Chapter 18 - The Closing That Never Happened
The proposed Dawson Row closing had been designed to look legitimate.
That was the most frightening part.
Northstar had a lender.
A title company.
A purchase contract.
A beneficiary acknowledgment from Brielle.
A purported trustee consent from Kendra.
An appraisal.
The appraisal was the weak point.
It valued Dawson Row at $1.42 million.
Kendra’s prior appraisal had been $2.2 million.
Lena obtained the new report.
The appraiser had assumed substantial deferred maintenance.
Roof replacement.
HVAC replacement.
Electrical upgrades.
Structural repairs.
Kendra stared at the list.
“None of this is true.”
Some repairs were real.
Most were exaggerated.
The supposed roof replacement alone deducted $260,000.
Kendra called the contractor named in the report.
He had never inspected Dawson Row.
Someone had used an old estimate from a different property.
Lena immediately contacted Northstar’s lender and title company with notice that trustee authorization was disputed and that the buyer was controlled by Kendra’s spouse.
The closing stopped.
At 10:14 a.m., Adrian called Kendra.
She answered.
“What did you do?”
“I told the truth.”
“You interfered with a contractual closing.”
“I am trustee.”
“You signed consent.”
“No.”
“You’re going to lose this.”
“Then show everyone the original.”
Adrian went silent.
Kendra continued.
“Show them video of me appearing before the notary.”
Silence.
“Show them my email sending approval.”
Silence.
“Show them one conversation where I agreed to sell Dawson Row to Northstar.”
“Kendra, listen—”
“No.”
“You are acting emotionally.”
“I discovered my husband with my sister four days ago.”
His voice softened.
“Exactly.”
“And yet somehow I still know what an appraisal looks like.”
He exhaled sharply.
“You think your mother’s building is sacred.”
“No. I think selling a $2.2 million building for $1.35 million to my husband’s secret company deserves questions.”
“The market value is not $2.2.”
“Then we’ll get another appraisal.”
“You always need another process.”
“And you always need a shortcut.”
The words landed.
Adrian became quiet.
Then he said, “You’ll regret humiliating Brielle publicly.”
Kendra’s grip tightened.
“Do not threaten her.”
“I’m not.”
“You’re using her again.”
“She committed fraud too.”
Kendra went still.
There it was.
Adrian’s fallback.
If he fell, Brielle fell beside him.
“You told her the invoices were legitimate.”
“She signed them.”
“Yes.”
“She accepted money.”
“Yes.”
“She signed a false statement about you.”
“Yes.”
His voice became calmer.
“If prosecutors look at this, she has exposure.”
Kendra hated him for saying what she already knew.
“Are you bargaining with me?”
“I’m telling you reality.”
“No. You’re telling me what happens if I refuse to protect you.”
Adrian said nothing.
Kendra closed her eyes.
“What do you want?”
“A global settlement.”
“Meaning?”
“You withdraw the fraud allegations. We resolve the divorce privately. I keep Mercer Beauty. You get your original investment back plus interest. Northstar walks away from Dawson Row.”
“And Brielle?”
“She keeps her name out of court.”
Kendra almost laughed.
“You really think this is about avoiding embarrassment.”
“It can become much worse.”
“For you.”
“For all of us.”
Kendra looked across Lena’s conference room at Brielle.
Her sister was listening on speaker with counsel present.
Adrian did not know.
Kendra said, “What happens to the missing $487,000?”
“Accounting adjustments.”
“To forged signatures?”
“Disputed documents.”
“To the notary?”
Silence.
Kendra continued.
“To the deleted security archive?”
Adrian’s breathing changed.
“You have no proof I deleted anything.”
“We have logs.”
Silence.
Kendra looked at Brielle.
Her sister’s face had gone pale.
Then Adrian made his mistake.
“Brielle will never testify against me.”
Brielle’s eyes lifted.
Kendra asked, “Why are you so sure?”
“Because she knows what I know.”
“What do you know?”
Adrian laughed softly.
“Ask her about March.”
Kendra looked at Brielle.
Brielle froze.
Adrian continued.
“Ask her what she signed in March.”
The call ended.
Silence filled the room.
Kendra looked at her sister.
“What did you sign in March?”
Brielle’s lips trembled.
Her attorney leaned toward her.
“You do not have to answer without discussing it with me.”
Brielle stared at Kendra.
“No.”
She inhaled.
“I said I would tell the truth even when it made me look worse.”
Then she reached into her attorney’s folder.
She removed a document.
And placed it in front of Kendra.
It was a sworn declaration.
Signed by Brielle.
Dated March 18.
The final paragraph read:
I personally witnessed Kendra Mercer state that she intended to remove trust assets from Brielle Dawson’s future control and use them primarily for the benefit of Mercer Beauty LLC and herself.
Kendra looked up.
“I never said this.”
Brielle was crying.
“I know.”
“You swore under penalty of perjury.”
“I know.”
Kendra stared at her sister.
May you like
The affair had broken her heart.
This document could have broken her life.
