Chapter 3 - THE ENVELOPE
At 8:07 the next morning, my attorney arrived.
Her name was Caroline Hayes.
She was forty-six, brutally calm, and had the unnerving ability to make people confess simply by looking at them.
She walked into my condo carrying a black leather folder.
“Morning.”
“Morning.”
She glanced around.
“Where's the family?”
“Still upstairs.”
She smiled.
“Good.”
We sat at the kitchen island.
I slid the documents across the counter.
Caroline read them silently.
Then she looked up.
“This is bigger than a family dispute.”
“I know.”
“How long have you suspected?”
“Three weeks.”
“And you didn't tell Mark?”
“Not everything.”
She nodded.
“Good.”
I frowned.
“Good?”
“People reveal more when they think they're getting away with something.”
Before I could answer, footsteps sounded on the stairs.
Linda appeared.
She was wearing another one of my sweaters.
She looked directly at Caroline.
“Who are you?”
“My attorney.”
Linda laughed.
“Attorney?”
“Yes.”
“You don't need a lawyer.”
“I do.”
Linda walked closer.
“You're not actually going to throw us out.”
“I am.”
“Mark won't let you.”
I glanced toward the stairs.
“Ask him.”
Mark appeared behind her.
He looked exhausted.
“Mom.”
Linda turned.
“Tell her.”
Mark didn't answer.
Linda's expression hardened.
“Mark.”
He stared at the floor.
I knew then.
He had chosen fear over loyalty.
Again.
Caroline opened her folder.
“Mrs. Mercer, you need to leave the premises by ten tomorrow morning unless your attorney arranges otherwise.”
Linda's face reddened.
“This is harassment.”
“No,” Caroline said calmly. “It's notice.”
Rachel came downstairs holding her phone.
“You're filming this?”
Caroline looked at her.
“Please don't.”
Rachel smiled.
“Why? Afraid of evidence?”
Caroline's eyes narrowed slightly.
“Actually, evidence is exactly why I'm here.”
Rachel lowered the phone.
Caroline slid a document across the counter.
“This is a preliminary accounting of funds transferred from Mark's personal accounts into RMR Holdings.”
Linda's face went pale.
Rachel looked at her mother.
“What is RMR?”
Nobody answered.
I watched Linda.
She knew.
Caroline continued.
“There is also a second issue.”
She opened another folder.
“Forgery.”
Mark's head snapped up.
“What?”
Caroline looked at me.
I nodded.
She placed a document on the counter.
It was a refinancing agreement.
My name appeared at the bottom.
My signature appeared beneath it.
I stared.
“That isn't my signature.”
“I know,” Caroline said.
Mark stepped closer.
“Mom?”
Linda backed away.
“I didn't do that.”
Rachel whispered,
“Mom…”
Linda glared at her.
“Don't.”
Caroline picked up another page.
“This loan was secured against a property.”
My property.
My condo.
My blood went cold.
Someone had tried to borrow money against my home.
And someone had forged my signature.
Mark looked at me.
“Elena…”
I didn't answer.
Because something had finally become clear.
Linda hadn't moved into my condo because she had nowhere else to go.
She had moved in because she needed access.
Access to me.
Access to my documents.
Access to my home.
And possibly...
Access to my identity.
Caroline closed the folder.
“We need to change every password today.”
She looked at Mark.
“And every financial account connected to this household should be frozen until we understand what happened.”
Linda suddenly shouted.
“This is ridiculous!”
Caroline didn't flinch.
“No.”
She stood.
“What's ridiculous is believing a forged signature disappears because nobody asks questions.”
Linda stared at me.
Her face had changed.
The smugness was gone.
For the first time, she looked frightened.
And I realized something.
The dinner wasn't the beginning.
The dinner was their mistake.
Because they had finally made me angry enough to look underneath everything.
May you like
And underneath everything...
was fraud.
