Chapter 4
Daniel called the police.
I wanted him to.
That was the part he didn’t understand.
For the first few minutes, he stood near the locked door as if the condo belonged to him and the rest of us were trespassers.
Dad had his phone recording.
Vanessa did too.
I kept the mortgage application in my hand.
Daniel stared at it.
“Put that back.”
“No.”
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
“I know my signature is on a loan I never applied for.”
“You benefited from the transaction.”
“What transaction?”
His jaw tightened.
“There are business matters you never cared enough to understand.”
Dad laughed.
“She cared enough to earn the income you put on that application.”
Daniel ignored him.
Vanessa looked around the condo as if every piece of furniture had become poisonous.
“Did you use Emily’s identity to buy this place?”
“No.”
“Then why is her information here?”
“It’s complicated.”
Vanessa wiped her eyes.
“You keep saying that.”
Daniel turned toward her.
“And you keep making this worse.”
“For who?”
“For everyone.”
“No. For you.”
That shut him up.
A hard knock hit the door.
“Chicago Police.”
Daniel unlocked it.
Two officers entered.
A third waited in the hallway.
Daniel immediately changed.
His shoulders dropped.
His voice became calm.
Professional.
Almost wounded.
“Thank you for coming. My wife and her father forced their way into my residence, and her father assaulted me earlier today.”
Dad muttered, “Residence?”
One officer looked at his bruised jaw.
“Sir, we’ll get everybody’s statements separately.”
Daniel pointed at me.
“She’s also taking financial documents that don’t belong to her.”
I held up the mortgage application.
“My name is on them.”
The officer looked at it.
Then at Daniel.
“Ma’am, are you Emily Carter?”
“Yes.”
“Is that your signature?”
“No.”
Daniel interrupted.
“She electronically authorized it.”
“I did not.”
The officer lifted a hand.
“One at a time.”
Dad explained what had happened downtown.
He didn’t minimize anything.
“I punched him.”
The officer looked at him.
“You understand he can file a complaint?”
“Yes.”
Daniel said, “I want to press charges.”
I turned toward him.
For six years, Daniel had called Dad his second father.
They watched football together.
They repaired our deck together.
Dad had helped Daniel when his own father died.
Now Daniel looked at him like a stranger.
Dad simply nodded.
“Do what you need to do.”
The officer asked Vanessa who lived in the condo.
Vanessa looked at Daniel.
Then at me.
“I thought Daniel was moving in here with me.”
The officer paused.
“You thought?”
“I was told his divorce was finalized.”
The officer looked at me.
I held up my left hand.
My wedding ring was still there.
“We are married.”
Daniel sighed dramatically.
“This is a marital dispute.”
“No,” I said. “It became fraud when he forged my signature.”
The officer examined the documents again.
“Financial crimes will need to look at that. Do you have copies?”
Vanessa lifted her phone.
“Yes.”
Daniel’s head snapped toward her.
The officer noticed.
“Sir, don’t interfere with anyone’s phone.”
Daniel looked away.
After almost an hour, Dad was issued instructions regarding Daniel’s assault complaint.
Nobody was arrested that night.
The officer told me to preserve every document, contact my financial institutions, and speak with an attorney immediately.
Before leaving, he pulled me aside.
“Mrs. Carter.”
“Yes?”
“If your husband has access to accounts or identification in your name, secure what you can tonight.”
My stomach tightened.
“Do you think I’m in danger?”
He chose his words carefully.
“I think you learned today that you may not know what financial activity is happening in your name.”
That answer scared me more than a yes.
We left the condo.
Vanessa came with us.
Daniel stayed behind.
In the elevator, Dad looked at her.
“You have somewhere safe to go?”
She nodded.
“My sister.”
“Go there.”
Vanessa looked at me.
“Emily, I’m so sorry.”
I was exhausted enough to tell the truth.
“I don’t know what I feel about you.”
“I understand.”
“You slept with my husband.”
Her eyes dropped.
“Yes.”
“You believed he was divorced.”
“Yes.”
“But there had to be signs.”
She looked up.
“There were.”
I waited.
Vanessa swallowed.
“I ignored them.”
That hurt in a different way.
Because it sounded familiar.
Maybe I had ignored signs too.
She continued.
“He never let me come to your house.”
“He said what?”
“He said you were still living there temporarily because the sale was delayed. He told me not to contact you because you were emotionally unstable.”
I almost laughed again.
“He really liked that word.”
Vanessa nodded.
“He never introduced me to coworkers. He disappeared some evenings. On holidays, he always had an excuse.”
“And you stayed.”
“I loved him.”
The elevator opened.
I looked at her.
“So did I.”
We stood in silence.
Then Vanessa said, “There’s one more thing.”
My body tensed.
“What?”
“I met his brother.”
I stared at her.
“Michael?”
“Yes.”
The world tilted again.
Daniel’s younger brother.
Michael had been at our house three weeks earlier.
He ate my lasagna.
He hugged me goodbye.
He called me his favorite sister-in-law.
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“Michael knew about you?”
“He thought I was Daniel’s girlfriend.”
My mouth went dry.
“What exactly did Daniel say?”
