Chapter 4
Martin Shaw sat at my dining table while Julian refused to leave the room.
“You have five minutes,” Julian snapped.
Martin ignored him.
He handed me a stack of inspection reports.
My name appeared repeatedly.
CLAIRE HALE — MANAGING MEMBER.
I looked up.
“I have never worked for Vale House.”
Martin nodded.
“That’s why I’m here.”
Julian interrupted.
“She was technically listed for tax purposes.”
I stared at him.
“You made me an owner?”
“On paper.”
“Without telling me?”
Eleanor sighed.
“Claire, wealthy families structure assets this way all the time.”
“My family is not wealthy.”
“Your grandmother left you property.”
“My grandmother left me one house.”
Martin pointed to another document.
“There are several companies registered using that address.”
I looked at Julian.
“How many?”
He didn’t answer.
Rachel, still on speaker, said, “I’m finding seven.”
Seven.
My home had been used as the business address for companies I never knew existed.
Martin continued.
“I reported structural problems eleven months ago.”
“What happened?”
“Julian asked me to revise my findings.”
Julian snapped, “That’s false.”
Martin opened an email.
Julian’s name.
His account.
His words.
Can we describe the railing issue as cosmetic until refinancing closes?
My stomach turned.
“And when you refused?”
“They fired me.”
Serena sat silently across from us.
She looked shaken.
I wanted no alliance with the woman who had kissed my husband in my bedroom.
But right now, she also possessed evidence.
“Send Rachel the email you mentioned.”
Serena nodded.
Julian slammed his hand on the table.
“No.”
Everyone froze.
He pointed at Serena.
“You signed a nondisclosure agreement.”
She stared at him.
“For marketing work.”
“You disclose company documents, I sue you.”
Rachel’s voice cut through.
“If the documents involve potential fraud or concealment of safety risks, threats of litigation may create additional problems for you, Julian.”
He glared at my phone.
“Who the hell is this woman?”
“My divorce attorney.”
His jaw tightened.
Eleanor whispered something to him.
I couldn’t hear it.
Then Martin pulled out another folder.
“This is why I came tonight.”
Inside were photographs of the damaged balcony.
Then a letter from the city building department.
Vale House had been ordered to complete emergency repairs.
The order was signed eight months earlier.
Below the acknowledgment line was my signature.
Forged again.
“I could be blamed for this.”
Martin nodded.
“That appears to be the intention.”
Julian stood.
“That’s enough.”
I looked at him.
“No. Sit down.”
For four years, Julian had interrupted me whenever uncomfortable truths appeared.
Not tonight.
He actually sat.
I turned to Martin.
“Why come now?”
He looked toward Serena.
“Because she contacted me this afternoon.”
I stared at her.
“You knew this before you came here?”
She swallowed.
“Not all of it.”
Julian laughed bitterly.
“So this was planned.”
Serena shook her head.
“I came because you told me tonight was when you were finally leaving Claire.”
The room became silent.
I stared at Julian.
“You invited your mistress into my home because you planned to leave me tonight?”
He said nothing.
Serena continued.
“But before I came, I found financial files Julian had left in our shared cloud folder.”
Our shared cloud folder.
Another little knife.
“What files?”
“Insurance policies.”
I looked at her.
“Whose?”
She turned her phone toward me.
Mine.
A two-million-dollar life insurance policy had been opened six months earlier.
Beneficiary:
Julian Hale.
May you like
I stared at my husband.
And suddenly forged mortgage documents were no longer the most frightening thing he had hidden.
