Chapter 2: The Name Beneath My Signature
The screen showed a home equity line for $240,000.
Nearly all of it was gone.
“That can’t be right,” I whispered.
“Rebecca told me the house was almost paid off.”
Howard opened another page.
“There’s more.
Your credit cards carry ninety-four thousand dollars in debt.”
My hands began shaking.
“Where did the money go?”
“Hotels, private clubs, designer stores—and repeated transfers to a company called Vale Lifestyle Consulting.”
“Tessa’s last name is Vale.”
Howard looked at me.
“Then you need a lawyer.”
He pulled up the loan application.
My name appeared at the bottom, but the signature wasn’t mine.
“I never signed that.”
Before Howard could answer, my phone rang.
Rebecca.
“Where are you?” she demanded.
“At Howard’s office.”
She went silent.
“How did you know?” I asked.
“Daniel, leave now.
You don’t understand what you’re looking at.”
“Did you sign my name?”
“I did what was necessary for this family.”
“For our family—or for you and Tessa?”
Rebecca’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“Ask Howard who approved the documents.”
The call ended.
Howard’s face had lost all color.
He slowly opened the notarization page and pointed to the witness’s name.
It wasn’t Tessa’s.
It was someone I had trusted for years.
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Daniel thought Rebecca was hiding debt, but the name on that document exposed a far deeper betrayal.
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