Chapter 7 - The Meeting Before My Wedding
Dad had kept the secret for seven years.
Not because he was protecting Dominic.
Because he was protecting me.
“I should have told you,” he said.
We sat in the library after Dominic left.
Leo slept upstairs.
Clara had finally convinced me to lie down on a sofa with a pillow under my knees.
I did not feel like resting.
“What happened?”
Dad took a breath.
“Dominic asked for money.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred thousand.”
My stomach dropped.
“For what?”
“He said he needed capital for a business opportunity.”
“And you gave it to him?”
“No.”
I felt relief.
It lasted two seconds.
Dad continued.
“I offered something else.”
“What?”
“A legitimate investment review. I told him I would have independent financial professionals examine the opportunity, and if it made sense, I would consider investing.”
“What did he say?”
“He became angry.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“Because he didn’t want review.”
Dad looked at me.
“He wanted cash.”
I stared at the ceiling.
“Did he say it was a loan?”
“He said you didn’t need to know.”
I turned my head slowly.
“What?”
“He told me married couples don’t need to discuss every financial detail.”
My chest tightened.
“And you still walked me down the aisle?”
Pain crossed Dad’s face.
“I told you I had concerns.”
“You told me he was ambitious.”
“I told you to slow down.”
“You didn’t tell me he was secretly asking you for two hundred thousand dollars!”
My voice cracked.
Dad accepted it.
He did not defend himself.
“I was wrong.”
I looked away.
“I thought if I told you, you’d believe I was trying to control your life.”
“You were.”
“Sometimes.”
That almost made me laugh.
Almost.
“But you were thirty years old,” he said. “You loved him. I had spent your whole life trying to make sure my position did not become a weapon inside our family.”
I swallowed.
“So what happened after you refused?”
“He left.”
“And?”
“Two days later he apologized.”
“That’s it?”
“No.”
Dad’s face hardened.
“He said something I never forgot.”
“What?”
“He said, ‘Audrey will never have to know how you really feel about me.’”
A chill moved through me.
Dad continued.
“I realized he saw information as leverage.”
I closed my eyes.
“Why didn’t you stop the wedding?”
“Because you were not under my command.”
The answer hit me.
Simple.
Painful.
True.
“You were my daughter. An adult. I could advise you. I could refuse to fund him. I could not order you not to marry him.”
Tears burned behind my eyes.
“I wish you had.”
“So do I.”
Silence filled the room.
Then Rachel called.
The paternity results were in.
Dominic was Leo’s father.
99.99 percent.
No surprise.
Still, seeing it in writing made me angry all over again.
He had dragged my fidelity into court for nothing.
Rachel added another piece of news.
“The bank’s fraud department has opened a formal investigation into the credit application.”
“Can they prove he forged it?”
“Not yet.”
“But?”
“The application came from an IP address associated with Dominic’s office.”
I sat up.
Pain stabbed me.
Dad frowned.
“Careful.”
Rachel continued.
“And there’s something else.”
I braced.
“Dominic requested access to the family trust records two months ago.”
“Can he do that?”
“He can request anything. He wasn’t entitled to receive them.”
“Why would he want them?”
“Likely to determine what you own.”
My skin prickled.
The life insurance.
The attempted transfer.
The forged credit line.
My “available liquidity.”
A pattern was forming.
Then Rachel said the sentence that changed the case.
“Audrey, we found the person who notarized the loan application.”
I sat very still.
“Who?”
“A junior employee at Dominic’s firm.”
“Does he remember me signing?”
Rachel paused.
“He says you were never there.”
Dad stood.
My heart began pounding.
“What exactly does he say happened?”
“He says Dominic placed the document in front of him and told him you had signed it at home.”
I gripped the phone.
“And he notarized it anyway?”
“Yes.”
“That’s illegal.”
“Yes.”
“Will he testify?”
Another pause.
“He already agreed.”
For the first time, I felt the case move beneath my feet.
Not emotionally.
Legally.
Evidence.
Witnesses.
Paper.
Facts.
Then Rachel added:
“But Dominic just filed another motion.”
I rubbed my forehead.
“What now?”
“He wants access to the apartment.”
“He already has access.”
“Not anymore.”
I frowned.
Rachel explained.
After my departure, the trust’s property manager had inspected the condominium.
During that inspection, they found damage to a locked storage cabinet.
Inside were financial records belonging to the trust.
Someone had forced it open.
Dominic was now claiming those records were marital documents and demanding them.
Dad’s face changed.
“What records?”
Rachel’s voice went quiet.
“That’s what we’re trying to determine.”
Then my phone buzzed.
A photo from Celeste.
It showed Dominic standing outside the condominium building.
Beside him were two men carrying cardboard file boxes.
Her text read:
He’s removing documents right now.
I stared at the screen.
Dad reached for his coat.
I grabbed his wrist.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Dad, no.”
“He may be taking trust property.”
“Then we call the police and the building manager.”
His eyes stayed on mine.
I heard my own voice steady.
“We do this right.”
He stopped.
Then nodded once.
I called Rachel.
She was already moving.
But when building security reached the loading dock four minutes later, Dominic was gone.
May you like
So were the boxes.
And according to the security camera, one of them had my name written across the top.
