Chapter 4 - Naomi’s CompanyNaomi lived twenty minutes away in a luxury apartment Elise had helped her rent after college.
Elise had not visited in six months.
When Naomi opened the door, her face was swollen from crying.
Elise walked inside without embracing her.
Grace remained downstairs in the car.
Naomi crossed her arms tightly over her chest.
“I’m sorry.”
Elise ignored the apology.
“What is N.W. Creative Consulting?”
Naomi’s eyes shifted away.
“Trevor told me it was a consulting company.”
“You own it?”
“Technically.”
Elise stared.
“What does technically mean?”
“He formed it for me.”
“When?”
“Seven months ago.”
Seven months.
Elise felt sick.
“And when did you start sleeping with my husband?”
Naomi closed her eyes.
“Three months ago.”
“So the company came first.”
“Yes.”
“Explain.”
Naomi sat down.
Trevor had approached her after a family dinner.
He told her Elise had been using Naomi’s trust structure to keep control of money that rightfully belonged to her.
“That’s false,” Elise said.
“I know that now.”
“You could have asked me.”
“I should have.”
“You could have called Grace.”
“I should have.”
“But instead you trusted Trevor.”
Naomi looked down.
“He said you would deny everything.”
Elise laughed bitterly.
“And apparently that was enough.”
“No.”
“Then what was enough?”
Naomi looked at her sister.
“You always had everything.”
Elise froze.
There it was.
Not Trevor.
Not the money.
Something older.
“You were Mom’s favorite,” Naomi said.
“That isn’t true.”
“She trained you to run the company.”
“Because I wanted to work there.”
“She gave you control.”
“She gave you ownership because—”
“Because she trusted you.”
Naomi’s voice cracked.
“She put my shares in a trust like I was a child.”
“You were eighteen.”
“I’m twenty-one now and still asking trustees for distributions.”
“You get more money every year than most people earn in ten.”
“That’s not the point.”
“No.”
Elise nodded slowly.
“The point is that you hated me.”
“I didn’t hate you.”
“You hated me enough to sleep with my husband.”
Naomi started crying again.
Elise’s voice hardened.
“Don’t.”
Naomi wiped her face.
“Trevor knew how angry I was.”
“And used it.”
“Yes.”
“He told you the company owed you money?”
“He said there were consulting fees Mom intended to allocate to me before she died.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I know.”
“What did you sign?”
Naomi stood.
She retrieved a laptop.
Minutes later, she opened a folder.
Articles of organization.
Bank documents.
Consulting agreements.
Invoices.
Elise leaned closer.
The invoices were issued by N.W. Creative Consulting to Ward & Finch.
Naomi’s digital signature appeared on each.
“Did you perform this work?”
“No.”
“Did you create these invoices?”
“No.”
“Did you receive the money?”
Naomi hesitated.
“Yes.”
Elise felt her stomach tighten.
“How much?”
“Almost two million dollars.”
Elise stared at her.
“Where is it?”
“Trevor moved most of it.”
“To where?”
“He said he was investing it.”
Naomi opened her bank records.
Payments from Ward & Finch entered Naomi’s business account.
Within days, the money left.
Several transfers went to a company called Hale Meridian Partners.
Elise read the name.
“Hale?”
Naomi nodded.
“Trevor’s last name.”
“You knew?”
“He said it was an investment vehicle.”
“You transferred company money to my husband’s private company?”
“He said it was my money.”
Elise backed away from the table.
Naomi’s voice shook.
“Please understand. At first, I believed him.”
“At first?”
Naomi stared at the floor.
“What happened later?”
“He started asking me to sign things without showing me everything.”
“And you did?”
“Some.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
Elise closed her eyes.
Naomi whispered, “Then we started…”
“Don’t.”
Naomi stopped.
Elise looked at her sister again.
“Why were you in my bedroom today?”
Naomi said nothing.
“Was it only because you were sleeping with him?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Elise stepped closer.
“What were you looking for?”
Naomi’s face collapsed.
“The safe.”
Elise felt the final piece slide into place.
“You took the envelope.”
“Trevor told me it proved Mom had cheated me.”
“Where is it?”
“I gave it to him.”
Elise stared at her sister.
“When?”
“This morning.”
A phone vibrated on the table.
Naomi glanced at it.
Trevor.
A message appeared.
Do not tell Elise anything else.
Then another.
If she finds out what you signed, you’ll go down with me.
Elise looked at Naomi.
May you like
And for the first time since opening the wardrobe, Naomi no longer looked like only the woman who had betrayed her.
She looked terrified of the man they had both trusted.
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