Chapter 2 - THE HOUSE
“The house is mine.”
I answered too quickly.
The officer looked at me.
“You’re certain?”
“Yes.”
Then I hesitated.
“Well… Ryan and I bought it together.”
“Whose names are on the deed?”
“Both.”
Natalie slowly sat on the edge of the bed.
The officer glanced at the papers again.
“According to this document, there may be additional liens attached to the property.”
I stared at him.
“Additional what?”
“Debts secured by the house.”
“No.”
My voice sounded small.
“We have one mortgage.”
The officer gave me the kind of look people give you before saying something they know will hurt.
“You need to call your bank first thing in the morning.”
I didn’t sleep.
Natalie didn’t leave.
That was the strangest part.
At midnight, I found her in my kitchen drinking coffee from my favorite blue mug.
For half a second, anger flashed through me.
Then I remembered she had probably spent the last twelve hours discovering that her entire life was a lie too.
“You can stay on the couch,” I said.
She looked surprised.
“You sure?”
“No.”
That almost made her smile.
I sat across from her.
“So why were you here?”
Her expression hardened.
“I came to confront him.”
“In my bed?”
“He told me you were at work until seven.”
I checked the clock.
11:43 p.m.
“I was supposed to be.”
Natalie looked down.
“He said he wanted to explain. Then he started kissing me.”
I felt something ugly twist in my stomach.
She saw it.
“I’m not proud of that.”
“You thought he was divorced.”
“So did you.”
That shut me up.
The next morning, I called the bank at 8:01.
By 8:07, my hands were shaking.
The loan officer transferred me to fraud investigations.
A woman named Denise came on the line.
“Mrs. Cole, I need to verify several transactions.”
“I’m not Mrs. Cole.”
The words came out before I could stop them.
Natalie looked at me from across the table.
Technically, I might never have been.
Denise continued.
“There is a home equity line opened eight months ago.”
“I never opened one.”
“An initial withdrawal of eighty thousand dollars was made the same week.”
I grabbed the counter.
Natalie stood.
“Then another forty-five thousand two months later,” Denise said. “And several smaller withdrawals afterward.”
“How much is left?”
A pause.
“Available?”
“No. How much do we owe?”
Another pause.
“One hundred seventy-nine thousand, four hundred and twelve dollars.”
My knees almost buckled.
Natalie caught my arm.
I whispered, “Where did the money go?”
“We can provide account information to law enforcement once fraud documentation is filed.”
Then Denise said something that stopped my breathing.
“There’s another issue.”
Of course there was.
“What?”
“The account is currently delinquent.”
“How delinquent?”
“Three months.”
I closed my eyes.
Denise’s voice softened.
“If the balance is not brought current, foreclosure proceedings may begin.”
Natalie covered her mouth.
I couldn’t speak.
My house.
The one I had used my grandmother’s inheritance to help buy.
The one where I had planted hydrangeas out front.
The one Ryan and I had painted ourselves on our first anniversary.
He hadn’t just cheated on me.
He had gambled my home.
I hung up and immediately called a lawyer.
By noon, Natalie had called one too.
At 1:20 p.m., my phone rang from an unknown number.
I answered.
“Claire?”
Ryan.
I nearly dropped the phone.
“You’re calling me?”
“I got released.”
My blood went cold.
“What?”
“Claire, listen to me. Natalie is lying to you.”
Natalie was standing six feet away.
She heard every word.
Ryan continued.
“She forged those documents.”
Natalie’s face changed.
“Put me on speaker,” she said.
I did.
Ryan went silent.
Natalie leaned toward the phone.
“Say it again.”
He hung up.
Three seconds later, my doorbell rang.
I looked at Natalie.
She looked at me.
Neither of us moved.
Then someone knocked.
Three slow knocks.
May you like
And a man’s voice called from outside.
“Mrs. Cole? I’m here about the property.”