“He introduced me as the woman he was seeing after the separation.”
Dad cursed.
I leaned against the elevator wall.
His family knew.
At least Michael knew.
“Did Michael say anything?”
“He seemed uncomfortable.”
“But he didn’t tell you Daniel was married?”
“No.”
I reached for my phone.
Dad stopped me.
“Not now.”
“I’m calling Michael.”
“Emily, you’re shaking.”
“I’m calling him.”
Michael answered on the third ring.
“Hey, Em.”
His voice sounded normal.
That made me angrier.
“Do you know Vanessa?”
Silence.
There it was.
“Emily.”
“Answer me.”
“Yes.”
Dad closed his eyes.
Vanessa looked away.
“How long?”
Michael exhaled.
“Daniel told me you two had separated.”
“When?”
“June.”
“Last June?”
“Yes.”
I gripped the phone.
“He told Vanessa we were already getting divorced before that.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“But you knew about her.”
“I met her once.”
“She said three months ago.”
“That’s when.”
“And you never called me.”
“Daniel said you didn’t want the family involved.”
I felt something break.
Not just my marriage.
My relationship with an entire family.
“I made you Christmas dinner.”
“Emily—”
“I bought your daughter a bicycle.”
“I know.”
“You stood in my kitchen three weeks ago.”
“I know.”
“And you hugged me.”
Michael’s voice cracked.
“I thought you were trying to keep things civil.”
“Civil?”
“I thought the marriage was over.”
“Did I look like a woman whose marriage was over?”
He didn’t answer.
I whispered, “Did Daniel’s mother know?”
Another silence.
That one was worse.
“Michael.”
“She knew you were having problems.”
“We weren’t having problems.”
“Daniel said—”
“I don’t care what Daniel said. Did your mother know about Vanessa?”
“I don’t know exactly what he told her.”
That meant yes.
I hung up.
Dad took my phone before I could throw it.
Vanessa whispered, “I’m sorry.”
I looked at her.
“Stop apologizing.”
She nodded.
Then she left.
Dad drove me home.
The entire way, I thought about every Carter family dinner during the past year.
Daniel’s mother, Susan, asking me whether we were “doing okay.”
Michael suddenly avoiding eye contact when Daniel left the room.
Daniel insisting we skip Easter because he had too much work.
How much had they known?
How much had I been performing my marriage in front of people who already believed it was dead?
When we reached the house, Dad checked every room before letting me settle.
I opened a bottle of water.
I couldn’t eat.
At eleven thirty, someone knocked.
Dad looked through the camera.
His expression hardened.
“Susan.”
Daniel’s mother.
I opened the door.
She looked like she had been crying.
“Emily.”
I didn’t move aside.
“What do you want?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“Did you know?”
She closed her eyes.
That answered me.
“How long?”
“Emily, please.”
“How long did you know about Vanessa?”
“I didn’t know everything.”
“How long?”
“Since July.”
I stared at her.
Eight months.
She had known seven.
“You came to Thanksgiving.”
Susan cried.
“I know.”
“You sat beside my father.”
“I know.”
“You complimented my wedding ring.”
“I know.”
“You watched me kiss your son.”
“I know.”
My voice rose.
“And you said nothing.”
“He told me you were separated privately.”
“I slept in the same bed with him every night.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“You never asked me.”
“I was trying not to interfere.”
Dad appeared behind me.
“Funny. Everybody was trying not to interfere until my daughter lost a hundred thousand dollars.”
Susan looked shocked.
“What?”
I watched her face carefully.
“You didn’t know about the money?”
“No.”
“What about the condo?”
Her expression changed.
Not shock.
Recognition.
I felt sick.
“You knew about the condo too.”
Susan started crying harder.
“He told me he was investing in property.”
“With Vanessa?”
“No.”
“Stop lying.”
“I’m not.”
“You’ve lied to my face for months.”
Susan looked broken.
But I had no sympathy left.
I started closing the door.
“Emily, wait.”
I stopped.
She whispered, “There’s something you need to know about Daniel.”
Dad stepped forward.
Susan glanced toward the street.
Then back at me.
“He’s in serious financial trouble.”
“What kind?”
“I don’t know all the details.”
“How much?”
“More than the money he took from you.”
My heart began pounding.
“How much, Susan?”
Her lips trembled.
“He came to me two weeks ago.”
“For what?”
“A loan.”
“How much?”
Susan looked at the floor.
“Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
Dad stared at her.
I couldn’t speak.
Susan continued.
“I told him I didn’t have it.”
“Why did he need it?”
“He wouldn’t say.”
“Then what do you know?”
She looked directly at me.
“He said if he didn’t get the money by the end of this month, everything was going to come out.”
A cold silence settled between us.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you ask?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
Susan’s face went pale.
“He said you would lose the house.”
I stopped breathing.
Dad whispered, “Emily.”
Susan continued.
“And then he said something I haven’t been able to stop thinking about.”
“What?”
“He said the house was the least of your problems.”
I grabbed the doorframe.
“What exactly did he say?”
May you like
Susan swallowed.
“He said, ‘When they start looking, Emily’s name is on everything.’”
