Chapter 2 - Where Is My Husband?Claire left the ballroom.
Not gracefully.
Not dramatically.
She simply turned and walked.
Ethan followed.
“Claire.”
She kept moving.
“Claire, please.”
She pushed through the service corridor and entered an empty conference room.
Ethan came behind her.
She turned.
“Five days?”
“I found out Monday.”
“It’s Saturday.”
“I know.”
“You had five days to tell me.”
“I was trying to understand what happened.”
“You had five days to say, ‘Claire, someone moved half a million dollars using your name.’”
“I didn’t know it was your signature until today.”
“But you knew something was wrong.”
“Yes.”
Claire stared at him.
The lace of her wedding gown suddenly felt too tight around her ribs.
“Why did Ruth know?”
“Compliance flagged the transfer because one of the vendors is used by Mercer Hotels.”
“What vendor?”
“Bellweather Event Logistics.”
Claire knew the name.
Their wedding planner had used Bellweather for rentals.
“What does that have to do with Mercer?”
“They also subcontract for six of our hotels.”
“So?”
“Nathan found an account discrepancy.”
Ethan rubbed both hands over his face.
“Money left Donovan Development. It passed through Bellweather. Then it paid wedding vendors.”
Claire felt sick.
“My mother said she was paying.”
“I know.”
“She said Dad left money.”
“I know.”
“How many times are you going to say that?”
Ethan went quiet.
Claire turned toward the window.
Rain streaked the glass.
Outside, cars moved through downtown as if this were an ordinary Saturday night.
Behind her, Ethan said:
“I wanted today to happen.”
Claire laughed once.
“You think that helps?”
“No.”
“You thought if you waited until after we were married, the truth would somehow hurt less?”
“That isn’t what I thought.”
“Then what did you think?”
Ethan hesitated.
“I thought the payment issue might be a bookkeeping error.”
“And if it wasn’t?”
Silence.
Claire turned.
“That is exactly what I thought.”
He looked exhausted.
Not guilty.
That almost made her angrier.
Guilty would have been easier.
“Where were you when the bar started packing?”
“With Nathan.”
“Doing what?”
“Reviewing the transfer.”
“During our reception.”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t come get me.”
“I was going to.”
“When?”
“Before Ruth shut everything down.”
Claire stared at him.
“So even then, you were deciding when I was allowed to know.”
The door opened.
Nathan stepped inside.
“Sorry.”
Claire looked at him.
“No, you’re not.”
He accepted that.
“I have something you both need to see.”
He placed a tablet on the table.
Bank records.
Vendor invoices.
Wire confirmations.
Claire recognized Donovan Development’s logo.
Her company.
Her father’s company.
Robert Donovan had built it from a three-person construction firm into one of the largest regional commercial developers in the Northwest.
After his death three years earlier, Claire inherited shares but not control.
Her mother, Patricia, became acting chair.
Claire served as vice president of design and development.
Her uncle Daniel Shaw remained chief financial officer.
Nathan enlarged one transaction.
$486,200.
Recipient:
BELLWEATHER EVENT LOGISTICS LLC.
Approval:
CLAIRE DONOVAN.
“It’s forged,” Claire said.
“We don’t know that yet.”
“I know.”
Nathan nodded.
“I believe you.”
She looked at Ethan.
He said nothing.
That hurt too.
“You don’t?”
“I believe you.”
“Then say it faster.”
“I’m sorry.”
Nathan changed screens.
“There’s more.”
Claire almost laughed.
“Of course there is.”
He displayed a second transfer.
$760,000.
Then another.
$1.1 million.
All made over fourteen months.
All to vendors Claire vaguely recognized.
Construction consultants.
Project management firms.
Event logistics.
Technology suppliers.
“What is this?”
Nathan answered carefully.
“Payments approved under different executives.”
“Why are you showing me?”
“Because Bellweather isn’t the first suspicious vendor.”
Claire stared at the total.
More than four million dollars.
Ethan stepped closer.
“Claire, nobody is saying you did this.”
“But somebody used my name yesterday.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Nathan and Ethan exchanged another look.
Claire saw it.
“No.”
She pointed between them.
“No more looks.”
Neither spoke.
“Tell me.”
Nathan exhaled.
“Monday morning Donovan Development’s primary credit agreement is being reviewed.”
Claire knew that.
Her mother had called it routine.
Nathan continued.
“If the lender discovers these transfers are unsupported, Donovan could be in technical default.”
“How bad?”
“Very.”
Claire looked at Ethan.
“Why does Mercer care?”
Ethan said:
“Because our companies have been discussing a merger.”
Claire stared at him.
“What merger?”
Neither man answered.
Her voice dropped.
“What merger?”
Ethan looked at his wife.
The woman he had married hours earlier.
May you like
And said the sentence that broke the night open.
“A merger your mother asked me not to tell you about until after the wedding.”
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