“You invited her here?”
“Yes.”
Rachel stepped into the room.
“I didn’t come to make accusations. I came because Vanessa deserves to understand what happened to her money.”
She placed a document on the table.
It showed a transfer of $60,000 from an account associated with my inheritance into an account connected to New Beginnings Holdings. The remaining $26,000 had come from savings shared by Sean and me, according to the preliminary information Rachel had seen.
Alex picked up the page.
“New Beginnings Holdings,” he repeated. “Nancy, isn’t that the company you told me you were planning to create for a coastal rental business?”
Nancy’s lips parted, but no words came out.
Sean stepped toward Rachel.
“You have no right to bring company information into my house.”
Rachel held her ground.
“I haven’t asked anyone to accept anything without verification. The bank can confirm the transactions. The question is why the money was moved and whether Vanessa authorized it.”
I looked directly at my husband.
“Did I?”
He stared at me.
Then he said something I would never forget.
“You signed documents, Vanessa. You can’t pretend you don’t remember every piece of paper you put your name on.”
“I remember signing documents for home repairs. I do not remember authorizing this transfer or a $240,000 loan.”
“You trusted me to handle the finances.”
“I trusted you to tell me the truth.”
His expression hardened.
“You’re making this much worse than it needs to be.”
I shook my head.
“No, Sean. I’m finally asking the questions I should have asked months ago.”
Alex placed the document on the table and faced Nancy.
“Tell me this is a mistake.”
Nancy looked at him, then at Sean.
“Alex, I can explain.”
“Then explain.”
She swallowed.
“Sean said it was an investment. He said Vanessa knew about it and that the money would be replaced before anyone needed it.”
“Did you believe him?”
“I wanted to.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Nancy’s eyes filled with tears.
For the first time that evening, she looked genuinely frightened.
Sean suddenly changed his approach.
“All right. Let’s stop this nonsense. There was an investment. It didn’t go exactly as expected, but the money can be returned. We don’t need to destroy two marriages over a financial disagreement.”
I almost laughed.
A financial disagreement?
He had proposed exchanging spouses while concealing a transaction involving my inheritance and a loan against my home.
“Then why the partner swap?” I asked.
He looked away.
“Because we needed time.”
“Time for what?”
He said nothing.
Rachel opened her folder and removed a photocopy of an email.
“I can answer part of that. Before I left the company, I saw correspondence suggesting that the partner-swap arrangement was intended to create confusion if either marriage broke down. There was discussion of claiming that everyone had voluntarily agreed to the arrangement, then filing financial statements that would make the transactions appear to have been part of a joint business plan.
See more on the next page
