Chapter 2
I left the family party downstairs and went into my office.
My attorney, Rachel Morgan, was already pulling public property records.
“Tell me exactly what you found.”
“A second mortgage application.”
My stomach dropped.
“How much?”
“Four hundred thousand dollars.”
“That’s impossible.”
The house had been inherited from my grandmother five years before I married Julian.
I had intentionally kept it separate property.
Julian knew that.
Rachel continued.
“The application claims you transferred a fifty-percent ownership interest to Julian eighteen months ago.”
“I never did.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“There’s a quitclaim deed.”
I closed my eyes.
“Signature?”
“Yours.”
Forged.
Of course.
Behind me, someone opened the office door.
Eleanor entered.
I covered the phone.
“Leave.”
She folded her arms.
“We need to talk.”
“No.”
“This family does not handle private matters like circus entertainment.”
I almost laughed.
“Your son brought another woman into my bed during a family party.”
“And you humiliated him.”
“He handled the humiliating part himself.”
Her eyes narrowed.
Rachel spoke through the phone.
“Claire, who’s there?”
“Eleanor.”
“Put me on speaker.”
I did.
Rachel said, “Mrs. Hale, perhaps you can explain why your address appears as the mailing address on Julian’s mortgage documents.”
Eleanor’s face changed.
I stared at her.
“You knew.”
She recovered quickly.
“I don’t know what she’s talking about.”
Rachel continued.
“The loan correspondence was sent to your home for six months.”
Eleanor looked toward the hallway.
That hesitation told me everything.
“How much of the money did you receive?” I asked.
“None.”
“Then why hide the documents?”
“I didn’t.”
I stepped closer.
“You have ten seconds before I call the police.”
She laughed.
“Police?”
“For fraud.”
Eleanor’s confidence cracked.
“You wouldn’t.”
“Try me.”
She lowered her voice.
“Julian needed money.”
“For what?”
“Investments.”
Rachel interrupted.
“What investments?”
Eleanor said nothing.
Then another voice came from the doorway.
Serena.
She had somehow returned through the kitchen.
“Ask him about Vale House.”
Eleanor spun around.
“You need to leave.”
Serena ignored her.
I looked at Serena.
“What is Vale House?”
She hesitated.
“A development project.”
Rachel typed quickly.
Then she went silent.
“Claire?”
“Yes?”
“Vale House LLC is owned by Julian and Eleanor.”
I stared at my mother-in-law.
Rachel continued.
“And they borrowed heavily against it.”
“How much?”
“Almost two million.”
My chest tightened.
Eleanor snapped, “It’s none of her business.”
Rachel answered, “It became her business when Julian allegedly pledged Claire’s house as collateral.”
Serena looked shocked.
“He told me the house was his.”
I almost smiled.
“Apparently Julian tells women whatever helps him get what he wants.”
She flinched.
Good.
Then Julian stormed into the office.
“You’re contacting lawyers during my family party?”
I stared at him.
“You mean my house party.”
He pointed at Serena.
“Why are you inside?”
She looked at him.
“You used Claire’s house to cover Vale House?”
Julian froze.
And suddenly Serena looked less like his partner in betrayal and more like another person he had lied to.
Rachel’s voice came through the phone.
“There’s more.”
I gripped the desk.
“What?”
“The mortgage proceeds didn’t go into Vale House.”
Julian went pale.
“Rachel,” I said, “where did the money go?”
May you like
She answered.
“An account belonging to Serena Blake.”
