“Those papers made sure employees were paid, taxes were filed, and vendors were protected. I never minimized what you contributed, Mark. You simply decided mine didn’t matter.”
Brenda gave a bitter laugh.
“So you weren’t even the real owner?”
Mark snapped at her.
“I did all this for you!”
“No,” Brenda replied. “You did it because you liked feeling important.”
Andrew placed another contract on the table.
“And while we’re discussing responsibility, maybe Mark should explain this.”
It was the co-guarantor agreement showing that Mark had accepted legal responsibility for Brenda’s two-hundred-thousand-dollar private debts.
Mark turned pale.
“You told me that money was for opening a salon.”
Brenda shrugged.
“You signed without reading it.”
“You used me!”
“I needed my debts covered. You wanted a younger woman who made you feel powerful. We both lied.”
Ofelia suddenly pointed at Brenda.
“This woman manipulated everyone! Get her out!”
Brenda turned toward her.
“You’re going to pretend you’re innocent?”
I placed another document on the table.
The one-hundred-thousand-dollar transfer.
“There’s no need to argue. Here is the money Ofelia received from Brenda.”
Brenda pointed toward the retirement brochure.
“That was the deposit for her Florida retirement suite. She agreed to help get Laura out of the house and locate the property documents.”
Ofelia’s face crumpled.
“I was protecting my future!”
“With stolen company money,” Julian said quietly.
Then Greg arrived.
Stephen had contacted him earlier.
Greg stepped inside looking terrified, holding a folder.
“Mark, what did you drag me into? The bank is auditing my company because of those fake consulting invoices you told me to create!”
Mark slowly sank back into his chair.
His entire plan had collapsed.
Stephen explained that the forensic audit would be provided to the appropriate authorities and that Crestview Developments intended to recover every improperly transferred asset.
I didn’t feel victorious.
I felt exhausted.
Mark looked at me with tears in his eyes.
“Laura… please. We can fix this. We’ve been married twenty-eight years.”
“That’s exactly why it hurts this much.”
“I made a mistake.”
I shook my head.
