Chapter 3 - My Name, His Debt
“I didn’t sign that.”
Nobody spoke for a moment.
The refrigerator hummed behind us.
Outside, Adrian’s car disappeared through the gates.
Rachel laid the document flat.
“Don’t write on it. Don’t pull it apart.”
“Can they take the house?”
“We need the complete loan file before I can answer that.”
I hated the uncertainty.
I trusted her more because she didn’t hide it.
Dad made a call, then stopped when I touched his wrist.
“Who are you calling?”
“My office.”
“Tell me before you decide things for me.”
His expression changed.
Six years earlier, he had told me that if I married Adrian, I should not expect him to stand there applauding.
I had heard a door slam.
Adrian had spent six years insisting it was locked.
“All right,” Dad said.
“I want someone to check whether my firm has any exposure to his company.”
“Why would it?”
He looked away for half a second.
Rachel’s phone rang before he answered.
She put it on speaker after introducing everyone.
Northbridge’s counsel confirmed that Vale Development had borrowed against a package that included a mortgage on my house.
“We received the owner’s signed consent,” the man said.
“The owner disputes its authenticity,” Rachel replied.
“Preserve the application, communications, verification records, and funding instructions.”
He agreed to send the file.
He would not agree that evening to release the property claim.
After the call, I opened the blue envelope.
Three overdue notices slid out.
Adrian had hidden them beneath our wedding photograph while telling me we could afford a bigger nursery.
My phone lit up.
ADRIAN: You’re confused. You signed what I gave you.
Another message followed.
Don’t let your father destroy our daughter’s future.
I stared at the word our.
Twenty minutes earlier, the baby had been an inconvenience standing between him and Camille.
Rachel photographed the messages.
“You don’t have to answer tonight.”
Then Dad’s phone rang.
He listened without interrupting.
When he lowered it, his face looked older.
May you like
“There’s something you need to know,” he said.
“My money helped build Adrian’s company.”
