Chapter 5 - THE FIRST PERSON WHO TRIED TO WARN ME
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I took a picture of Julian’s screen with my phone.
Mason reached for it.
I stepped back.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Claire, listen.”
“No. You listen.”
My voice shook now.
People were watching openly.
I didn’t care.
“You forged my signature?”
“I did not forge anything.”
“Then who did?”
Silence.
My eyes moved to Vanessa.
Her face went pale.
“Oh my God.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“Don’t look at me.”
“Why not?”
“Because I didn’t do it.”
Julian said quietly, “She knows who did.”
Mason turned on him.
“You have no proof.”
Julian’s smile was almost sad.
“You always say that right before someone finds proof.”
Before Mason could answer, a woman pushed through the crowd.
“Claire?”
I turned.
Nora Bell.
My old college roommate.
One of the few friends I had lost during the divorce.
Not because she took Mason’s side.
Because I had.
Years earlier.
“Nora?”
She looked furious.
Not at me.
At Mason.
“I heard the word Riverside.”
Mason closed his eyes.
“Jesus Christ.”
Nora looked at me.
“Do you remember when I called you three years ago and asked why your name was on a guarantor filing?”
My stomach dropped.
A memory surfaced.
Nora worked in commercial lending.
She had called me during lunch.
Asked weird questions.
I had gotten defensive.
Mason had told me she was jealous.
He had said she never respected our marriage.
I stopped returning her calls.
“Nora…”
“I tried to tell you.”
The pain in her face made me feel sick.
“I thought you were attacking him.”
“I know.”
“I’m sorry.”
“We can do that later.”
She looked at Mason.
“Right now, you need to know something.”
Mason’s voice turned threatening.
“Nora, this is none of your business.”
She laughed.
“You made it my business when you submitted documents through my bank.”
Vanessa whispered something under her breath.
Nora looked at me.
“Riverside Development LLC took out a bridge loan. Your name appeared as a personal guarantor.”
“I never guaranteed a loan.”
“I know that now.”
“How much?”
She hesitated.
“How much, Nora?”
“Eight hundred thousand.”
The room tilted.
I grabbed Julian’s arm.
He steadied me immediately.
Mason said, “That loan was paid.”
Nora snapped, “After refinancing.”
“So?”
“So if it hadn’t been, she could have lost everything.”
“I handled it.”
“You used her as collateral without telling her!”
People gasped.
Mason looked around.
“This is a private financial matter.”
Nora stepped closer.
“No. It became fraud the second someone signed Claire’s name.”
Vanessa grabbed Mason’s sleeve.
“We need to leave.”
That sentence interested me.
Not I need to leave.
We.
I looked at her.
“You knew.”
She froze.
“You knew about the loan.”
“I knew Mason had financing.”
“You knew my name was on it.”
“No.”
Julian tilted his head.
“She’s lying.”
Vanessa glared at him.
“You always thought you knew everything.”
“No. I just finally learned what your face looks like when you’re lying.”
Mason took Vanessa’s arm.
“We’re done here.”
I stepped in front of them.
“No.”
His eyes went flat.
“Move.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
I held up my phone.
“Either you explain Riverside right now, or I call a lawyer before you finish cutting your wedding cake.”
Mason stared at me.
Then something unexpected happened.
He smiled.
Slowly.
Coldly.
“You think you still have leverage?”
My skin prickled.
“What does that mean?”
He leaned close enough that only I could hear him.
May you like
“It means you should check who actually owns the apartment you’re living in.”
Then he walked away.
