Chapter 6: The House He Promised Two Women
Chloe stared at the escrow document.
“I’ve never seen that house.”
Daniel laughed.
“You sent me listings for months.”
“I sent you one listing after you said we would rent someday.
I never agreed to buy anything.”
Nancy tapped the application.
“The closing is scheduled for Friday.
The down payment includes the home-equity funds and forty thousand dollars from another account.”
Grace looked up.
“What other account?”
Nancy closed the file.
“That information belongs to Daniel’s employer.
Their legal department is waiting at the bank.”
Daniel stepped toward me.
“Jennifer, give me five minutes alone.”
“No.”
“I can fix this.”
“You called me unstable in court.”
“I was frightened.”
“You tried to take Lily.”
“I was protecting my rights as her father.”
“You were protecting your money.”
His voice dropped.
“Withdraw your complaint, and I’ll sign the house over to you.
You can keep everything.”
“Everything already belongs partly to me.”
“I can make the custody fight last for years.”
Grace moved beside me.
“That sounded like a threat.”
“It was a prediction,” Daniel said.
At the bank, Graham Shaw, Daniel’s supervisor, waited in a glass conference room with the company attorney.
A copy of the loan application lay on the table.
Graham did not invite Daniel to sit.
“Why is our notary seal on this document?”
“It was an administrative mistake.”
“Our notary says her stamp disappeared from her locked desk for two days.”
“I didn’t take it.”
Graham slid forward a security photograph.
Daniel stood outside the notary’s office with a key card in his hand.
“That could be anyone,” Daniel said.
“You used your card at 8:43 p.m.”
“I was working late.”
“You also transferred forty thousand dollars from a client holding account.”
Daniel’s chair scraped the floor.
“That money was being returned.”
“To a company you created six weeks ago?”
“It was temporary.”
Graham placed an empty cardboard box beside him.
“Turn over your laptop, company phone, and building pass.”
“You’re firing me based on accusations from my wife?”
“I’m terminating you because the audit shows you moved client funds without authorization.”
Daniel looked at me.
“You did this.”
“No,” I said.
“I opened a folder.
You filled it.”
He leaned across the table.
“If I lose everything, Jennifer, you will not walk away untouched.”
Robert entered behind the company attorney.
“That is enough.”
Daniel stared at his father.
“Whose side are you on?”
“The side that didn’t forge a woman’s signature.”
“I’m your son.”
“And Lily is my granddaughter.”
Daniel removed his building pass and threw it into the box.
“You’ll all regret humiliating me.”
Graham pointed toward the door.
“Your attorney can contact ours.”
Before Daniel left, he faced me.
“You think you know everything because Chloe brought you a recording.”
“I know enough.”
“No, you don’t.” He reached into his briefcase and withdrew a sealed laboratory envelope.
“There’s one truth you haven’t put in your precious folder.”
He dropped it in front of me.
Across the top were the words PATERNITY ANALYSIS.
May you like
Daniel’s mouth curved into a cold smile.
“If I cannot have Lily,” he said, “you can explain why the test says she isn’t mine.”
