Chapter 4 - THE SIGNATURE FROM THE DAY ETHAN WAS BORN
I couldn't move.
The ballroom continued around me.
People laughed.
Waiters carried trays.
Music played.
But all I could see was the date.
The day Ethan was born.
Six years ago, I had spent fourteen hours in labor.
Daniel had been beside me.
Or so I thought.
I remembered him holding my hand.
I remembered him crying when Ethan was placed on my chest.
I remembered him whispering, “We're finally a family.”
Now my signature sat on a financial authorization dated that same day.
Impossible.
Unless Daniel had forged it.
I looked at Robert.
“I didn't sign this.”
“I believe you.”
“How?”
“Because the signature is too clean.”
“What does that mean?”
“Your real signature has a slight upward curve at the end.”
He pointed.
“This one doesn't.”
I looked closer.
He was right.
Someone had copied my signature.
Daniel had forged it.
But why use the date Ethan was born?
Before I could answer, Ethan tugged my dress.
“Mom.”
I looked down.
“What?”
“There's something else.”
He reached into his pocket.
A small brass key.
“Dad gave me this.”
“When?”
“Last Christmas.”
“Why?”
“He said it was for my special box.”
“What box?”
“I don't know.”
I took the key.
On the end was a tiny number.
Robert looked at it.
“That's not a house key.”
“What is it?”
“I don't know.”
Vanessa stepped closer.
“I do.”
I turned.
She looked at the key.
“That opens a safe deposit box.”
Daniel had disappeared.
I looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“Because I saw him use it.”
“Where?”
“At Lakeshore Hotel.”
Ethan looked frightened.
“The hotel.”
I remembered what he had said earlier.
Daniel had taken him there.
He had told him they were meeting a man about work.
I crouched beside my son.
“Ethan, did you see a box?”
He nodded.
“Dad opened something.”
“What was inside?”
“A red envelope.”
“What was in the envelope?”
“I don't know.”
“Did you see anything else?”
He thought.
“A picture.”
“Of what?”
“You.”
My heart stopped.
“Me?”
He nodded.
“Mom, you were holding me.”
The room seemed to disappear again.
A photograph from the day Ethan was born.
Why would Daniel keep it in a safe deposit box?
And why would he take Ethan to see it?
I looked at Vanessa.
“Did Daniel know I was investigating?”
“No.”
“Then why bring you here?”
She looked away.
“He wanted me to make you jealous.”
“Why?”
“He said if you became emotional, you'd agree to a divorce settlement.”
That was almost absurd.
Almost.
Then I remembered the documents.
Daniel wasn't simply cheating.
He was preparing to transfer assets.
And my signature was part of the mechanism.
Robert pulled me aside.
“Claire, you need legal protection.”
“I don't want a lawyer.”
“You need one.”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because I need to know what he's hiding first.”
Robert looked at me.
“That could be dangerous.”
“So is walking into a marriage I no longer recognize.”
Ethan suddenly pointed toward the entrance.
“Mom.”
Daniel stood there.
But he wasn't alone.
A man in a dark gray suit stood beside him.
Older.
Maybe sixty.
Daniel spoke to him quietly.
The man looked directly at me.
Then his eyes moved to Ethan.
His expression changed.
Recognition.
Not curiosity.
Recognition.
I walked toward them.
“Who are you?”
The man smiled.
“Richard Hale.”
I knew the name.
Northstar's chairman.
Daniel's largest private client.
The man whose company had received millions through our foundation.
He extended his hand.
“Mrs. Mercer.”
I didn't take it.
“Why did you look at my son like that?”
His smile disappeared.
“I thought I knew him.”
“You don't.”
“I may know more than you think.”
Daniel stepped between us.
“Richard, that's enough.”
Hale looked at him.
“You said she wouldn't find the account.”
Daniel's face went pale.
I heard every word.
“You said what?”
Hale looked at me.
Then at Daniel.
Then he whispered:
“The account wasn't supposed to be in your name.”
My pulse raced.
“Whose name was it supposed to be?”
Hale didn't answer.
May you like
He looked at Ethan.
“His.”
