Chapter 5
“That’s wonderful.”
He reached for my hand.
“Sweetheart, I need a favor.”
Of course he did.
“The investors are getting impatient. Could you bring those company guarantees tomorrow?”
I looked at him.
He was injured, exhausted, and still wearing a hospital identification bracelet.
Yet his first concern was obtaining my signature.
“Is that really necessary right now?”
“Absolutely. We can’t afford to delay the investment round.”
He squeezed my hand.
“Please, Jacqueline. I need you.”
I leaned forward and kissed his forehead.
“Of course, sweetheart. You can count on me.”
He looked relieved.
But I wasn’t going home to collect the documents.
I was going to my attorney.
That afternoon, I met with Rebecca Shaw, a commercial litigation attorney who had been my friend for more than a decade.
I placed everything on her desk.
The accident recording.
The proposed guarantees.
The corporate documents.
The property records.
Rebecca listened without interrupting.
When I finished, she leaned back in her chair.
“Jacqueline, you cannot sign anything.”
“I know.”
“And you need to preserve every document exactly as you received it.”
“I already have.”
She studied me.
“Have you spoken to your husband about the recording?”
“No.”
“Good. Don’t confront him until we understand the transactions.”
Rebecca arranged for an independent forensic accountant to review the available financial records and advised me on protecting my accounts and preserving evidence.
She also explained something I had been trying not to think about.
“If your signature has already been used on documents you never approved, this could go beyond a divorce or civil property dispute.”
I nodded.
I had spent my career helping people untangle financial deception.
I knew what forgery allegations could mean.
I simply hadn’t expected to investigate my own husband.
That evening, Gavin called again.
His voice was unusually serious.
“Jacqueline, I found another recording.”
My stomach tightened.
“From the accident?”
“No. A voice message Alistair sent to his mother’s business account. It was retained among the company records Rebecca’s forensic accountant obtained through the authorized review.”
“What’s on it?”
“You need to hear it.”
He forwarded the file.
I put on my headphones.
Martha’s voice came first.
“Once Jacqueline signs everything, we won’t need her anymore.”
Then Alistair.
“What about the money in her personal account?”
George answered.
“That can be dealt with after the guarantees are executed.”
I stopped breathing.
Martha spoke again.
“Just make sure she doesn’t start asking questions about the old paperwork. We can’t have her discovering that now.”
There was a brief silence.
Then Alistair said something I couldn’t understand.
The audio was muffled.
I replayed it.
Again.
And again.
May you like
Finally, I caught the last few words.
“She still believes we lost everything.”
