Chapter 14 - Sienna’s Own Words Were Used Against RosalieSienna arrived at Katherine's office forty minutes later.
She was crying before she entered the conference room.
"I didn't sign anything for this."
Katherine placed the declaration on the table.
Sienna stared.
Her name.
Signature.
Notarized.
She read.
I have personally observed Mrs. Mercer repeatedly contacting Mr. Mercer during business hours in states of emotional distress.
Another paragraph.
Mr. Mercer has expressed concern that his wife's instability may affect their daughter.
Sienna covered her mouth.
"I never said that."
Rosalie watched quietly.
Sienna continued reading.
Then stopped.
"These are my notes."
"What?" Katherine asked.
"The wording."
Sienna pointed.
"I made internal logs when Adrian asked me to track calls."
Rosalie's stomach tightened.
"But you didn't sign this declaration?"
"No."
"Your signature?"
Sienna stared.
"That's mine."
Rosalie almost laughed.
Of course.
Signature library.
Adrian had done to Sienna exactly what he'd done to Rosalie.
Used a real signature to manufacture consent.
Sienna sat down.
"He forged me too."
Rosalie didn't respond.
Sienna looked at her.
"I am so sorry."
"This isn't the moment."
"I know."
Katherine scanned the declaration.
"This is valuable."
Sienna stared.
"How?"
"If we can prove the signature was applied without authorization, it supports a pattern."
Rosalie asked:
"What about Lily?"
"The emergency hearing is tomorrow."
"So he could take her?"
"No."
Katherine's voice remained calm.
"He is asking for temporary scheduled access and an order preventing unilateral relocation."
"I'm not relocating."
"Then that's easy."
"What about the instability claims?"
"We answer with facts."
Rosalie looked at Sienna.
"What exactly did you write about me?"
Sienna's shame returned.
"Calls."
"Read them."
"You don't want to."
"I do."
Sienna opened her old logs.
March 12.
Rosalie called Adrian four times.
Reason?
Lily's school nurse couldn't reach him while Rosalie was stuck in traffic after a car accident blocked the highway.
April 3.
Rosalie sounded "highly emotional."
Reason?
Her dog had been hit by a car.
Adrian ended the call after ninety seconds because he was walking into dinner with Sienna.
May 19.
Rosalie called repeatedly.
Reason?
Lily disappeared for twelve minutes at a crowded school carnival before staff found her inside another classroom.
Rosalie stared.
Sienna whispered:
"I didn't know the context."
"Because you didn't ask."
"No."
"Adrian gave you pieces."
"Yes."
"And you assembled the woman he wanted you to believe existed."
Sienna began crying again.
Rosalie felt almost detached.
That might be what shock became after several days.
Not absence of feeling.
Overcrowding.
Katherine said:
"Rosalie, there is another declaration."
"Whose?"
"Pamela Ricks."
The notary.
Rosalie read.
Pamela claimed Rosalie had knowingly authorized the lake house loan during a remote closing.
Katherine pointed.
"If that's accepted, Adrian will argue the mortgage is legitimate."
"But I wasn't there."
"She says video conference."
"There was no video conference."
"Then we prove it."
Sienna suddenly looked up.
"Calendar."
Everyone turned.
"Adrian's calendar."
"What about it?"
"He never schedules transactions personally. I do."
"Can you access it?"
"Not anymore."
Katherine asked:
"Backups?"
Sienna thought.
"Company cloud archive."
"Legal access only."
"I know."
Rosalie looked at her.
"Would the calendar show where Adrian was?"
"Yes."
"February twelfth?"
Sienna pulled out her phone.
"I kept travel itineraries."
She searched.
Her face changed.
"What?"
"Adrian wasn't in New York either."
"Where?"
"Toronto."
Rosalie frowned.
"If both borrowers were elsewhere, how did Pamela notarize a New York closing?"
Katherine leaned back.
"She didn't."
Sienna scrolled.
"And Pamela wasn't in New York."
Everyone looked at her.
"How do you know?"
"She traveled with us."
Rosalie stared.
"With you and Adrian?"
"Toronto transaction."
"So the notary who claims she watched me sign a mortgage in New York was physically in Canada."
Katherine smiled for the first time.
"Now we have something."
Rosalie's phone rang.
Adrian.
She declined.
A text came.
You are letting Sienna manipulate you because you're angry.
Then:
She lied to you for two years. Why would you trust her now?
Rosalie stared.
The worst part?
He wasn't completely wrong.
Sienna had lied.
So had Daniel, by silence.
Connor.
Maybe even her father, in his own protective way.
Truth was arriving through imperfect people.
Rosalie typed nothing.
Another message.
Come home tonight. Just you and me. No attorneys. I will tell you everything.
Katherine said:
"No."
Rosalie looked at the screen.
Then another line appeared.
Including why I really created Aster Ridge.
Rosalie's pulse changed.
Because until that moment, everyone had assumed the purpose was simple.
Hide money.
Build a future with Sienna.
Avoid paying Rosalie.
Adrian was implying there was another reason.
May you like
And despite everything—
Rosalie needed to know what it was.
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