Chapter 8 - THE NAME ON THE PAPER
Derek didn’t understand.
That was the most satisfying part.
“What are you talking about?”
I let the silence stretch.
Then I said it.
“I control Northstar Capital.”
He stopped breathing.
For several seconds, I heard nothing.
Then he laughed.
It sounded forced.
“That’s cute.”
“I’m not joking.”
“Northstar is an institutional fund.”
“Yes.”
“You work for Bennett Financial.”
“Northstar owns Bennett Financial.”
Silence.
I continued.
“My grandmother founded it.”
“No.”
“She left me fifty-one percent of the voting shares.”
“You’re lying.”
“Ask your CFO.”
Thomas looked at me.
I nodded.
He leaned toward the phone.
“She isn’t lying, Derek.”
Derek’s voice changed instantly.
“Thomas?”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“You were told to delete company records this afternoon.”
“That was privileged company business.”
“No,” Thomas replied.
“It was evidence.”
Derek began shouting.
Maya muted the call.
The sudden quiet felt luxurious.
“What happens now?” I asked.
Maya slid a document toward me.
“We preserve everything.”
“We notify Northstar’s board.”
“We alert the independent directors.”
“And your marriage?”
I looked down at yesterday’s wedding photograph on my phone.
Derek smiling.
Me smiling.
Two people standing beneath flowers.
Only one of us had known it was a transaction.
“Annulment if possible.”
“Divorce if necessary.”
“No settlement that hides what happened.”
Maya nodded.
Then her assistant entered.
“There are people downstairs.”
“Who?”
“Mr. Wexler and his mother.”
Of course there were.
“They want to see Chloe.”
“No.”
The assistant hesitated.
“They brought several relatives.”
Maya looked at me.
“Security can remove them.”
I stood.
“No.”
She studied me.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m done running from their audience.”
We moved into the building’s conference suite.
Derek stood on the other side of the glass doors.
Brenda beside him.
Six relatives behind them.
Yesterday, they had been my wedding guests.
Today, they looked like a delegation sent to recover stolen property.
Except the property was me.
Security opened the doors.
Derek entered first.
His eyes found mine.
“You lied to me.”
I almost laughed.
“That’s your opening argument?”
“You hid Northstar.”
“I kept my finances private.”
“We were getting married.”
“You forged my signature before breakfast.”
Brenda stepped forward.
“This can still be handled inside the family.”
I looked at her.
“You mean the family that threw garbage in my face?”
Her cheeks colored.
“That was a misunderstanding.”
“Was Lauren a misunderstanding too?”
Several relatives exchanged glances.
Derek turned toward his mother.
“Who told her?”
Patricia stepped through the doors behind them.
“I did.”
Every head turned.
Patricia was carrying a brown envelope.
She walked directly toward me.
“I should have done this six years ago.”
She placed it in my hands.
Inside were photographs.
Bank statements.
Emails.
And one handwritten note from Lauren.
But the final page was not about Lauren.
It was about me.
May you like
At the top, Brenda had written three words.
CHLOE COMPLIANCE PLAN.
