He swallowed.
“Mom handled our investments.”
“I did no such thing!” Patricia shouted.
Victor placed a signature authorization form beside the bank records.
My signature appeared at the bottom.
It was almost perfect.
Almost.
“I never signed that.”
“We know,” Samuel said. “The form was submitted from an IP address linked to Mr. Carter’s office.”
Patricia turned toward her son.
“What did you do?”
Ethan’s composure began to crack.
“I was fixing a temporary cash problem.”
“With my money?”
“Our money,” he snapped. “We’re married.”
Grandma’s voice cut across the room.
“No. You married her. You did not purchase her.”
Ethan finally admitted that Carter Hospitality Holdings, his family’s company, was collapsing under enormous debt.
Grandma placed another envelope on the table.
“Carter Hospitality is insolvent,” she said. “Twenty-three million dollars in debt, three pending lawsuits, and a federal inquiry into falsified occupancy reports.”
Patricia sank into a chair.
Ethan’s face twisted with anger.
“You had no right to investigate us.”
“I had every right after you stole from my granddaughter.”
Patricia looked at me.
“Madison, I didn’t know.”
I believed her.
That surprised me almost as much as the theft itself.
Ethan had forged my signature and created an account in his mother’s name so that Patricia would take the blame if the scheme was discovered.
He had constructed his escape plan around two women who trusted him.
Samuel handed Ethan a notice of immediate legal action.
His accounts had been frozen.
Investigators were waiting outside.
When officers escorted him away for questioning, he looked back at me.
“Maddie, don’t let them do this. I’m your husband.”
I met his eyes.
“You stopped being my husband when you decided I was an asset.”
Patricia remained in the foyer, suddenly looking much smaller without Ethan beside her.
“I was cruel to you,” she said. “I thought you were weak.”
“You thought kindness was weakness.”
Samuel questioned her about shell companies and payments made to a business called Lakefront Advisory.
At the mention of the name, Patricia’s expression changed.
“What is Lakefront Advisory?” I asked.
“A consulting company.”
“Owned by whom?”
She hesitated.
“Richard Vale.”
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