Chapter 7
Three hundred thousand dollars.
I repeated the number in my head while Dad spoke with Rebecca.
It sounded impossible.
Denise didn't own a successful business.
Jordan barely had a job.
Their company had existed for only four months.
How could they owe nearly three hundred thousand dollars?
Rebecca explained that the records suggested a series of private financing arrangements.
Some involved business expenses.
Others appeared to be connected to personal debts.
But the documents were incomplete.
She couldn't yet tell us how much money had actually changed hands.
What she could tell us was that Denise had apparently promised lenders access to assets she didn't legally control.
Our house.
My savings.
My mother's trust.
All of it had become part of a financial plan that Denise had concealed from us.
Dad looked exhausted.
"How do we stop this?"
Rebecca explained that she was coordinating with the relevant financial institutions and authorities.
Any questionable documents would need to be investigated.
If signatures were forged or identities misused, there could be serious consequences.
I sat silently beside Dad.
For the first time, I felt less afraid of losing money than of discovering what else Denise had hidden.
That afternoon, Raymond Price contacted Dad.
He requested a meeting.
Rebecca insisted on attending.
I asked to come too.
Dad hesitated.
"Jasmine, you don't have to."
"I know."
"Then why?"
I looked at him.
"Because they used my name."
He studied me for a moment.
Then he nodded.
"Okay."
We met at Rebecca's office the following morning.
Raymond arrived wearing a gray suit and carrying the same leather briefcase from the photograph.
He looked polished.
Confident.
The kind of man who could make terrible decisions sound like ordinary business.
He smiled when he saw Dad.
"Marcus Carter. I've heard a lot about you."
Dad didn't smile back.
"Sit down."
Raymond sat.
Rebecca opened a folder.
"We need clarification regarding several financing documents connected to D&J Lifestyle Solutions."
Raymond adjusted his tie.
"I'm happy to answer appropriate questions."
Rebecca placed a copy of one application on the table.
"This document lists Mr. Carter as providing authorization for a property-backed arrangement."
Dad leaned forward.
"I never signed it."
Raymond's expression changed slightly.
"Denise represented that she had authority."
"She didn't," Dad replied.
Raymond looked toward Rebecca.
"Then that is something we'll need to investigate."
Rebecca continued.
"The application also references assets belonging to Jasmine Carter."
I stared at him.
"My mother's trust."
Raymond looked surprised.
"You're Jasmine?"
"Yes."
He cleared his throat.
"I was told you were aware of the proposed arrangement."
I nearly laughed.
"Did Denise tell you that?"
"She said the family had discussed it."
I leaned forward.
"I'm nineteen. I worked two jobs to save for college. I didn't know your name until two days ago."
Raymond's face tightened.
Rebecca took over.
"Did you independently verify the claimed authorizations?"
He hesitated.
"I relied on documentation supplied by my client."
Rebecca wrote something down.
Then she placed another paper in front of him.
"Can you identify who submitted this signature?"
Raymond looked at it.
His expression changed.
"I received it electronically."
"From whom?"
"Denise."
Dad folded his arms.
"So my wife gave you a signature I never wrote, and you accepted it?"
Raymond said nothing.
Rebecca remained calm.
"We'll address the details through the appropriate process."
I studied him.
There was something strange about his reaction.
He seemed nervous.
But not surprised.
Finally, I asked the question that had been bothering me.
"Why were you helping Denise?"
Raymond looked at me.
"She was my client."
"She was also your former wife."
His face tightened.
"That doesn't change the business arrangement."
I glanced at Dad.
Then I asked, "Did you know she was married to my father?"
Raymond paused.
"Yes."
"Did you know she was trying to use his house?"
He looked away.
Rebecca intervened before the conversation became an argument.
She asked for copies of the communications and information concerning the outstanding financing.
Raymond agreed to provide records through counsel.
The meeting ended without a confession.
But as we stood to leave, Raymond said something unexpected.
"Marcus, you should ask Denise about the money she borrowed before your wedding."
Dad stopped.
"What money?"
Raymond looked uncomfortable.
"That's all I'm prepared to say."
Rebecca immediately requested clarification.
He refused.
Then he walked out.
I stared at the closed door.
Before the wedding?
Dad and Denise had been married for five years.
Had this started before she moved into our home?
Dad looked as though he might collapse.
Rebecca placed a hand on his shoulder.
"We'll find out."
That afternoon, Jordan asked to speak with me.
I was sitting in the backyard, reviewing scholarship applications, when he approached.
He carried a small envelope.
"I found something else."
I looked up.
"What?"
He sat across from me.
"Mom used to have a storage unit."
I frowned.
"Used to?"
"She still does. I found the payment notice."
He handed me the envelope.
Inside was an address and an account number.
"What's there?" I asked.
"I don't know."
"Then why are you telling me?"
He looked ashamed.
"Because I remember her taking boxes there right before she married your dad."
My stomach tightened.
"What kind of boxes?"
"Documents. Photographs. Some things from her old apartment."
I studied the notice.
Jordan continued.
"She told me never to mention the unit."
"Why?"
"She said it contained things from her past that Marcus didn't need to know."
I looked at him.
"Are you sure you're telling me everything?"
His face tightened.
"I know I haven't been trustworthy."
I said nothing.
"But I want to help."
"Why now?"
He looked toward the house.
"Because I realized Mom wasn't just hurting you. She was teaching me that getting what I wanted mattered more than being a decent person."
I swallowed.
"That's not something you fix with one apology."
"I know."
He looked down.
"I got a job."
I blinked.
"What?"
"At an auto parts store. I start Monday."
I stared at him.
He gave a nervous smile.
"I figured I should learn how to buy my own phone."
For the first time in days, I almost smiled.
Almost.
Then his expression became serious again.
"There's something else."
I waited.
He took out his phone.
"I heard Mom talking to Raymond last week."
My stomach tightened.
"What did she say?"
Jordan opened an audio file.
Denise's voice came through the speaker.
"If Marcus finds out what happened before the wedding, everything is over."
Raymond replied, "Then you should have told him the truth five years ago."
There was a pause.
Then Denise whispered, "He never would have married me."
I stared at Jordan.
The recording ended.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then I asked, "What happened before the wedding?"
Jordan shook his head.
"I don't know."
I looked toward the house.
Five years earlier, my father had promised to love Denise forever.
I had stood beside him in a pale-blue dress and tried to smile.
I had believed we were beginning a new family.
May you like
Now I wondered whether Denise had entered our lives because she loved my father.
Or because she had already decided what she could take from him.
