Chapter 7 - What She Actually Signed
“I never witnessed that,” Clara said.
The statement was becoming a refrain, and she hated how helpless it sounded.
Dana placed the document beside the guarantee.
“Tell me about that dinner in Westport.”
Clara remembered a private room, expensive fish she barely touched, and Richard’s hand resting on the back of her chair.
Graham had made a toast.
Thomas had spoken briefly about trusting his family.
There had been a photographer.
“Richard gave me something to sign at the end,” she said.
Dana waited.
“A permission form. For using photographs in his investor brochure.”
“Do you have a copy?”
Clara almost said no.
Then she remembered the old email address Richard disliked because she had used it before they met.
She logged in with Dana beside her.
The account held dentist reminders, recipes from a college friend, and a message from Graham’s assistant dated the morning after the dinner.
Thank you for signing the attached photo release.
Clara opened it.
The signature on the release was real.
The one on the witness line was an exact copy.
For several seconds, she could only stare.
“I knew it,” she whispered.
Dana’s voice stayed calm.
“This gives us something concrete to examine.”
The original email was preserved, including its attachment and delivery information.
Clara read it again while Dana spoke to the company’s attorney.
Her younger self had kept a copy without understanding why she would need it.
The assistant who had sent it was named Nina Cole.
When Dana contacted her, Nina agreed to talk.
They met two days later.
Nina arrived carrying nothing except her purse.
“I can tell you what I saw,” she said. “I won’t take company files.”
“That’s all we’re asking,” Dana replied.
Graham had instructed Nina to collect blank letterhead and scanned signatures for a supposedly urgent closing.
When she questioned it, he removed her from the project.
“Did Richard know?” Clara asked.
Nina swallowed.
“He was in the room.”
Outside the office, Clara stood in the sunlight and breathed until the nausea eased.
Then her phone buzzed.
A business reporter wanted comment on a recording in which Clara supposedly approved everything.
May you like
The message included a link.
Richard had made his next move.
