Chapter 6 - They Put Lily’s Name on the Money
Rachel acted immediately.
By evening, she had filed for temporary financial restraints.
Daniel could not transfer marital property without court approval.
Jennifer sat across from her attorneys as Marcus explained the significance of the trust.
“They may be trying to make it look like money was always being preserved for Lily.”
Jennifer stared at the document.
“They are using my daughter as cover.”
“It appears that way.”
Jennifer felt something harden inside her.
The affair had wounded her.
This enraged her.
Daniel had treated Lily as a symbol at the baptism party.
Now he was using her name in paperwork that could conceal stolen money.
“What happens next?”
“We ask the judge for complete disclosure.”
“And if he lies?”
Marcus’s expression remained calm.
“Then he makes our job easier.”
The first temporary hearing took place three days later.
Daniel arrived with a lawyer Jennifer had never met.
He looked polished.
Rested.
Controlled.
As though the ballroom had never happened.
He avoided Jennifer’s eyes.
His attorney argued that Jennifer was emotional following childbirth and had misinterpreted ordinary business transactions.
Rachel did not react.
She placed the Westbridge trust transfer in front of the judge.
Then she placed the timestamp beside it.
Filed twenty-three minutes after Daniel had been served with divorce papers.
The judge looked at Daniel’s attorney.
“Counsel?”
Daniel’s lawyer whispered something to him.
Daniel’s face tightened.
The judge froze the Westbridge property.
She also ordered both parties to preserve all financial records.
Jennifer felt the first small sense of victory she had experienced in months.
It lasted less than an hour.
Outside the courthouse, Robert waited beside a black sedan.
He approached Jennifer.
“I need to talk to you.”
She hesitated.
Then nodded.
Robert looked older than he had at the baptism.
“I had our company accountants review Daniel’s division.”
Jennifer waited.
Robert swallowed.
“We are missing much more than six hundred thousand.”
“How much?”
“At least two point three million dollars.”
Jennifer stopped breathing for a moment.
Robert looked toward the courthouse.
“And there is something worse.”
Jennifer thought of Lily’s trust.
“What?”
“Daniel had authorization on several family accounts because I trusted him.”
Robert’s eyes filled with shame.
“He used my electronic signature.”
“For what?”
Robert handed her a copy of a loan agreement.
Jennifer read the borrower’s name.
Westbridge Advisory LLC.
The guarantor was Carter Development.
The loan amount was $1.5 million.
Her hands went cold.
Robert continued.
“If the loan defaults, my company is responsible.”
Jennifer looked up.
“Did you approve it?”
“No.”
That meant forged authorization.
Potential bank fraud.
Potential criminal charges.
Then Robert said the sentence Jennifer had not expected.
“Patricia witnessed the signature.”
Jennifer stared at him.
Daniel’s mother had not merely known about the hidden company.
Her name was on the loan.
And suddenly Jennifer understood why Patricia had spent the party looking frightened rather than angry.
May you like
She had not been afraid for Daniel’s marriage.
She had been afraid the folder might expose her too.
