Chapter 2: The Man Who Owned the Money
For several seconds, I thought I had misunderstood her.
"Your what?"" I whispered.
Brianna didn't answer. She stood beside the pool with a towel clutched against her chest, staring at the approaching man as if she had just watched a judge walk into the room to announce her sentence.
Marcus, meanwhile, looked as though someone had pulled the floor out from beneath him.
"Daniel?"" he said.
The man stopped a few feet from the patio.
He was perhaps forty, with neatly trimmed dark hair and the calm, controlled expression of someone accustomed to entering rooms where other people were nervous. His charcoal suit looked expensive without being flashy. A silver watch gleamed beneath his cuff.
He glanced at Brianna.
Then at Marcus.
Finally, his eyes settled on me.
"Lauren Mitchell?""
I nodded slowly.
"Who are you?""
He extended a hand.
"Daniel Hayes. Brianna's husband.""
I didn't take it.
Daniel lowered his hand without appearing offended.
"Fair enough," he said.
"I imagine this has been an unpleasant afternoon for everyone.""
"Not everyone," I replied.
"Some people seem to have been enjoying themselves.""
His gaze flicked toward the pool.
"Apparently.""
Marcus stepped forward, holding his towel around his waist.
"Daniel, this isn't what it looks like.""
Daniel gave a short, humorless laugh.
"Really? Because from where I'm standing, it looks like you've been having an affair with my wife in a house I helped you finance.""
The words landed harder than a slap.
I turned toward Marcus.
"Helped him finance?""
Marcus lifted both hands.
"Lauren, don't listen to him. Daniel and I have a complicated business relationship.""
"Then explain it.""
Daniel opened the leather folder.
"Gladly.""
He removed a document and held it out to me.
It was a bank statement showing a substantial transfer into Marcus Reed Consulting's business account.
The amount was six hundred thousand dollars.
My eyes moved down the page. Daniel Hayes was listed as the representative of the investment company that had transferred the funds.
"What's this?"" I asked.
"An investment advance," Daniel replied.
"Marcus approached my company about expanding his financial consulting business. He presented a plan, financial projections, and collateral arrangements.""
I looked at Marcus.
"You never told me about this.""
He shook his head impatiently.
"It was a business matter.""
"Six hundred thousand dollars is a business matter you forgot to mention?""
"I was going to tell you.""
"When? After you bought another house for Brianna?""
Brianna flinched.
Daniel's expression hardened.
"That would explain several things.""
He removed another page.
"Three weeks ago, Marcus submitted an application for an additional loan. This time, the property at this address was listed as collateral.""
My heart began to pound.
I took the paper from him.
The property address was correct.
The estimated value was correct.
And beneath the section authorizing the transaction was a signature that looked disturbingly like mine.
Lauren Mitchell.
I stared at it.
"I never signed this.""
Daniel watched me carefully.
"That's what I suspected.""
Marcus reached for the document.
"Give me that.""
Daniel moved it out of reach.
"Don't touch anything.""
"You can't come into my house and accuse me of fraud!""
I stepped toward Marcus.
"Our house," I corrected him.
"And why is my signature on a document I never signed?""
His jaw tightened.
"It's a preliminary application. Nothing was finalized.""
"That wasn't my question.""
He looked past me toward the fireplace, where the last of his shirt smoldered beneath the metal grate.
"Lauren, you're emotional right now. We should talk when you've calmed down.""
I laughed once, without humor.
"You forged my signature, brought your mistress into my pool, and lied to both of us. But I'm the one who needs to calm down?""
Daniel closed the folder halfway.
"There's more.""
Marcus went completely still.
That was when I realized he wasn't merely afraid of being caught with Brianna.
He was afraid of what Daniel had brought with him.
"What else?"" I asked.
Daniel withdrew a printed email.
"Last month, Marcus asked my company to approve a transaction involving the sale of this property. The proposed closing date is Monday.""
I read the page twice.
A buyer's name appeared at the top, followed by the agreed purchase price and a list of conditions. The document described the mansion as an asset available for sale through an authorized representative.
My fingers went numb.
"Sell my house?""
Marcus rubbed his forehead.
"Lauren, listen to me.""
"No. You listen to me. I paid for the renovations.
I paid the mortgage when your company couldn't. My name is on the ownership documents. How could you sell this property without me?""
His silence was worse than an answer.
Daniel spoke quietly.
"Because he appears to have represented that he had the authority.""
I turned toward him.
"Why are you involved in the sale?""
"My company was approached to provide financing for the buyer.""
"And you agreed?""
"Not after I discovered irregularities.""
He placed the email on the patio table.
"I began investigating Marcus's financial records. Certain transfers didn't match the reports he had submitted. When I asked for clarification, he became evasive.""
Marcus stepped toward him.
"That's confidential information!""
Daniel didn't move.
"You gave me false financial statements, Marcus. You don't get to hide behind confidentiality now.""
Brianna began crying.
"Daniel, please. We can discuss this at home.""
He looked at her for the first time with something resembling genuine hurt.
"Home? Which home, Brianna? The one you told me you were visiting your sister from? Or the one where you apparently spend your afternoons with my business partner?""
She pressed a hand over her mouth.
Marcus turned on her.
"Don't say anything else.""
Daniel's eyebrows rose.
"Still giving her instructions?""
Marcus's face reddened.
"You don't understand what we've been dealing with.""
"Then explain it.""
Marcus said nothing.
Daniel removed one final document from the folder.
It was a photograph taken outside a courthouse. Marcus stood beside Brianna, wearing a dark suit and holding a bouquet of white roses.
Brianna wore an ivory dress.
At first, I couldn't understand what I was seeing.
Then I noticed the ring on Marcus's left hand.
I looked up.
"Marcus, why are you wearing a wedding ring?""
He didn't answer.
Daniel placed a certified marriage record beside the photograph.
The date was six months earlier.
The groom's name was Marcus Reed.
The bride's name was Brianna Hayes.
And the address listed for their marital residence was my mansion.
My mouth went dry.
I turned to Brianna.
"You married him?""
She sobbed.
"Lauren, I can explain.""
"You married my boyfriend while I was paying the mortgage on the house you were living in?""
Marcus stepped toward me.
"We need to talk privately.""
I backed away.
"Don't come near me.""
Daniel watched Marcus with an expression I couldn't read.
Then he spoke.
"Lauren, there's something else you need to know about that marriage certificate.""
He turned the page over.
A handwritten note had been attached to the back.
When I read the first line, I forgot how to breathe.
May you like
Because it wasn't just my address that Marcus had used.
He had listed me as the person who had authorized it.
