Chapter 2: The Name They Never Mentioned
Rachel grabbed my arm.
"Emily.
That's your signature."
"No," I said.
"It isn't."
She looked at me.
Then at the screen.
Then back at me.
"It looks exactly like yours."
"I know."
My hands had stopped shaking.
Something colder had replaced the fear.
I typed back to Richard.
*When was this signed?*
His reply came in under a minute.
*Three days before the wedding.
Daniel had it prepared by a private attorney.
If you had signed it voluntarily, every asset you brought into the marriage transfers to him upon separation.*
I stared at that word.
Voluntarily.
Rachel read it over my shoulder.
Her voice dropped.
"Emily.
You never signed this."
"No."
"Then someone forged your name."
I didn't answer.
Because I was already thinking about the afternoon two weeks before the wedding when Daniel had handed me a stack of papers and said, *just some standard insurance forms, nothing important, sign at the bottom.*
I had trusted him.
I had signed without reading.
Rachel touched my shoulder.
"We need a lawyer.
Tonight."
My phone lit up again.
Richard.
*There is one more thing.
You are not the first.*
The room went very quiet.
*Daniel was married before.
May you like
Her name was Claire.
She never saw the document either — until it was too late.*
