Chapter 4: The Divorce Papers Were Never About Divorce
For several seconds, I couldn't hear anything except the hum of the air-conditioning and the frantic beating of my own heart.
Marcus stood in the corridor outside the conference room, staring at the email as though the words might rearrange themselves into something less horrifying.
“She told you they were divorce papers?”” I asked.
He nodded.
“Yesterday afternoon. She said she wanted to protect the family before things got complicated.””
“And you agreed to sign them?””
“I hadn't signed anything.””
“Yet.””
His jaw tightened.
“Camille, I know how this sounds.””
“Then explain it.””
He dragged a hand over his face.
“Mom said she had spoken to a lawyer. She told me that if you decided to leave, I needed to protect myself financially. She said you were planning to take everything you could get.””
I stared at him.
“Everything I could get? Marcus, I left your birthday dinner with one suitcase and my own purse.””
“I know.””
“Do you? Because for three years, your mother has treated me like a gold digger while you sat beside her and watched.””
He looked away.
“I thought she was being protective.””
“Of what? Your money?””
He didn't answer.
That silence was more revealing than any confession.
Daniel Brooks approached us, carrying a second folder.
“I've examined the email metadata,” he said.
“The message is authentic. It originated from Patricia's office account and was sent to Jonathan Vale.””
Marcus straightened.
“Who's Jonathan Vale?””
Daniel looked at him carefully.
“The man behind Northstar Private Equity. He's been attempting to acquire distressed commercial properties throughout Manhattan. Some of his recent transactions have been challenged in court.””
Marcus frowned.
“Why would my mother be working with him?””
“That,” Daniel replied, “is what we're trying to determine.””
I took the folder from him.
Inside were copies of corporate filings, loan correspondence, and a preliminary summary of the company's financial records.
One document had been highlighted.
A proposed transfer of the Fifth Avenue property to an entity called Northstar Property Acquisition LLC.
The transaction would have moved the building into a new company controlled by Vale's investment group. Carter Meridian would then owe Northstar millions in secured debt.
If the company failed to meet the repayment terms, the property could be seized.
And Patricia had signed the preliminary agreement.
I looked at Marcus.
“Did you know your mother was negotiating this?””
“No.””
“Did your father?””
Marcus's expression changed.
“My father died six years ago.””
“I know.””
He swallowed.
“Then why would you ask that?””
“Because the agreement references a family trust established by your father. I want to know whether you've ever seen it.””
Marcus stared at the page.
“There's a trust?””
Daniel exchanged a glance with me.
“There may be more than one.””
Before either of us could continue, the conference room door opened.
Patricia emerged with her attorney at her side. Her cream-colored suit was immaculate, but her composure had begun to fracture.
“Marcus,” she said sharply.
“Come with me.””
He didn't move.
“Mom, I want to know what those divorce papers are.””
Patricia's eyes flicked toward me.
“This is a private family matter.””
“No,” I said.
“You made it a corporate matter when you tried to pledge the company's property.””
She stepped closer.
“You have no idea what you're talking about.””
“Then explain the loan.””
Her lips pressed together.
“I was arranging temporary financing.””
“Against a property you didn't have authority to pledge.””
“I was protecting the business!””
“From what?””
For the first time, she had no immediate answer.
Her attorney touched her elbow.
“Mrs. Carter, I strongly recommend that we discuss this in private.””
Patricia brushed him away.
“Don't tell me how to handle my own family.””
Then she turned to Marcus.
“You're allowing her to turn you against me.””
Marcus looked exhausted.
“I'm asking you a question.””
“And I'm telling you that Camille is manipulating you.””
I watched him carefully.
For three years, those words would have been enough. Patricia would have raised her voice, Marcus would have apologized, and I would have been expected to make peace.
But something had changed.
Marcus looked at his mother and said, “Stop blaming Camille for everything.””
Patricia went silent.
It was the first time I had ever heard him say those words to her.
Her face flushed.
“Excuse me?””
“You heard me.””
She took a step toward him.
“After everything I've done for you?””
Marcus's shoulders sagged.
“That's exactly what you always say.””
“Because it's true!””
“You helped me get a position in the company. You helped me buy my first apartment. You've reminded me of those things every time I've disagreed with you.””
Patricia's eyes widened.
“I sacrificed my entire life for this family.””
“And what did you sacrifice for me?”” Marcus asked.
“My marriage?””
The question hung between them.
Patricia's expression hardened into something cold and unfamiliar.
“You'll regret speaking to me like that.””
She turned and walked back into the conference room.
Marcus remained motionless.
I felt no satisfaction watching him suffer. Whatever he was beginning to understand, it didn't erase the years I'd spent asking him to stand beside me.
Daniel cleared his throat.
“There is another issue we need to address.””
He opened the folder to a document bearing Marcus's name.
It was a draft resignation letter from Carter Meridian Holdings, dated three weeks earlier.
Marcus stared at it.
“I've never seen that.””
“Your signature appears on the final page,” Daniel said.
Marcus took the document and examined it.
“That isn't my signature.””
I leaned closer.
The name looked convincing at first glance, but the final stroke of the C was too sharp. Marcus had a distinctive habit of looping the letter whenever he signed anything.
“This is a forgery,” he said.
Daniel nodded.
“It appears to be.””
“Why would anyone forge my resignation?””
“To remove you from the company's management structure before the proposed property transaction.””
Marcus looked toward the conference room.
“My mother?””
“We have not established who prepared the document.””
But none of us needed to say what we were thinking.
Marcus's phone vibrated.
He checked the screen.
A message from Patricia.
*Come to my office at noon. Bring your passport and the documents I gave you last month. Do not discuss this with Camille.*
He read it twice.
“What documents?”” I asked.
He hesitated.
“Mom asked me to keep some papers in my apartment safe. She said they were estate planning documents.””
“Did you read them?””
“No.””
“Where are they now?””
“At home.””
Daniel's expression sharpened.
“Marcus, do not sign anything, alter anything, or remove those papers. We need to preserve the originals.””
Marcus nodded slowly.
Then he looked at me.
“Camille, I need to ask you something.””
I waited.
“When you said your father was involved in the company, did you already know about the loan?””
“No.””
“Did you know my mother was working with Vale?””
“No.””
He searched my face.
“And if you had known, would you have told me?””
I considered the question.
“I would have given you the truth, Marcus. Whether you chose to believe me would have been up to you.””
He lowered his eyes.
For the first time, he seemed to understand that trust wasn't something he could demand simply because we had once exchanged wedding vows.
It was something he had spent three years allowing his mother to destroy.
Daniel's phone rang.
He listened for several seconds, then his expression changed.
“What do you mean the original trust document is missing?””
He turned away from us.
“Yes. I understand. Lock down the records room and preserve the access logs.””
He ended the call.
I felt my stomach tighten.
“What happened?””
Daniel looked at me.
“The original trust agreement established by Marcus's father has disappeared from the company's legal archive.””
Marcus went pale.
“And?””
Daniel hesitated.
“The archive records show that it was checked out six weeks ago.””
“By whom?”” I asked.
He looked directly at Marcus.
“Your mother.””
Then Daniel opened the final page of the report.
A handwritten note had been found in the folder where the trust agreement should have been.
It contained a single sentence.
*If Camille Reed discovers what her father left inside the trust, everything falls apart.*
I read the sentence twice.
Whatever Patricia was hiding, it wasn't simply about money.
She knew something about my family.
May you like
Something my father had never told me.
And now she was trying to make sure I never found out.
