Nobody moved.
David Harlan stood outside with the envelope in his hand.
Tessa kept the curtains partly closed.
“Do we let him in?”
Robert looked at me.
“No,” I said.
David rang the bell again.
Then he stepped back from the door.
He wasn't aggressive.
If anything, he looked uncomfortable.
He raised the envelope toward the glass.
Finally, Robert opened the door but kept the security chain fastened.
“Mr. Harlan?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Robert Prescott.”
David nodded.
“I know.”
Robert's expression hardened.
“Why are you here?”
“I need to speak with Laurel.”
I stepped into the hallway.
“You can speak from there.”
David looked past Robert and saw Melissa.
His face changed.
“I didn't know she was here.”
“That seems to be happening a lot.”
He looked down.
“I deserve that.”
He held up the envelope.
“This is important.”
“Leave it.”
“I need to explain what it is.”
“Then explain.”
David swallowed.
“Grant hired me to prepare several documents.”
“The power of attorney?”
“Yes.”
“The business?”
“Yes.”
“The lien?”
David hesitated.
“Yes.”
My stomach tightened.
“Did Grant tell you he owned the house?”
“Yes.”
“Did he tell you I was his wife?”
“Yes.”
“Did he tell you I didn't consent to the lien?”
David looked away.
“He said you were aware of the refinancing.”
“I wasn't.”
“I know that now.”
I stared at him.
“What changed?”
He looked at Melissa.
Then at Robert.
Then back at me.
“Grant stopped paying my fees.”
I almost laughed.
“So you came because he owes you money?”
“Partly.”
“What is the other part?”
David handed the envelope through the opening in the door.
“I found something in his file.”
I took it.
The envelope was thick.
Inside were copies of bank statements, contracts, registration documents, and one handwritten note.
I opened the note first.
The handwriting was Grant's.
I recognized it immediately.
The note was addressed to David.
I read it twice.
Then again.
It said that if the business failed, the house would be sold and the proceeds used to satisfy the debts.
There was no mention of me.
No mention of my consent.
No mention of the fact that I was supposed to know.
I looked up.
“He planned to sell it.”
David nodded.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“As soon as the lender demanded repayment.”
“When did they demand it?”
“Last week.”
My hands tightened around the papers.
“That explains his messages.”
David nodded.
“He wanted you to sign the refinancing documents.”
I shook my head.
“He never showed them to me.”
David looked troubled.
“He told me you refused.”
“I never saw them.”
“I understand that now.”
I opened another document.
It was a sales agreement.
The buyer's name had been blacked out.
I looked at David.
“What is this?”
“A draft.”
“For our house?”
“Yes.”
“When was it prepared?”
“Two weeks ago.”
I felt the room go quiet.
Grant had already been planning the sale before telling me there was a problem.
He hadn't been trying to save our marriage.
He had been preparing an exit from the consequences of his decisions.
I asked, “Who was the buyer?”
David shook his head.
“I can't disclose confidential information without proper legal advice.”
“Then why bring this?”
“Because I realized something was wrong.”
“What?”
“The numbers.”
He pointed to the documents.
“Grant told me the house was worth enough to cover the mortgage and his debts.”
“It isn't.”
“No.”
“Then what was he planning?”
David hesitated.
“He intended to use the sale proceeds to pay Northstar first.”
“Northstar holds the lien.”
“Yes.”
“And after that?”
“There would have been very little left.”
I stared at him.
“Then why sell?”
“Because he had no other way to satisfy the lender.”
Robert stepped forward.
“What about his other debts?”
David shook his head.
“They weren't all secured.”
“So he would lose the house and still owe money.”
“Yes.”
Tessa whispered, “Oh my God.”
I looked down at the documents.
Then I noticed another name.
Mercer Consulting LLC.
“Why is this company in the file?”
David's face changed.
“Where did you see that?”
“Here.”
I showed him.
He took a breath.
“That company was supposed to receive funds from the investment.”
“Grant's company.”
“Yes.”
“Who owned it?”
“Grant.”
“Then why is Melissa listed as registered agent?”
David looked toward Melissa.
“She was supposed to be temporary.”
“She never agreed.”
His expression tightened.
“I wasn't aware of that.”
“You prepared the paperwork.”
“Yes.”
“Did Grant give you her information?”
“Yes.”
“Did he forge her signature?”
David didn't answer immediately.
“I can't say.”
Melissa stepped forward.
“I never signed anything.”
David nodded.
“Then you should speak with an attorney.”
Melissa's eyes filled with anger.
“I intend to.”
I looked at the next page.
There was an account statement.
Mercer Consulting.
Opening balance: $0.
Deposits: $36,400.
Withdrawals: $36,400.
I traced the transactions.
Every deposit came from accounts connected to the investment.
Every withdrawal went somewhere else.
I asked, “Where did this money go?”
David looked at the statement.
