Chapter 3 - THE SIGNATURE
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
I stared at the agreement.
My name appeared on the first page.
Not as a witness.
Not as an interested party.
As a co-owner.
But beneath my name was a clause transferring a percentage of the property to a company I had never heard of.
Daniel took the document from me.
“Where did you get this?”
Chloe crossed her arms.
“Ivan gave it to me.”
Ivan looked furious.
“I did not tell you to bring it here.”
“You said she needed to understand what was happening.”
“I meant later.”
Chloe's expression hardened.
“You keep saying later.”
Daniel looked at Ivan.
“Who is the company?”
Ivan didn't answer.
Marcus took out his phone.
“Give me the name.”
Daniel read it aloud.
“Northstar Development Holdings.”
Marcus stopped typing.
Then looked at Ivan.
“That company doesn't have an operating office.”
Ivan swallowed.
“How would you know?”
“Because I know the banks involved.”
Ethan took the document.
He examined the signature.
“This isn't your normal signature.”
Ivan's eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“The J is different.”
“I signed it.”
“You may have.”
Ethan looked closer.
“But this page was scanned and attached to the agreement later.”
Chloe stepped forward.
“You're accusing me of forging it?”
“No.”
Ethan looked at Ivan.
“I'm saying someone altered the document.”
Ivan's face changed.
Daniel noticed.
“You knew?”
“No.”
“Then why are you sweating?”
“Because you're all treating me like a criminal.”
Daniel closed the folder.
“Right now, we're treating you like a husband who has a lot of explaining to do.”
I looked at Ivan.
“Why is Chloe named on anything involving our house?”
“She isn't.”
I pointed.
“She is.”
Ivan looked at the paper.
“I never intended to transfer the house.”
“Then what did you intend?”
He hesitated.
“Collateral.”
My heart sank.
“For what?”
“A business loan.”
Marcus leaned back.
“How much?”
Ivan said nothing.
Marcus asked again.
“How much?”
“Four million.”
Noah swore under his breath.
I stared at Ivan.
“Four million dollars?”
“It was temporary.”
“You put our home up as collateral for four million dollars?”
“It was supposed to close.”
“When?”
“Next month.”
Marcus looked at Daniel.
“That's impossible.”
Daniel nodded.
“It is.”
Ivan frowned.
“What?”
Daniel looked at him.
“Your company doesn't qualify for a four-million-dollar loan against this property.”
Ivan went pale.
“I have investors.”
“You had investors.”
Daniel corrected him.
“Three withdrew last week.”
“How do you know?”
Daniel looked at Marcus.
Marcus answered.
“Because one of them is a client of my bank.”
Ivan stared at them.
“You've been investigating me.”
“No,” Marcus said.
“We've been noticing you.”
That sentence landed harder than an accusation.
Ivan looked at me.
“You knew?”
“I knew you were cheating.”
His face went still.
Chloe looked at him.
“You told me she didn't know.”
I looked at her.
“I didn't.”
Ivan closed his eyes.
For the first time, Chloe looked uncertain.
I continued.
“I knew about you three months ago.”
Ivan whispered,
“Then why didn't you say anything?”
“Because I wanted to know what else you were hiding.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Now we know.”
But we didn't.
Not yet.
Because Ethan was still staring at the agreement.
He pointed to one paragraph.
“This is strange.”
“What?”
“This company doesn't own the property.”
He tapped the page.
“But this clause says it does.”
Marcus took it.
“That's not a transfer clause.”
“What is it?”
“A control clause.”
He looked at me.
“Someone gets decision-making authority over the property if the loan defaults.”
I looked at Ivan.
“So Chloe gets control of our house?”
“No.”
Chloe stood.
“Not me.”
Everyone turned.
She looked at Ivan.
“I was supposed to get ownership.”
Silence.
Ivan stared at her.
“What?”
“You told me.”
“I never said that.”
“You promised.”
I felt something inside me go numb.
Chloe looked at me.
“He told me this house would be ours.”
Ivan shook his head.
“That isn't true.”
“You said Jessi would be out by Christmas.”
My eyes moved to Ivan.
He didn't speak.
Chloe's face twisted.
“You told me you were divorcing her.”
Ivan finally said,
“I was going to.”
I laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because sometimes the truth was so ugly that laughter was the only sound your body could produce.
“You were going to.”
He looked at me.
“Jessi—”
“No.”
I stood.
“You don't get to explain that sentence.”
Fiona appeared at the doorway.
“Mommy?”
I immediately turned.
“Go upstairs with Uncle Noah.”
She nodded.
Noah took her hand.
As they disappeared, I looked back at Ivan.
“You planned to take my home.”
“It was complicated.”
“You planned to take my home.”
“I was going to give you money.”
“How generous.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“You don't understand.”
“No.”
