Chapter 3 - Maren Comes HomeMaren arrived before midnight.
She entered the mansion still carrying her travel bag.
Leonard met her in the foyer.
“Where is Finn?”
“Guest room.”
“Garrett?”
“East wing.”
Maren stared.
“You let him stay?”
“Only because his attorney advised him not to leave until living arrangements were documented.”
Maren closed her eyes.
“This is insane.”
“No.”
Leonard looked toward the staircase.
“What happened to Finn is insane.”
Maren found her son awake.
Finn sat against the headboard clutching one of Evelyn’s old quilts.
When Maren entered, his face changed.
“Mom.”
She rushed toward him.
Finn held her tightly.
Maren looked at his cheek.
Her eyes filled.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
“I broke Grandma Evelyn’s statue.”
“I don’t care about the statue.”
Finn blinked.
“It was expensive.”
“I don’t care.”
“He said you would.”
Maren’s face froze.
“Garrett said that?”
Finn nodded.
“He said you’re tired of me breaking things.”
Maren looked toward Leonard.
Leonard said nothing.
This was hers to hear.
Maren touched Finn’s face gently.
“I am not tired of you.”
Finn’s lower lip trembled.
“Garrett says you are.”
Maren began crying.
Finn hugged her again.
For twenty minutes she listened.
The crate.
The wall punishments.
The phone confiscations.
The warnings about Leonard.
The accusations that Finn was spoiled.
Then Finn said:
“He told me if Grandpa loses the house, we can finally be a real family.”
Maren slowly looked up.
“What?”
“He said Grandpa controls everything because he has money.”
Maren stood.
Leonard followed her into the hall.
“What has Garrett been telling you?” he asked.
Maren rubbed her face.
“Dad…”
“What?”
“We’ve argued about money.”
“How much?”
“A lot.”
“About the mansion?”
“About everything.”
She lowered her voice.
“He thinks the prenup was unfair.”
Leonard stared.
“What prenup?”
“My prenup with Garrett.”
“I know what a prenup is.”
Maren was in no mood to laugh.
“He says because most of my assets are protected, he has no security.”
“He knew that when he married you.”
“I know.”
“What does that have to do with my trust?”
Maren hesitated.
Leonard saw it.
“What did you sign?”
Her eyes moved away.
“Maren.”
“A power of attorney.”
Leonard’s face hardened.
“For what?”
“My design firm.”
Maren owned a boutique commercial architecture firm worth several million dollars.
“I was traveling constantly. Garrett said he could help with vendor approvals and banking.”
“When?”
“Eight months ago.”
“Limited?”
“Yes.”
“Have you verified that?”
She looked offended.
“Of course.”
Then the offense faded.
“No.”
Leonard whispered:
“Call your bank.”
Maren did.
The bank’s fraud department transferred her twice.
Then a manager came on.
Maren put the phone on speaker.
“Yes, Ms. Rowan, your authorized agent has initiated several transactions.”
“How many?”
“Four significant ones during the past six months.”
Maren’s face drained.
“How significant?”
The manager hesitated.
“Approximately one-point-six million dollars in total transfers and pledged collateral.”
Maren grabbed the edge of the console table.
“To who?”
“Primarily an entity called Whitmore Development Holdings.”
Garrett.
Maren whispered:
“That’s his company.”
Leonard closed his eyes.
Garrett’s development company had supposedly been dormant.
The manager continued.
“There is also a pending line-of-credit application.”
“How much?”
“Two-point-four million.”
“Secured by what?”
The answer came carefully.
“Documentation submitted with the application references both your business assets and a contingent guaranty related to real property held by the Rowan Family Trust.”
Leonard’s eyes opened.
Maren looked at him.
“No.”
The manager said:
“The guarantee has not been accepted. Our legal department requested further verification.”
“Who signed it?”
“Leonard Rowan.”
The foyer became silent.
Leonard’s voice was almost calm.
“I did not sign anything.”
Maren’s hand began shaking.
From the staircase came another voice.
Garrett.
“Because you never would.”
They turned.
Garrett stood halfway down the stairs.
Maren stared at her husband.
“What did you do?”
Garrett descended slowly.
“I kept your company alive.”
“My company was not dying.”
“It would have been after the Westlake project collapsed.”
“That project cost us four hundred thousand.”
“It was going to trigger other problems.”
“What other problems?”
Garrett looked at Leonard.
“Problems your father would never understand because he has never had to build anything without a safety net.”
Leonard almost laughed.
“I built the safety net.”
Garrett’s eyes hardened.
“Exactly.”
Maren whispered:
“You moved one-point-six million dollars.”
“I invested it.”
“Without telling me.”
“With authority you gave me.”
“For vendor operations!”
Garrett reached the bottom stair.
“You never read the document.”
Maren went still.
Garrett’s expression told Leonard everything.
The power of attorney was broader than Maren remembered.
Not necessarily forged.
Possibly manipulated.
Leonard said:
“And my signature?”
Garrett looked at him.
“I didn’t sign your name.”
“Then who did?”
Silence.
Maren stepped closer.
“Garrett.”
“I submitted a draft guarantee.”
“With Dad’s signature?”
“A digital copy.”
Leonard stared.
“That is called using my signature without permission.”
Garrett’s composure cracked.
“I was going to replace the loan before closing.”
Maren’s face changed.
Not confusion anymore.
Recognition.
She had heard versions of this before.
“Replace it with what?”
Garrett said nothing.
“Garrett.”
He looked toward the study.
Leonard followed his gaze.
Then understood.
“You were trying to borrow against my house to pay back money you took from Maren.”
Garrett’s jaw tightened.
Leonard continued:
“And then what?”
No answer.
Alicia had once taught Leonard something useful.
When people stopped denying the structure and only disputed the details, you were usually close.
Maren whispered:
“Where is the money?”
Garrett finally looked at her.
“Invested.”
“In what?”
He hesitated.
Then said:
“A land deal.”
Leonard felt something cold settle inside him.
“Where?”
“Texas.”
“How much?”
Garrett did not answer.
Maren grabbed his sleeve.
“How much?”
May you like
Garrett looked at his wife.
“All of it.”
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