“I don't know.”
Melissa stepped closer.
“I do.”
Everyone looked at her.
She pointed to one transfer.
“That's Evan's personal account.”
“Why?”
“He borrowed from the company.”
“Evan?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“I don't know.”
I looked at David.
“Was Grant aware?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Grant authorized the transfer.”
The room became silent.
So the sports bar wasn't simply a failed investment.
Money had moved through several people.
Grant had hidden debt.
Evan had taken money.
The lender had secured the house.
And somewhere in the middle, Grant had built a company to move funds.
I asked David, “How much does Grant actually owe Northstar?”
“Approximately twenty-five thousand secured against the property.”
“And unsecured?”
“More.”
“How much more?”
David looked at me.
“Approximately fifty-eight thousand.”
I closed my eyes.
Grant's one-hundred-thirty-thousand estimate had been frightening.
The documents suggested it might have been incomplete.
Robert asked, “Does Laurel have any responsibility for those debts?”
David answered carefully.
“That depends on which accounts and obligations she signed.”
“I didn't sign anything.”
“Then you need independent counsel immediately.”
I nodded.
For once, nobody was telling me what I should feel.
They were telling me what I needed to know.
I looked at David.
“Why are you helping me?”
He looked exhausted.
“Because I should have asked more questions.”
“What questions?”
“Why Grant needed such complicated financing.”
“Why didn't you?”
“Because he was convincing.”
That answer didn't satisfy me.
But I understood it.
People don't always get fooled because the liar is brilliant.
Sometimes they get fooled because the lie is easier to accept than the truth.
David took another document from the envelope.
“There is one more thing.”
“What?”
He handed it to me.
It was a letter from Northstar.
The deadline for repayment was five days away.
If the debt wasn't paid, foreclosure proceedings could begin.
Five days.
I looked at Robert.
He read the letter.
His face hardened.
Tessa whispered, “We have five days?”
David nodded.
“Unless your attorney negotiates an extension.”
I folded the letter.
Then my phone rang.
Grant.
I answered.
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
“Is David there?”
“Yes.”
Silence.
“Why did you let him come?”
“He brought documents.”
“You shouldn't read those.”
“Why?”
“Because they're not complete.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means David is trying to protect himself.”
“From what?”
“He made mistakes.”
I looked at David.
He shook his head.
Grant continued.
“Come home, Laurel.”
“No.”
“I can fix this.”
“You had months.”
“I know.”
“You had years.”
He started crying.
“I know.”
I looked at the letter.
Five days.
I looked at the company records.
Forty-two thousand invested.
Thirty-six thousand moved through Mercer Consulting.
Thirty-seven thousand from his father.
Twenty-five thousand secured against our home.
One hundred thirty thousand in debts by his own estimate.
And a woman whose identity had apparently been used without her consent.
I said, “I'm not coming home to protect you.”
“I don't want you to protect me.”
“Then what do you want?”
“I want you to believe I never meant to hurt you.”
I swallowed.
“I believe you didn't plan for things to become this bad.”
He went silent.
“But you chose every step.”
He began crying again.
I continued.
“You chose to hide the money.”
Silence.
“You chose to borrow.”
Silence.
“You chose to lie to your father.”
Silence.
“You chose to put the house at risk.”
Nothing.
“And you chose to let me believe I was the problem.”
His voice broke.
“I was ashamed.”
“I know.”
“Can you forgive me?”
I looked at Tessa.
Then Robert.
Then Melissa.
Finally, at the documents spread across the table.
“I don't know.”
He whispered my name.
“I need you to understand something.”
“What?”
“I didn't do all of this for the business.”
My heart stopped.
“What do you mean?”
He breathed shakily.
“There was another reason.”
I stood.
“What reason?”
“I can't tell you over the phone.”
“Tell me now.”
“I need you to come home.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“What reason?”
Silence.
Then he said something that made the room go completely still.
“The money wasn't only used to pay my debts.”
I stared at the phone.
“Then where did it go?”
Grant didn't answer.
He ended the call.
I slowly lowered the phone.
Tessa looked at me.
“What did he say?”
I looked at the pile of documents.
“He said the money wasn't only used to pay his debts.”
Robert's expression tightened.
Melissa whispered, “Then we haven't found the real reason yet.”
I looked again at the transfer statements.
One account.
One name.
One transaction from six months earlier that I had overlooked.
$18,000.
Recipient: Harlan Family Trust.
My blood ran cold.
David saw it.
His face went pale.
“That,” he whispered, “is not supposed to be there.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 9: The Eighteen Thousand Dollars Sent to the Harlan Family Trust Forced David to Admit a Connection He Had Tried to Keep Out of the File
Three Weeks After One Cruel Sentence, My Husband Invited His Entire Family to Dinner and Assumed I Would Quietly Save His Birthday Again
Part 8 of 20