I pointed toward Chloe.
“I understand perfectly.”
Chloe suddenly began crying.
Not convincingly.
Real tears.
That surprised me.
She looked at Ivan.
“You lied to me too.”
Ivan turned.
“Chloe.”
“You said she was the only thing standing between us.”
“I never said—”
“You said the house would be ours.”
Daniel interrupted.
“Stop.”
Everyone became quiet.
He looked at Chloe.
“Why did you cut the dress?”
She wiped her cheek.
“I didn't mean to.”
“But you did.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She looked at Fiona's empty chair.
“Because she saw me.”
“Doing what?”
“Looking through Jessi's bedroom.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“Why?”
Chloe stared at me.
“I found something.”
“What?”
She looked at Ivan.
He looked away.
Chloe whispered,
“Documents.”
Marcus asked,
“What documents?”
“Financial records.”
Ivan suddenly stood.
“That's enough.”
Daniel looked at him.
“No.”
Ivan's face hardened.
“You don't understand what you're doing.”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“We understand more than you think.”
Chloe continued.
“I found evidence that Ivan had been moving money.”
Ivan looked at her.
“Stop talking.”
She shook her head.
“You promised me it was legal.”
“What money?”
I asked.
Ivan remained silent.
Marcus stood.
“Jessi.”
I looked at him.
“We need to check your accounts.”
“My accounts?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if Ivan used your name in that agreement, he may have used it elsewhere.”
I felt sick.
Daniel nodded.
“Do you have access to your bank statements?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Ethan took out his laptop.
“Do not log into anything from this house's Wi-Fi.”
Ivan stared.
“Why?”
Ethan looked at him.
“Because if he installed monitoring software, we don't know what he can see.”
Ivan's face changed.
“I didn't.”
Ethan looked at him.
“I didn't say you did.”
Again, silence.
That was becoming my brothers' most effective weapon.
They didn't accuse.
They let Ivan explain things nobody had asked him about.
I went upstairs and retrieved my laptop.
Fiona sat on the bed.
Noah sat beside her.
“Mommy?”
“I’m okay.”
“Are we leaving?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes widened.
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Uncle Noah's house.”
She smiled.
“Does he still have the giant dog?”
“Yes.”
She looked relieved.
That small smile nearly broke me.
I packed quickly.
Clothes.
Medicine.
School things.
Bunny.
A photograph of Thomas and me from before Fiona was born.
As I reached for the drawer, I noticed something missing.
My passport.
I checked again.
Nothing.
I searched the closet.
Nothing.
Then I remembered.
Ivan had asked for it six months earlier.
He said he needed a copy for an overseas business registration.
I had given it to him.
I ran downstairs.
“Ivan.”
He turned.
“Where is my passport?”
He froze.
“I don't know.”
“You asked for it.”
“For the company.”
“Where is it?”
“I'll find it.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“Now.”
Chloe looked at him.
Then suddenly whispered,
“I know where it is.”
Everyone turned.
She looked terrified.
“Where?”
“Northstar's office.”
Marcus frowned.
“Why?”
Chloe swallowed.
“Because Ivan used it to open an account.”
My heart stopped.
“What account?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Daniel looked at Ethan.
Ethan was already typing.
Then his face changed.
“Jessi.”
“What?”
“You have a business account.”
“I don't own a business.”
“I know.”
He turned the laptop toward me.
A company appeared.
BENNETT FAMILY HOLDINGS LLC.
My name.
My address.
My Social Security number.
And an account balance.
$3,840,000.
I stared.
“I didn't open that.”
Daniel's voice was quiet.
“I know.”
Marcus looked at Ivan.
“Where did the money come from?”
Ivan didn't answer.
Then Ethan found something else.
A transfer.
Four days earlier.
$850,000.
Recipient:
CHLOE MERCER.
Chloe covered her mouth.
“Ivan…”
He looked at her.
“You weren't supposed to see that.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You told me you loved me.”
He said nothing.
Daniel closed the laptop.
“Everyone upstairs.”
Ivan stepped forward.
“Daniel.”
Daniel looked at him.
“If you come near my sister or Fiona tonight, I will stop being polite.”
Ivan swallowed.
The front door opened.
A uniformed officer stood outside.
Behind him were two investigators.
I looked at Daniel.
He shook his head.
“This wasn't us.”
The older investigator looked directly at me.
“Mrs. Bennett?”
“Yes?”
“We need to speak with you.”
“Why?”
He held up a warrant.
“Your name has appeared in an investigation involving financial fraud.”
My blood went cold.
Ivan looked relieved.
Chloe looked terrified.
And my brothers suddenly understood something neither of us had considered.
The four million dollars wasn't just a business loan.
Someone had created an entire financial operation in my name.
May you like
And somehow—
I was now the one being investigated.
