Chapter 9: The Document He Never Sent
Amanda sent the message from Diane's office, sitting at the conference table with Diane watching.
*Ryan.
You told me you'd send me a copy of the joint financial disclosure I signed before the wedding.
Please send it now.*
Diane had suggested the wording.
Neutral.
No accusation.
Just a request with a paper trail behind it.
They waited.
Fourteen minutes passed.
Then Ryan replied.
*That document is part of the venue file.
I'll have to request it from them.
It may take a few days.*
Diane read it over Amanda's shoulder.
"He's stalling," Sophie said.
"Yes," Diane said.
"Which tells us something." She straightened up.
"I'm going to contact the venue directly.
If the document exists in their files, we'll have it by end of day.
If it doesn't—" She left the sentence where it was.
They left Diane's office at noon.
Amanda drove.
Sophie sat in the passenger seat and didn't speak for the first ten minutes, which was unusual enough that Amanda glanced over at her twice.
"Say what you're thinking," Amanda said.
"I'm thinking about the document," Sophie said.
"If it wasn't a venue form — what was it?"
"I don't know yet."
"Could it have been the marriage license?"
Amanda kept her eyes on the road.
"Diane thinks it's possible.
If he had me sign something under a false description, it could have been used to file for the license without my knowledge."
Sophie turned to look at her.
"Can he do that?"
"Apparently some people try." Amanda's voice was steady.
"It doesn't always work.
There are checks.
But Diane said it's not unheard of."
"So you might have already been — on paper—"
"We don't know yet."
Sophie faced forward again.
"I want to call Melissa," she said.
Amanda looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because she should know.
If there's a document, if this is bigger than we thought — she has a son with him.
She has more at stake than we do."
Amanda thought about that for a moment.
"After we hear from Diane," she said.
"Let's know what we have first."
Diane called at three forty-seven.
"The venue has no record of a joint financial disclosure form," she said.
"It's not in their event file.
It's not a document they use."
Amanda pulled the car to the side of the road.
"What does that mean?"
"It means whatever Ryan had you sign, it wasn't a venue document." Diane's voice was careful and precise.
"I've contacted the county clerk's office.
There is a marriage license application on file.
It was submitted eleven days ago." A pause.
"Both names are on it.
Both signatures."
Sophie was watching her mother's face.
Amanda's hand was very still on the steering wheel.
"He forged my signature," she said.
"I can't confirm that yet.
It's possible your signature was obtained through misrepresentation — which is a different legal category but equally serious." Diane paused.
"Amanda.
This is no longer just a family matter.
This is fraud.
Potentially identity fraud.
I need you to come back to my office tomorrow morning with any documents you signed in the last sixty days."
"I'll be there," Amanda said.
She ended the call.
Sophie didn't ask what Diane had said.
She had heard enough.
"Mom."
"I know."
"He used you," Sophie said.
"He used you to get the money and he forged — or tricked — your signature to do it."
"Yes."
"Are you okay?"
Amanda sat with that question.
Outside, the afternoon traffic moved past them on the road.
Ordinary cars going ordinary places.
People who had not spent the day in a lawyer's office learning the shape of what had been done to them.
"I'm angry," Amanda said.
"I'm very angry." She looked at Sophie.
"But I'm not broken.
There's a difference."
Sophie nodded.
"Can we call Melissa now?" she asked.
Amanda reached for her phone.
Melissa answered on the second ring.
"I was hoping you'd call," she said.
"I've been sitting here trying to decide if I should reach out."
"There's something you need to know," Amanda said.
"It's about a document.
And it's worse than yesterday."
May you like
A beat of silence.
"Tell me," Melissa said.
