Chapter 2 - The Locked Drawer
“That’s an old document,” Adrian said.
The attorney did not lower it.
“Rachel Chen,” she said.
“And the current property record matches it.”
My mother had bought the house in my name before she died.
I had known it was her gift.
After we married, Adrian handled the bills, the insurance, everything he called boring.
When he said marriage had changed the ownership, I had believed him.
I felt ashamed of that now.
Rachel seemed to notice.
“Someone lying to you doesn’t make the lie your fault.”
Adrian reached toward the table drawer.
“I need my keys.”
His keys lay beside the cake.
“They’re right there,” I said.
He stopped.
Camille put down the glass with a sharp click.
“Are we really doing this?”
“You can leave,” I told her.
“Adrian invited me.”
“And I’m asking you to leave my home.”
Dad took one step forward, but Rachel raised a hand.
“Nobody is touching anyone,” she said.
“Adrian, take an overnight bag. Your counsel can contact me about access and belongings.”
He looked at the security officers in the doorway.
They stood still.
He could stay and argue, but the audience he had arranged was gone.
“You’ll regret bringing him into this,” he told me.
He went upstairs.
Camille followed, taking the champagne bottle.
When the front door finally closed, my knees weakened.
Dad reached for me.
“Come home with me.”
I looked around the room where I had learned to apologize before speaking.
“I am home.”
Rachel asked whether Adrian had ever requested my signature on property documents.
“Repair approvals. Insurance forms. Nothing selling the house.”
She studied the drawer.
“Do you have a key?”
There was a spare in the kitchen cabinet.
I remembered putting it there before Adrian decided he should handle the paperwork.
Inside lay loan statements, a blue envelope, and a photograph from our wedding.
My face in the picture had been covered by a folded notice.
Rachel read the notice twice.
“Olivia, have you ever borrowed from Northbridge Capital?”
“No.”
She turned the paper toward me.
The amount was $4.8 million.
May you like
The collateral address was mine.
And beneath the words PROPERTY OWNER CONSENT was my signature.
