Chapter 11 - THE MONEY
My first thought was our bank account.
I grabbed my phone.
Graham saw it.
“Not ours.”
I looked up.
He had answered too quickly.
Richard’s expression changed.
“What do you know?”
“Nothing.”
“You just said it isn’t yours.”
“I assumed you meant firm money.”
Richard stared at him.
I felt cold again.
“What money?”
Richard answered.
“Business-development expenses.”
“How much?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Graham stepped forward.
“This has nothing to do with Elise.”
“Then explain it.”
“I submitted reimbursements.”
“For what?”
“Client events.”
Richard’s jaw tightened.
“What events?”
Graham looked away.
That told me.
I suddenly remembered dozens of nights.
Graham saying he had dinner with prospects.
Golf outings.
Wine tastings.
Private networking events.
I had never questioned them.
Why would I?
“Were they real?” I asked.
He didn’t answer.
My voice dropped.
“Graham.”
“Some were.”
My stomach turned.
Richard swore under his breath.
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
Dana’s voice had disappeared because the phone call had ended ten minutes earlier, but I wished she were still listening.
Richard pulled out his phone.
“I’m calling legal.”
“On Thanksgiving?”
“You submitted fake expenses on Thanksgiving-independent dates.”
Graham stepped closer.
“I can explain.”
“Stop saying that!”
Richard’s voice cracked through the house.
For the first time, he looked furious.
“You brought me into a building under false pretenses. You used your wife’s identity. Now I’m hearing you may have fabricated client events?”
“I didn’t fabricate all of them.”
My mother muttered, “Strong defense.”
Nobody laughed.
Cynthia sank into a chair.
“My son would never steal.”
Graham turned.
“Mom, please.”
That scared her.
I could see it.
Because innocent sons usually want their mothers talking.
Graham didn’t.
I asked, “What did you spend the reimbursements on?”
“Elise.”
“What?”
He looked at the floor.
“Normal stuff.”
“What normal stuff?”
“Bills.”
“We pay our bills.”
“My bills.”
Silence.
“What bills?”
He looked at me.
And suddenly I knew.
Not exactly what.
But I knew there was another life inside our marriage.
Another layer.
“How much debt are you in?”
Cynthia gasped.
Graham rubbed both hands over his face.
“About forty-eight.”
I stared.
“Forty-eight hundred?”
Nobody answered.
My chest tightened.
“Forty-eight thousand?”
He nodded.
I actually stepped backward.
“How?”
“Trading.”
My mind stalled.
“What?”
“Options. Some crypto.”
I laughed because the alternative was breaking something.
“You lost forty-eight thousand dollars trading?”
“I was going to make it back.”
“When?”
He didn’t answer.
“Is any of that debt in my name?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Richard.
“Can someone verify that?”
Richard nodded.
“We’ll help make sure you get independent confirmation.”
Graham snapped, “Stop talking to my wife like I’m a criminal.”
Richard’s expression turned hard.
“Then stop giving me reasons to use investigators.”
Cynthia started crying.
Quietly.
Graham stared at all of us like we had betrayed him.
That was the strangest part.
He really looked hurt.
Then my phone buzzed.
Nora.
I opened the message.
Call me immediately. We discovered a second unauthorized access to your office.
My heart stopped.
A second access.
I looked at Graham.
“When did you go back?”
His face went blank.
“I didn’t.”
And for once, I believed him.
May you like
Because he looked genuinely confused.
Which meant someone else had.
