There was no greeting.
Valerie looked out her office window.
“Why were you trying?”
Silence.
Then:
“I was checking something.”
“My business?”
“Our money.”
“Interesting.”
His tone sharpened.
“Don’t start playing games because you’re upset about the divorce.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
“You need to understand something, Valerie. If you make this difficult, attorneys will burn through everything we have.”
“Then we should both tell our attorneys the truth.”
He became quiet.
Valerie smiled.
“You have an attorney?”
“Yes.”
“When did that happen?”
“Three years ago.”
That rattled him.
She heard it.
“What happened three years ago?”
“Ask your mother.”
Valerie disconnected.
Ten minutes later, she received a security alert from the greenhouse camera system.
Someone had entered.
Gavin.
He stood among shelves of rare orchids and propagation trays, searching through cabinets.
Valerie watched remotely.
He opened the locked drawer where she kept supplier agreements.
Then he photographed inventory records.
He took pictures of shipping schedules.
Customer lists.
Wholesale pricing.
“What is he doing?” Evelyn asked.
Valerie did not know.
Until her marketing director called.
“There’s something weird you should see.”
Two months earlier, somebody had filed a federal trademark application for the name VERDE LIVING.
Valerie had used the brand for four years but had delayed registering the trademark while restructuring the business.
The applicant was not Valerie.
Not Gavin.
Not even Blue Harbor.
It was Chloe Sterling.
May you like
Gavin did not only want Valerie out of the house.
He was trying to give Chloe her business too.
