Chapter 6: The Name on the Contract
Emily opened the folder.
I watched her eyes move across the first page.
Then stop.
“No.””
Noah stood beside her.
“I checked it twice.””
Michael reached for the papers.
“Give me that.””
Noah pulled them away.
“No.””
Michael’s voice sharpened.
“You went through my car?””
“Your car was blocking the florist van. They asked me to move it. The folder was on the passenger seat.””
“You had no right to open it.””
Noah stared at him.
“You wrote Emily’s name on the tab.””
Michael fell silent.
Emily took the contract back.
“This isn’t my name.””
Sarah stepped closer.
“What?””
Emily pointed to the buyer section.
The name printed there was not Emily Reeves.
Not Noah Parker.
Not even Michael Reeves.
It was Lauren Reeves.
Emily looked up.
“Who is Lauren?””
Nobody answered.
Then I saw Sarah’s expression.
She knew.
Of course she knew.
I looked at her.
“Sarah?””
She shut her eyes.
Michael cursed quietly.
Emily turned toward her mother.
“You know who Lauren is.””
Sarah opened her eyes.
“Yes.””
“Who?””
Sarah looked at Michael.
“Tell her.””
He shook his head.
“You created this mess.””
Sarah’s face twisted.
“I created it?””
“You contacted me.””
“Because you contacted Emily!””
“And you panicked!””
“Because I knew exactly what you were!””
Emily screamed.
“WHO IS LAUREN?””
The hallway went silent.
Sarah looked at her daughter.
“Michael’s wife.””
Emily stared at her.
Then she laughed.
A tiny, broken sound.
“His what?””
Michael stepped forward.
“Emily—”
She recoiled.
“You’re married?””
“It’s complicated.””
“Stop saying that!””
Her voice cracked.
“You told me you were single.””
“Lauren and I are separated.””
Sarah said, “No, you’re not.””
Michael spun toward her.
“Stay out of this.””
“You posted anniversary pictures four months ago.””
Emily’s face went blank.
“You knew?””
Sarah froze.
Emily looked at her mother.
“You knew he was married?””
“I found out recently.””
“How recently?””
Sarah said nothing.
“Mom.””
“Six weeks.””
Emily staggered backward.
Noah caught her elbow.
She pulled away from everyone.
Six weeks.
Michael had been back in Emily’s life for almost a year.
Sarah had known for six weeks that he had lied about something enormous.
And she had protected the lie.
Emily stared at Michael.
“Why is your wife buying the house you told me was my wedding gift?””
Michael rubbed his forehead.
“It’s an investment property.””
“With James’s money?””
“It wasn’t supposed to stay that way.””
I stepped toward the contract.
“Purchase price?””
Noah turned the page.
“Four hundred and eighty-five thousand.””
I whistled softly.
“And the sixty thousand?””
“Earnest money and initial down payment.””
Emily looked at Michael.
“So the house was never mine.””
“I was going to let you live there.””
Her face changed.
“Let me?””
“You and Noah could have stayed there while you got established.””
“You handed me a key and told everyone you bought me a house.””
“It would have been available to you.””
“That isn’t what you said!””
Michael’s composure finally cracked.
“Because I wanted one nice moment with my daughter!””
Emily flinched.
He continued.
“You think it was easy coming back here and seeing him?””
He pointed at me.
“Seeing another man living the life I should have had?””
I stared at him.
There it was.
Not regret.
Competition.
Emily heard it too.
“You didn’t come back for me.””
“Of course I did.””
“You came back because of him.””
“No.””
“You wanted to prove you were better than James.””
“That’s ridiculous.””
“Then why lie about the house?””
Michael had no answer.
Emily’s voice became quieter.
“Why take his money?””
Michael looked toward Sarah.
She looked away.
That was when Noah opened the folder again.
“There’s more.””
Michael moved fast.
He lunged for the folder.
I caught his wrist.
For a moment we stood chest to chest.
“Let go of me,” he said.
“Back up.””
“This doesn’t concern you.””
“You stole money from my account. I’d say we’re acquainted now.””
Noah stepped backward and pulled another document free.
“This is a loan application.””
Michael stopped struggling.
I released him.
Noah read the page.
“Michael applied for financing against the Franklin property.””
Emily frowned.
“But he doesn’t own it yet.””
“No.””
Noah looked at me.
“But according to this, he planned to use the house as collateral immediately after closing.””
“For how much?”” I asked.
“One hundred eighty thousand.””
Sarah whispered, “Oh my God.””
Michael pointed at Noah.
“You have no idea what you’re reading.””
“I’m an accountant.””
That shut him up.
Emily almost laughed despite everything.
Noah continued.
“There’s also a business listed as beneficiary.””
He read the name.
“Reeves Hospitality Group.””
I looked at Michael.
“Your successful business?””
His face darkened.
Noah nodded.
“I searched it while I was walking over here.””
Michael snapped, “You searched my company?””
“Yes.””
“And?””
Noah’s expression was grim.
“It has three active liens.””
Sarah grabbed the wall.
Emily looked like she might collapse.
Michael stepped toward Noah.
“Those are being resolved.””
“There’s also a lawsuit from a former business partner.””
“Disputed.””
“And a tax lien.””
“Also disputed.””
I shook my head.
“So you needed Sarah’s money to buy a property in your wife’s name, then planned to borrow against it to rescue your business.””
Michael pointed at me.
“You don’t understand how leveraged investments work.””
“I understand theft.””
“It wasn’t theft!””
“The bank may disagree.””
That frightened him.
Not the accusations.
Not Emily crying.
The bank.
I noticed.
“So that’s it,” Emily whispered.
Michael turned toward her.
“No.””
“You came back because you needed money.””
“No!””
“You found out James was paying for the wedding.””
Michael’s expression flickered.
Emily saw it.
Her voice dropped.
“How did you know?””
He said nothing.
Emily looked at Sarah.
“How did he know James had money?””
Sarah began shaking her head.
“No.””
I felt cold.
“Sarah.””
“No, James.””
“How did Michael know about our investment account?””
She covered her mouth.
Michael backed toward the door.
Emily stared at her mother.
“Mom?””
Sarah started crying.
“I never thought he would actually do it.””
“Do what?”” I asked.
She couldn’t say it.
My phone vibrated again.
Another email from the bank.
This one contained the preliminary login history associated with the fraudulent transfer.
I opened it.
The transfer request hadn’t been initiated from Sarah’s laptop after all.
The device had merely been registered under her name.
The login location was different.
I stared at the address.
A hotel.
The same luxury hotel where Michael had been staying all week.
But beneath the login details was something even worse.
The account credentials had been changed six weeks earlier.
Using a verification code sent to Sarah’s phone.
I slowly looked up.
“Six weeks.””
Sarah’s face collapsed.
Emily whispered, “That’s when Mom found out Michael was married.””
I nodded.
Then I looked at my wife.
“You didn’t just tell him about the account.””
She began sobbing.
“You gave him access.””
Sarah said nothing.
She didn’t need to.
Behind us, the ceremony music stopped.
A moment later, the coordinator appeared.
But she wasn’t alone.
Two uniformed sheriff’s deputies were walking beside her.
One of them looked down at a small notepad.
Then up at us.
“Which one of you is Michael Reeves?””
May you like
Michael’s face went white.
And this time, there was nowhere left for him to run.
