When Susan introduced us, Lisa’s face crumpled.
“I’m so sorry,” she said.
I frowned.
“Why are you apologizing to me?”
“Because my mother brought Robert into our lives. Because I believed him. Because now everyone is suffering.”
I took her hands.
“Listen to me. You made a financial decision based on information you believed was true. We need to find out exactly what happened before deciding what comes next.”
“But the bank is demanding repayment.”
“Then we will work with the lawyer and the bank to determine what options exist. You are not going to solve this by blaming yourself.”
She began to cry.
“My bakery is all I have.”
I looked at the young woman sitting across from me.
She had worked for years to build a business from nothing. She woke before dawn to prepare bread, spent weekends filling custom orders, and had recently hired two employees.
The bakery wasn’t merely a source of income.
