Chapter 4 - THE CONTRACT HE HID IN THE KITCHEN
The first surprise came from the title company.
Rebecca requested copies of the transaction documents I was entitled to receive.
Among them was an amendment I'd never seen.
It concerned a planned renovation loan.
The document listed Adrien as the primary applicant.
And Vanessa Cole as the referring agent.
My signature appeared at the bottom.
I stared at it.
“That isn't my signature.”
Rebecca looked closer.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
I knew my handwriting.
The shape of the C.
The way I crossed my t.
The signature on the document looked like someone had copied it from a Christmas card.
Rebecca set the page down.
“Then we need to preserve this and notify the appropriate parties.”
My stomach twisted.
“What does it mean?”
“It may indicate an unauthorized signature. We need to establish who submitted it and whether any funds were advanced.”
I looked at the date.
Two days after my mother's surgery.
I had been sitting beside her hospital bed.
I hadn't signed anything.
***
The lender confirmed that the renovation loan had not yet funded.
But the application had been approved conditionally.
For $85,000.
I stared at the number.
Adrien had been preparing to borrow against our new house.
Without telling me.
Rebecca advised me to submit a written dispute regarding the signature and to place appropriate fraud alerts on my credit.
I did.
Then I sat in my car outside the bank and cried.
Not because of the affair.
Because I finally understood how far Adrien had been willing to go.
***
That evening, my mother was strong enough to sit upright.
I told her about the loan.
She listened quietly.
Then asked:
“Did Adrien ever tell you why he wanted that house so badly?”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“He pushed for it.”
I remembered.
The listings.
The open houses.
The pressure.
Adrien had insisted we buy before interest rates changed.
He had dismissed my concerns about the cost.
He had told me the house was an investment in our future.
Mom looked toward the window.
“Your father used to say that urgency is sometimes just another word for someone else's advantage.”
I swallowed.
“He knew?”
“Your father knew people.”
She smiled sadly.
“And he knew when they were trying to rush him.”
***
That night, I searched the house's public property history.
The previous owners had held it for twenty-seven years.
Then sold it to us.
Nothing unusual.
But when I searched the neighboring parcels, I found something strange.
A small commercial lot behind our property had been purchased six months earlier.
The buyer was Monroe Development Group LLC.
Adrien had never mentioned it.
I checked the registered agent.
A business services company.
Then the mailing address.
The same office suite used by A. Monroe Consulting.
I stared.
My husband had created companies I didn't know existed.
One was receiving money from our joint account.
Another had purchased property behind our home.
And Vanessa, our real estate agent, was now living in the house.
I forwarded the records to Rebecca.
May you like
Then wrote one sentence.
I think this was planned before we bought the house.
