Chapter 7: The Woman Lauren Never Expected
Claire Mason entered the ballroom holding a worn blue folder.
Lauren gripped the back of a chair.
“She is lying before she even opens her mouth.”
Claire looked at Margaret.
“Was there an engagement, a loan and a story about you being unable to live alone?”
Margaret nodded.
Claire placed the folder on the table.
“Then she hasn’t changed.”
Daniel faced Lauren.
“You knew her family?”
“I dated Claire’s brother for six months.
It ended badly.”
Claire opened the folder.
“It ended when my mother found a credit application in her name.”
Victoria stepped forward.
“Was Lauren charged?”
“No.
We lacked proof.”
“Then this proves nothing.”
Claire removed a printed email.
“This was sent from Lauren’s old account.”
Sophie read it aloud.
“Once his mother looks confused in public, he’ll let me handle her money.”
The words were nearly identical to Lauren’s message about Margaret.
Lauren snatched the page and tore it in half.
Claire did not flinch.
“The original is stored with my solicitor.”
A financial investigator named Dana Holt arrived from the bank.
She set a sealed evidence pouch beside Sophie’s phone.
“Who is Margaret Mercer?”
“I am.”
“We have frozen the loan and every account connected to it.”
Lauren folded her arms.
“You have no right to hold my accounts.”
Dana looked at her.
“The application directed the funds to a company registered in your name.”
Victoria pointed at Owen.
“He created those papers.”
Owen shook his head.
“Lauren gave the instructions.
Victoria witnessed the false signature.”
“You were paid,” Lauren snapped.
“And I have already returned the payment.”
Dana turned to Margaret.
“Did you sign any document in front of Victoria?”
“No.”
“Did you give Lauren permission to use your identification?”
“No.”
Lauren moved beside Margaret and lowered her voice.
“Withdraw your complaint, and I’ll repay every dollar.”
“There was no money released.”
“I’ll pay for the embarrassment, then.”
“You cannot buy back my name.”
Lauren’s eyes narrowed.
“People will hear that you forgot your son’s birthday.
They’ll hear that you fell.
I can still make them doubt you.”
Margaret stepped closer.
“You mistook age for weakness.
You mistook kindness for confusion.
And you mistook my love for Daniel as permission to frighten me.”
“I can make your life miserable.”
“You already tried.”
Daniel took Margaret’s hand.
Lauren pointed at him.
“You’ll regret choosing her over me.”
“She never asked me to choose.”
Victoria pulled Richard aside.
“Call our solicitor.
Fix this.”
Richard removed his wedding band and set it on the table.
“My solicitor will contact you about our separation.”
Victoria’s mouth fell open.
“You would end thirty-four years over one mistake?”
“One mistake did not last thirty-four years.”
“You’ll lose the house.”
“I would rather lose a house than keep living with what happened inside it.”
Victoria looked to Lauren, but Lauren was watching Dana seal the laptop inside an evidence case.
Dana turned toward the doors.
“Lauren Hale and Victoria Hale, you need to remain available for formal interviews.”
Lauren laughed.
“Interviews are not consequences.”
“No,” Dana said.
“The evidence creates those.”
Three weeks later, Margaret sat beside Daniel in a small hearing room.
Lauren and Victoria entered with their solicitor.
Lauren leaned across the aisle.
“This is your last chance,” she whispered.
“Tell them you were confused.”
Margaret met her eyes.
“I remember every word.”
Dana entered carrying a laboratory report and handed it to the legal clerk.
“The signature examination is complete,” she said.
Lauren’s solicitor read the first page, then slowly closed his folder.
Lauren grabbed his sleeve.
“What does it say?”
He would not look at her.
Dana faced Margaret.
May you like
“It says the signature was copied.
And the fingerprint on the original application belongs to Lauren.”
