Chapter 3: The Signature That Wasn’t Hers
I tore open the envelope.
Malik reached for it again, but the manager stepped between us.
“Mr.
Carter, stand back,” he said.
“You’ve caused enough disruption.”
Malik pointed at me.
“Naomi, that letter belongs to my family.”
“I was supposed to become your family today.”
I unfolded the first page.
The heading read: **Notice of Suspected Forgery and Financial Exploitation.**
My hands began to shake.
“What is this, Harold?”
“A copy of what Malik brought me three weeks ago,” she said.
“He told me it was an authorization for the florist.”
Malik gave a sharp laugh.
“She knew exactly what she signed.”
Harold moved closer to me.
“He covered the top of every page with yellow notes.
He showed me where to sign and said you would lose the wedding date if I delayed.”
I looked at the second page.
It granted Malik control over Harold’s bank accounts, investments, and home.
“This is a power of attorney.”
“It’s temporary,” Malik said.
“Mom asked me to manage things.”
“I did not,” Harold replied.
“You forget everything lately.”
“I remember you calling me an embarrassment five minutes ago.”
Several guests lowered their phones.
Malik’s uncle stepped away from him, leaving an empty space beside the groom.
I turned another page and found a property transfer bearing Harold’s name.
“You tried to put her house into a company called MC Holdings.”
“That company protects family assets.”
“Who owns it?”
Malik’s lips pressed together.
The manager lifted his phone.
“Public business records list Malik Carter as the sole owner.”
Malik swung toward him.
“Stay out of this.”
“You brought it into my venue.”
Harold touched the bottom of the document.
“That isn’t my signature.
The H is wrong.
I have signed my name the same way for fifty-two years.”
Malik leaned close to me.
“Give me the papers, Naomi.
We can discuss this after the ceremony.”
“There won’t be a ceremony until you explain everything.”
His face changed.
“You’ll humiliate me in front of all these people because an old woman got confused?”
Harold flinched.
I stepped between them.
“Don’t speak to her that way again.”
Malik stared at me as if I had become a stranger.
“You have no idea what she’s done to me.”
“Then tell me.”
“She promised to pay for this wedding.
She promised me the house.
Now she’s trying to ruin my life because she needs attention.”
Harold pulled a smaller page from the envelope.
“I promised to help with the wedding,” she said.
“I never promised to surrender everything I own.”
The manager glanced at the page.
“This is the original payment agreement.
It authorized one deposit of one hundred thousand dollars—not a million.”
I looked at Malik.
“Where did the other nine hundred thousand come from?”
He didn’t answer.
A man in a dark blue suit moved out from behind the groomsmen.
It was Wesley, Malik’s best man.
“Malik,” Wesley said quietly, “tell her about the night you asked me to witness Harold’s signature.”
Malik’s shoulders stiffened.
“You were drinking.
You don’t remember what happened.”
“I remember refusing.”
“Then keep refusing and walk away.”
Wesley removed his phone from his pocket.
“I also remember turning on the recorder after you told me Naomi would be next.”
My throat tightened.
“Next for what?”
May you like
Wesley looked directly at me.
“For a signature on a loan secured against your house.”
