Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN WHO STOLE TWICE
Rebecca Lawson had always been beautiful.
Not in the effortless way people described in magazines.
Her beauty was deliberate.
Calculated.
Every strand of hair.
Every smile.
Every perfectly timed compliment.
In college, she had borrowed my clothes.
My makeup.
My notes.
Then my boyfriend.
When I confronted her, she hadn't apologized.
She'd shrugged.
“I wanted to know if I could.”
That was Rebecca.
Winning mattered more than what she won.
Now, ten years later, she'd found my husband.
I didn't believe it was coincidence.
The next morning, Emily Grant called.
“Sarah, I've started reviewing the information you sent.”
I sat at my kitchen table.
“Anything?”
Emily hesitated.
“Rebecca Lawson isn't just involved with Daniel personally.”
My stomach tightened.
“What do you mean?”
“She has business connections to his company.”
I stared.
“Since when?”
“Possibly eighteen months.”
I closed my eyes.
Daniel had told me Rebecca was a consultant.
A marketing specialist.
Someone he'd hired through a referral.
He never mentioned her name.
Emily continued.
“And Sarah?”
“Yes?”
“Some of the payments are unusual.”
My heart began pounding.
“How unusual?”
“Large enough that I want a forensic accountant involved.”
I stared at the wedding photograph on the wall.
Daniel smiling.
Me beside him.
Both of us believing we were beginning something permanent.
May you like
Then I looked away.
“Hire one.”
