Chapter 2
I looked at Daniel.
Then at the folder.
Then at Madison sitting on my sofa in my robe, suddenly not so confident.
“What did I supposedly sign?” I asked.
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“Emily, you’re upset.”
My lawyer, Karen Holt, spoke through the phone.
“Daniel, this is Karen Holt. Put the folder on the table.”
He stared at my phone like it had become a weapon.
“This is private.”
Karen’s voice stayed calm.
“Fraud usually feels private to the person committing it.”
Madison’s eyes widened.
“Fraud?”
Daniel snapped, “Shut up.”
That one word told me more than any confession.
Madison was not a partner.
She was another person he had lied to.
I kept one hand on my phone and pointed to the coffee table.
“Put it down.”
Daniel did not move.
I stepped toward him.
He stepped back.
The keys in his hand jingled.
I looked at them.
“Whose keys are those?”
Madison answered before he could stop her.
“The lake house.”
My chest tightened.
“My mother’s lake house?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Madison looked between us.
“She said she signed it over.”
I laughed once.
Quiet.
Cold.
“My mother died leaving that house to me.”
Daniel said quickly, “You told me you didn’t want it.”
“I said I couldn’t go there yet.”
“That’s the same thing.”
“No,” Karen said from the phone. “It is not.”
I reached for the blue folder.
Daniel grabbed my wrist.
Hard.
The same way he used to grab me when he wanted me to stop speaking in front of others.
Only this time, others were listening.
Karen said, “Emily, say out loud what is happening.”
I stared at Daniel.
“My husband is holding my wrist.”
“Tell him to release you.”
“Let go.”
Daniel’s grip tightened for half a second.
Then released.
That half second became evidence.
I picked up the folder.
Inside were documents.
A quitclaim deed.
A marital separation agreement.
A power of attorney.
My name printed neatly.
My signature at the bottom.
But it was not mine.
Not quite.
May you like
The E was wrong.
Daniel always forgot the way I looped the E.
