Chapter 4
Three days.
That was how long I had before a lender might try to take the house I had spent my entire adult life building.
Three days because my husband had apparently forged my signature.
Three days because his mother had taken part of the money.
Three days because I had trusted the wrong people.
I left the hospital shortly after midnight with bruising around my neck, a police report number, and a folder containing discharge instructions I barely read.
Daniel had been booked.
Patricia had disappeared.
And my house no longer felt like home.
When we returned, I stood outside the front door.
Dad waited beside me.
“You don’t have to sleep here.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Emily.”
“It’s my house.”
My voice cracked.
“That’s the whole point.”
He nodded.
We entered.
The kitchen looked exactly as we had left it.
A chair was crooked.
A glass had shattered near the counter.
The property-transfer papers remained inside an evidence envelope Officer Ramirez had left with Laura after photographing them.
I saw the wall where Daniel had shoved me.
For a moment I couldn’t move.
Then Nathan appeared with a broom.
“What are you doing?”
“Cleaning the glass.”
“I can do it.”
“I know.”
He started sweeping anyway.
Dad sat at the kitchen table.
Laura opened her laptop.
“We need to move fast.”
I joined her.
“Tell me everything.”
“The lender is Northbridge Private Capital.”
“I’ve never heard of them.”
“They specialize in higher-risk secured lending. The loan paperwork indicates you and Daniel applied jointly.”
“But we didn’t.”
“I know.”
“It says we borrowed four hundred eighty thousand?”
“Yes.”
“And now they’re foreclosing?”
“They claim there were no payments for the last four months.”
“How much was paid before that?”
Laura looked at her notes.
“Five payments.”
“Who made them?”
“Mercer Holdings.”
Daniel’s secret company.
I rubbed my temples.
“So he borrowed against my house, took the money, made a few payments, then stopped.”
“That’s what it looks like.”
“Why?”
“We need the bank records.”
Dad spoke from across the table.
“And the company records.”
Laura nodded.
“I’m working on subpoenas, but that takes time.”
“Three days,” I said.
“We can ask a judge for emergency relief based on fraud.”
“Will that stop the foreclosure?”
“It can.”
“Can?”
Laura looked me directly in the eyes.
“I’m not going to lie to you. The lender may also have been deceived. If their documents appear valid, we need to show enough evidence quickly.”
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
I stared at it.
Nathan looked over.
“Don’t answer.”
It buzzed again.
Then a message appeared.
EMILY PLEASE TALK TO ME.
Daniel.
My stomach twisted.
A second message arrived.
MOM MADE EVERYTHING WORSE.
Then another.
I NEVER WANTED TO HURT YOU.
I almost threw the phone.
Instead, I typed:
YOU PUT YOUR HANDS AROUND MY THROAT.
The typing bubbles appeared instantly.
Then stopped.
Appeared again.
His answer came.
I LOST CONTROL.
I stared at those three words.
Not “I didn’t do it.”
Not “You misunderstood.”
I lost control.
A confession.
Laura leaned toward me.
“Do not delete that.”
I handed her the phone.
Another message arrived.
IF YOU STOP THE CHARGES I CAN FIX THE HOUSE PROBLEM.
Laura’s eyebrows rose.
Dad read over her shoulder.
“That sounds useful.”
I felt sick.
“What does he mean, fix it?”
“Ask him,” Laura said.
I typed:
HOW?
His response took nearly a minute.
I CAN GET THE MONEY BACK BUT YOU NEED TO MEET ME.
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“He’s out?”
“Probably bonded,” Laura said.
Another message.
COME ALONE.
Dad leaned back.
“Absolutely not.”
I agreed.
I typed:
NO.
Daniel called.
Laura looked at me.
“Answer on speaker.”
I did.
“Emily?”
His voice nearly broke me.
I hated that.
I hated that some part of me still recognized the man who used to make coffee before I woke up.
The man who danced badly in the grocery-store aisle.
The man who once drove five hours because my car broke down.
People imagine monsters always look like monsters.
They don’t.
Sometimes they wear your husband’s face.
“Where are you?” I asked.
“Please don’t do this.”
“Where are you?”
“At Mom’s.”
Of course.
“Did you forge my signature?”
Silence.
“Daniel.”
“It’s complicated.”
“No. It’s a yes-or-no question.”
“Emily, I was trying to protect us.”
“From what?”
“Financial problems.”
“What financial problems?”
He breathed heavily.
“Mine.”
I closed my eyes.
There it was.
“How much?”
“I can explain.”
“How much, Daniel?”
“More than I told you.”
Dad’s eyes narrowed.
“How much?”
Daniel heard him.
“Is your father there?”
“Yes.”
“I asked you to come alone!”
“And I said no.”
“Emily, he hates me.”
“My father didn’t put his hands around my throat.”
“I said I was sorry!”
My entire body went still.
The room did too.
I whispered, “You think sorry fixes that?”
Daniel’s breathing changed.
“No. I just—”
“Did you forge my signature?”
He was silent.
Laura scribbled something on a notepad.
I repeated the question.
Finally, Daniel said, “Mom had Sandra handle the paperwork.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“I didn’t think it would hurt you.”
“You put a loan against my house.”
“I was going to pay it back.”
“With what?”
“The investment.”
“What investment?”
Daniel hesitated.
Then said, “A development deal.”
Laura leaned closer.
“Name.”
I understood.
“What development deal?”
“Ridgeway Commons.”
Laura started typing.
“What is it?”
“A commercial property redevelopment.”
“Where?”
“Outside Arlington.”
Dad frowned.
“That project collapsed last year.”
Daniel went silent.
Dad’s face darkened.
“How much did you put into it?”
“I’m not talking to him.”
“You’re talking to me,” I said. “How much?”
“Two hundred thousand.”
My heart pounded.
“What happened to the rest?”
“Expenses.”
“What expenses?”
“Business expenses.”
“You gave your mother one hundred twenty thousand dollars.”
“That was temporary.”
Patricia’s voice suddenly exploded in the background.
“Stop talking!”
Daniel swore.
I heard movement.
Then Patricia shouted, “Give me the phone!”
Daniel yelled at her.
The call became muffled.
Laura whispered, “Keep it connected.”
Then I heard Patricia clearly.
“You idiot! You tell her about Ridgeway and she’ll find everything!”
Nobody in my kitchen moved.
Daniel said something I couldn’t understand.
Patricia responded.
“She doesn’t know about the second mortgage!”
My blood turned cold.
Laura’s head snapped up.
Dad stood.
Second mortgage?
I stared at the phone.
Patricia was still yelling.
“You couldn’t keep your mouth shut for one night!”
Daniel suddenly realized we were listening.
The call ended.
The silence afterward felt enormous.
Laura immediately began typing.
“I’ll search county records.”
“How much more can there be?” I whispered.
No one answered.
Thirty seconds later, Laura stopped.
Her face went pale.
“Emily.”
I didn’t want to hear it.
I knew from her expression.
Still, I asked.
“How much?”
She turned the screen toward me.
A second lien.
Different lender.
Different date.
Different forged signature.
Dad read the number first.
His jaw tightened.
Nathan swore.
I forced myself to look.
Two hundred seventy-five thousand dollars.
I gripped the table.
Together, the loans were more than seven hundred fifty thousand dollars.
Against my home.
Without my knowledge.
Laura kept reading.
Then she frowned.
“This second loan wasn’t paid to Daniel.”
“Who got it?”
She scrolled.
Her eyes stopped.
May you like
When she looked at me, I knew the answer would be worse.
“Patricia.”
