Chapter 2 - The Signature That Wasn’t HisDaniel stared at the document until the numbers blurred.
His wife, Maya, entered the kitchen.
She was thirty-five, Black, an elementary-school counselor, and usually the calmest person Daniel knew.
Tonight she was trembling.
“Is Nia asleep?”
“Finally.”
Maya saw the laptop.
“What’s that?”
Daniel turned it toward her.
Her expression changed.
“Eight point four million?”
“Apparently.”
“Apparently what?”
“My money.”
Daniel almost laughed because the statement sounded ridiculous.
He was comfortable, not wealthy. He worked as a financial operations director and earned a good salary, but there was no hidden fortune.
His father, Richard Mercer, had died three years earlier.
The estate had supposedly been modest.
Lorraine had handled most of it.
Maya studied the document.
“Who sent this?”
“Anonymous address.”
She pointed toward the date.
“Daniel.”
He looked.
The agreement had supposedly been signed eleven months earlier.
“That’s the week Lorraine asked you to meet her attorney.”
Daniel remembered.
His mother had claimed she needed routine signatures concerning the sale of his father’s remaining business interests.
Maya whispered, “Did you sign anything?”
“A stack of papers.”
“Did you read them?”
Daniel hated his answer.
“No.”
Maya leaned away.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I trusted her.”
“That’s the problem.”
He looked sharply at Maya.
She immediately regretted her tone.
“I’m sorry.”
“No. You're right.”
Upstairs, Nia whimpered in her sleep.
Both parents froze.
Maya hurried upstairs.
Daniel remained with the document.
A second email arrived.
This one contained only an address.
1740 WEXLER PLAZA, SUITE 900.
Daniel recognized it.
His mother’s attorney.
The next morning, Daniel confronted Lorraine in the living room.
“You're leaving.”
Lorraine sat perfectly composed.
“This is my son’s house.”
“It is my house.”
“Your father bought the land.”
“And transferred it to me.”
Lorraine smiled.
“Did he?”
Daniel placed the asset agreement on the table.
For the first time, her composure cracked.
“Where did you get that?”
“So it's real.”
Lorraine stood.
“Daniel—”
“Who forged my signature?”
“No one.”
“Eight point four million dollars, Mom.”
Her eyes hardened.
“You were never supposed to see that document.”
The sentence landed harder than any denial could have.
Daniel stepped closer.
“What did Dad leave me?”
Lorraine grabbed her purse.
“You need to decide what matters more—your future or that woman.”
“Her name is Maya.”
“She has isolated you.”
Daniel stared at his mother.
“You tied my daughter to a tree.”
Lorraine’s mouth tightened.
“I was trying to make her understand.”
“She’s six!”
Lorraine walked toward the door.
Daniel blocked her.
“What wealthy woman?”
Lorraine said nothing.
“The one you told Nia I should marry.”
Still nothing.
Then Lorraine smiled.
“You already know her.”
Daniel felt his stomach drop.
Lorraine stepped around him.
Before leaving, she whispered:
“Ask yourself why Evelyn Cross has been investing in your company.”
Daniel knew that name.
Everyone in his office did.
Evelyn Cross was sixty-one, widowed, enormously wealthy—and chairwoman of the investment group that had quietly purchased thirty-two percent of Daniel’s employer.
Three months earlier, she had requested Daniel personally attend a private dinner.
Lorraine had insisted he go.
May you like
Daniel had thought it was business.
Now he wasn't so sure.
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