Chapter 4 - The Signature He Didn't RememberMarcus stared at the photograph.
"Where did you get this?"
Naomi studied him.
"I took it on my last day at Bennett Development."
"You weren't authorized to access the executive ledger."
"I was the senior financial analyst responsible for reconciling the Cedar Row project accounts. Those transactions were assigned to me for review."
Marcus studied the four entries.
Together they totaled $186,400.
Each payment had gone to a company called Hawthorne Consulting Services.
"Who approved them?"
"According to the system, you did."
Marcus shook his head.
"I didn't."
"That's what I told Evelyn."
He examined the authorization codes.
"These were processed through the executive approval queue."
"And your mother controlled the people who accessed it."
Marcus looked up.
"Are you suggesting she stole the money?"
"I'm suggesting that somebody made it look as though I did."
Naomi leaned forward.
"The transfers were entered using my account credentials, but the final approvals came through yours. The internal report only discussed the first part."
Marcus remembered the meeting.
Evelyn had sat beside Simon Vale, the company's chief financial officer.
They had presented screenshots, transaction reports, and an account access log.
Simon said Naomi had abused her privileges.
Evelyn cried.
Marcus remembered that most vividly.
His mother had cried as if Naomi's alleged betrayal were something done personally to her.
"Simon told me the executive approvals were automated," Marcus said.
Naomi shook her head.
"They weren't."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because I helped design the approval workflow."
Marcus felt a slow, sickening realization.
"You never told me."
Naomi's eyes flashed.
"I did tell you."
He looked away.
She wasn't finished.
"You said I was trying to confuse you with technical details."
He remembered saying it.
He remembered standing in the kitchen of their old house while Naomi held a folder against her chest.
He had been angry.
Ashamed.
Terrified that the company's reputation would be destroyed.
Instead of listening, he had demanded a confession.
She had refused.
And he had mistaken her refusal for defiance.
"I was wrong," he whispered.
"That doesn't automatically make me innocent."
Marcus looked up.
Naomi's voice had become quiet.
"You should investigate. You should question every document, including mine. That's what you should have done before."
There was no anger in those words.
Only exhaustion.
Upstairs, floorboards creaked.
A small voice called, "Mommy?"
Naomi immediately stood.
"I'll be right back."
Marcus remained at the table.
He looked toward the staircase.
Then toward the children's drawings on the refrigerator.
There were photographs of Eli at school, Eli with a birthday cake, Eli holding a trophy from a science fair.
No recent photograph included Marcus.
He had become an absence that Naomi had carefully arranged the furniture around.
A few minutes later, Eli appeared at the bottom of the staircase wearing dinosaur pajamas.
"Couldn't sleep," he mumbled.
Naomi followed.
"You were supposed to stay in bed."
"I heard Daddy talking."
Marcus stood.
Eli looked uncertain.
"Are you leaving?"
The question landed like a blow.
Marcus crouched.
"Not yet."
"Do you have another wedding tomorrow?"
Naomi closed her eyes.
"No, buddy," Marcus said.
"Are you still marrying Alaina?"
Marcus hesitated.
"No."
Eli's shoulders relaxed slightly.
But his next question made Marcus's chest tighten.
"Does that mean you can be my dad again?"
Marcus reached toward him, then stopped.
He remembered how Eli had flinched from Evelyn's hand.
He didn't want to assume a touch would be welcome.
"I never stopped being your dad," he said.
Eli studied him.
"But you stopped coming."
Marcus lowered his head.
"You're right."
"Grandma said Mommy made you sad."
Marcus looked toward Naomi.
Her face had gone pale.
Eli continued.
"She said you had to make a new family so you could be happy."
Marcus struggled to breathe.
"That wasn't fair of her to say."
"Was she lying?"
He looked at his son.
"She told you things she shouldn't have. And I made mistakes that hurt you."
Eli seemed to consider that.
"Do you love Mommy?"
Naomi turned away.
Marcus answered carefully.
"I care about your mother very much. We aren't married anymore, but that doesn't change how much we both love you."
Eli nodded slowly.
"Okay."
Then he whispered, "Will you come to my next school thing?"
Marcus felt his eyes burn.
"When is it?"
"Thursday."
"What time?"
"Three thirty."
"I'll be there."
Eli stared at him.
"You promise?"
Marcus looked at Naomi.
She was watching him with an expression he couldn't quite read.
He understood what she feared.
Promises had become dangerous in this house.
"I promise I'll do everything I can to be there," he said. "And if something truly stops me, I'll tell you myself before it happens."
Eli considered this.
Then he stepped forward and hugged Marcus.
It lasted only a few seconds.
But Marcus held completely still, terrified of doing anything that might end it.
When Eli returned upstairs, Naomi sat down again.
"You can't repair eighteen months in one evening," she said.
"I know."
"And you can't buy your way into his trust."
Marcus nodded.
For the first time, he believed he understood.
His phone vibrated.
A message from Evelyn appeared.
We need to discuss the consequences of today's spectacle. Do not speak with Naomi about company matters.
Marcus read it twice.
Then another message arrived.
The Cedar Row transaction closes in ten days. You cannot let her interfere.
He stared at the screen.
Naomi noticed.
"What?"
Marcus looked at her.
"Why would my mother connect the wedding to Cedar Row?"
Naomi went very still.
"Marcus."
"What?"
"When I was fired, that project still had money in its accounts."
"Yes."
"How much?"
He frowned.
"A little over six million in committed financing."
Naomi's face drained of color.
"Then you need to find out where it went."
Marcus looked down at the photograph again.
The four suspicious payments were dated eighteen months earlier.
But he had never noticed what appeared beside the consultant's name.
A project identification number.
He opened the company's secure accounting app and searched it.
One result appeared.
CEDAR ROW — REDEVELOPMENT RESERVE
Beneath it was a current balance.
$12,418.63.
Marcus stared.
May you like
Six million dollars had nearly vanished.
And the company was preparing to sell the very property those funds were supposed to protect.
Related Stories
