Chapter 2
My son looked at his signature as though it belonged to a stranger.
"Mom, I can explain."
Those four words told me more than anything else could.
He recognized the document.
I felt my heart sink.
"Then explain."
Vanessa rushed toward him.
"Marcus, don't say anything until we talk privately."
I raised my hand.
"No. Whatever he has to say, he can say in front of his mother."
Marcus looked between us.
His face was damp with sweat.
"Vanessa told me you signed some papers before your surgery."
I stared at him.
"What papers?"
"She said you wanted her to handle the house if something happened to you."
I struggled to understand what I was hearing.
Three months earlier, I had undergone emergency surgery after a serious infection.
I had spent two days in intensive care.
Marcus visited me once.
Vanessa brought flowers.
Apparently, she had also brought a plan.
"Marcus," I said slowly, "did you see me sign that document?"
He lowered his head.
"No."
"Then why did you sign a statement saying you did?"
His silence crushed me.
Vanessa grabbed his arm.
"Because he trusted his wife. That's what husbands do."
I looked at her.
"Trust does not turn a lie into the truth."
She glared at me.
"You always have to make everything dramatic."
"One hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars is dramatic."
Marcus stepped away from her.
"Wait. What happened to that money?"
Vanessa's eyes moved toward the doorway.
I noticed.
"Don't bother running," I said.
"Running?" she snapped. "I'm not some criminal."
"Then you won't mind answering the question."
She laughed nervously.
"The money was for renovations."
I looked around the room.
The same curtains.
The same cabinets.
The same furniture.
"Which renovations?"
"The ones we were planning."
Marcus stared at her.
"You told me the bank rejected the application."
Vanessa pressed her lips together.
I felt a chill.
"What application?"
Marcus rubbed his face.
"She wanted to start a home-design business. She said you offered to help."
"I never offered her a dime."
He looked devastated.
"She showed me messages from your phone."
I remembered losing my phone for an entire afternoon while I was recovering.
Vanessa had offered to find it.
Later, she claimed it had slipped beneath the sofa.
I suddenly understood why she had been so eager to help.
"Those messages weren't from me."
Vanessa shouted, "You can't prove that!"
I reached into my envelope.
"Actually, I can."
I pulled out the hospital discharge records.
Then I placed them beside the power of attorney.
"The document claims I signed at eleven forty-five in the morning."
Marcus read the date.
"March fourteenth."
I nodded.
"At eleven forty-five on March fourteenth, I was under anesthesia."
His hands trembled.
Vanessa stared at the papers.
"Records can be wrong."
"Then the hospital, the surgeons, and the medication records must all be wrong together."
She stopped speaking.
I sat down because my knees were weakening.
I had promised myself I wouldn't fall apart in front of them.
But watching my son discover his own part in this betrayal was almost unbearable.
"Marcus, how much did you know?"
He knelt beside the coffee table.
"I knew Vanessa wanted to use the house as security for a business loan."
I closed my eyes.
"Go on."
"She told me you agreed."
"Did you ask me?"
"No."
"Did you ever wonder why?"
He looked at me.
"Because I didn't want another argument."
I remembered the arguments.
Vanessa accused me of controlling their marriage.
She said I made Marcus feel like a child.
Whenever I asked questions about household expenses, she called me selfish.
And my son always chose silence.
His silence had become her greatest weapon.
"I have something else to tell you," I said.
Marcus looked frightened.
"The lender contacted my attorney. They believe the money was released six weeks ago."
Marcus shook his head.
"No. No, that can't be right."
I handed him a transaction summary.
It showed three large transfers.
The receiving account belonged to a company named V Holdings Consulting.
Vanessa's initials.
Marcus turned toward his wife.
"What is V Holdings?"
She grabbed her handbag.
"My company."
"Where's the money?"
"I invested it."
"In what?"
She said nothing.
Marcus stood.
"Vanessa, answer me!"
She flinched.
Then her expression hardened.
"Don't yell at me in front of your mother."
I had heard enough.
I took out my phone.
"I already contacted an attorney. The lender's fraud department has the documents."
Vanessa froze.
"You did what?"
"I reported what I discovered."
"You could ruin my life!"
I stared at her.
"You were willing to ruin mine."
She hurried toward the front door.
Marcus followed.
"You're not leaving until you tell me where the money went."
"Get away from me!"
She shoved past him.
The door slammed.
For several seconds, I heard nothing except Marcus breathing.
Then he turned toward me.
"Mom, I swear I didn't know she took the money."
I believed his shock.
But that wasn't the same as forgiveness.
"You signed a lie, Marcus."
Tears filled his eyes.
"I know."
"And that lie put my home in danger."
He covered his face.
I wanted to hold him.
The mother in me wanted to make everything better.
But the woman who had just been threatened with eviction knew something had changed forever.
"You're going to tell the truth now," I said.
"All of it."
He nodded.
Then his phone buzzed.
A message appeared from Vanessa.
He read it.
His expression turned white.
"What is it?" I asked.
He handed me the phone.
The message contained only one sentence.
"If you tell your mother about the second account, I'll make sure you go to prison with me."
I looked up.
"Marcus."
His lips trembled.
May you like
"What second account?"
And from the way he began to cry, I knew my son had been hiding another secret.
