Chapter 9 - The Signature That Looked Like Mine

Nora didn't call the signature forged when she first saw it.

She called it disputed.

That distinction mattered.

The document might be a copy, an authorization I had forgotten, or evidence of something much worse.

We requested authenticated records and consulted an appropriate professional before making accusations.

But I knew one thing with absolute certainty.

On the date printed beside that signature, I had been in a hospital room with Lily after an asthma episode.

Daniel had spent the afternoon in the waiting area.

I remembered because he'd complained about missing Megan's birthday lunch.

When I told him about the document, he responded faster than he had to any message about Lily.

"Don't touch the loan," he wrote.

"Why?"

"Because you don't understand what you're looking at."

"Then explain it."

Three dots appeared and disappeared for nearly a minute.

"I was trying to help the family."

I set down the phone.

He still wasn't saying our family.

Rachel sat beside me as I unfolded the bank records.

The transfers to Megan were bad enough, but this was different.

I was afraid that the roof over Lily's head had become collateral in a bargain no one had asked me to make.

Nora contacted the lender and advised me on protecting my information while the facts were clarified.

We also arranged a financial review with an independent professional.

I told myself not to panic ahead of evidence.

Then Patricia called.

It was the first time she'd contacted me directly since Thanksgiving.

"Emily," she said pleasantly, "I hear you've been asking questions that don't concern you."

"Questions about my own house concern me."

She gave a sharp little laugh.

"That house was never supposed to be just yours."

"What does that mean?"

"Ask Daniel what he agreed to before you married him."

The line went dead.

I looked at the photograph on my desk of our wedding day.

Daniel had been smiling at me beneath an arch of white flowers.

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