Chapter 5 - The Apartment They Bought Behind Her BackClaire drove past the condominium building that afternoon.
She didn’t go inside.
She simply parked across the street and stared.
Forty-two floors of glass overlooking Lake Michigan.
Nathan hated downtown traffic.
Diane claimed she preferred suburban homes.
Yet together they had bought this.
Claire photographed the entrance.
Then called the trust attorney.
Peter Walsh had handled Thomas Lawson’s estate.
He sounded surprised to hear from her.
“Claire. It’s been a while.”
“Did Mom sell the cabin?”
Silence.
A professional silence.
“Yes.”
“And nobody was required to tell me?”
“You were sent notice.”
“I never received anything.”
Peter paused.
“The notice was signed electronically.”
Claire’s pulse changed.
“By me?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t sign it.”
Another pause.
“Claire.”
“I never signed anything approving a sale.”
“Your mother represented that you had.”
“Show me.”
Peter emailed the document.
Claire opened it in her car.
Her name.
Her address.
Her electronic signature.
Date: October 3.
Claire remembered October 3 clearly.
Sophie had pneumonia.
Claire spent the entire day between urgent care and home.
Nathan handled groceries.
Medication.
Dinner.
She had barely opened her laptop.
At 8:43 p.m., according to the document, Claire electronically approved the sale.
She hadn’t.
“Can you trace how it was signed?”
Peter sounded uneasy.
“We can examine the audit record.”
“Do it.”
“Claire, before we assume fraud—”
“I found my mother hiding in my bedroom closet yesterday.”
Silence.
“With my husband.”
A longer silence.
“And now I’ve discovered they purchased property together using money connected to the cabin.”
Peter’s voice changed immediately.
“I’ll pull everything.”
Claire appreciated that he didn’t tell her to calm down.
“What authority did Mom have?”
“As trustee, substantial authority.”
“Could she sell without me?”
“In some circumstances, yes.”
“Then why fake my approval?”
“That is exactly what concerns me.”
Claire felt cold.
If Diane had legal authority, why forge Claire’s signature?
Because the transaction probably violated something else.
Peter continued.
“Your father added restrictions on transfers involving related parties.”
“What does that mean?”
“Diane couldn’t sell trust assets primarily to benefit herself, you, or immediate family without independent review.”
“Nathan.”
“Yes.”
“So if she intended to give him the proceeds…”
“She would have needed disclosure.”
Claire laughed bitterly.
“And instead she produced my approval.”
“It appears so.”
“How much went to him?”
“I’ll review the banking records.”
Claire ended the call.
Then she remembered something Nathan had said.
Your mother is not innocent.
He had exposed Diane quickly.
Too quickly.
Not from remorse.
As leverage.
Nathan wanted Claire furious at her mother.
Why?
Perhaps because Diane knew something about him.
Claire drove back to Erin’s.
Sophie was coloring at the kitchen table.
She drew three stick figures.
Claire.
Sophie.
Nathan.
Then added Diane beside Nathan.
Claire’s stomach twisted.
“Grandma and Daddy have an apartment,” Sophie said casually.
Claire nearly dropped her coffee.
“What?”
Sophie continued coloring.
“The tall building.”
Erin looked toward Claire.
Claire sat slowly.
“You’ve been there?”
“Uh-huh.”
“With Daddy?”
“And Grandma.”
“When?”
Sophie shrugged.
“One time.”
“Was Mommy there?”
Sophie shook her head.
“Daddy said you were working.”
Claire forced her voice steady.
“What did you do there?”
“Watched Bluey.”
“Where were Daddy and Grandma?”
“Talking.”
“Where?”
Sophie pointed toward another room.
“Bedroom.”
Claire closed her eyes.
The fact that they had brought Sophie to the condo felt different.
Not only betrayal.
Entitlement.
They had incorporated Claire’s daughter into their secret life.
“Did they tell you not to tell me?”
Sophie looked uneasy.
Claire immediately softened.
“You’re not in trouble.”
“Daddy said it was a surprise.”
Claire’s throat tightened.
“Anything else?”
“Grandma said sometimes grown-ups need secrets.”
Erin’s jaw clenched.
Claire reached across the table.
“Listen to me, Soph.”
Her daughter looked up.
“You never have to keep a grown-up’s secret from Mommy if it makes you uncomfortable.”
“Okay.”
“And you didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I know.”
Claire smiled.
“Good.”
Sophie returned to coloring.
Later, Claire sat alone with Erin.
“I need to get her away from all of this.”
“You will.”
“I can’t erase what she heard.”
“No.”
Erin leaned forward.
“But you can make sure it stops.”
Claire nodded.
Her phone rang.
Peter.
“I have preliminary numbers.”
Claire stepped outside.
“How bad?”
“The cabin proceeds went into the trust.”
Relief flickered.
“Then?”
“Two hundred thousand transferred to Hollow Ridge Construction.”
“I know that.”
“There was another transfer.”
Claire’s stomach dropped.
“How much?”
“One hundred twenty thousand.”
“To where?”
“HRC Development Group.”
The condo.
“So three hundred twenty thousand of the $380,000 sale went to Nathan-related entities.”
“Yes.”
“Was my approval attached?”
“To both.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Forged.”
“If you’re certain you didn’t sign, then we need forensic review.”
“I’m certain.”
Peter hesitated.
“There’s something else.”
Claire almost laughed.
That phrase had become a threat.
“What?”
“Your father’s trust contains another asset.”
“I know. Investment accounts.”
“Not those.”
“What?”
“A life-insurance settlement Thomas placed into a separate reserve.”
Claire frowned.
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“Approximately $510,000 today.”
Her father had created another reserve.
Diane had never mentioned it.
“Can Mom access it?”
“Yes, with restrictions.”
Claire felt dread.
“Has she?”
Peter was silent.
“Peter.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Seventy-five thousand.”
“To Nathan?”
“No.”
“Then where?”
Peter read the recipient.
A company Claire had never heard of.
Mercer Advisory Services.
Diane’s maiden name.
Claire sat down.
“What is it?”
“I’m checking.”
Claire searched while Peter spoke.
The company had been created eight years earlier.
Eight.
Not months.
Not since the affair supposedly began.
Eight years.
Before Claire married Nathan.
Before she even met him.
The registered address belonged to an apartment Diane had once rented after Thomas died.
Claire opened old corporate filings.
One additional authorized representative had been listed during the company’s first year.
Nathan Carter.
Claire stared at the name.
Her breathing stopped.
May you like
Eight years ago, Nathan and Diane had already been connected.
Which meant the relationship between her husband and her mother had begun before Nathan ever introduced himself to Claire.
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