“No,” Emily said. “I thought you loved me.”
That landed harder than anger would have.
For the briefest moment, Vanessa looked away.
Then she followed Daniel upstairs.
Nathan waited until their footsteps faded.
“Emily,” he said quietly, “there is something else you need to know.”
Robert looked at him.
“What?”
Nathan removed one final document from his briefcase.
It was not from the blue folder.
It carried the letterhead of a private lending company.
Emily read the first page.
Then the second.
Her stomach tightened.
Daniel had not merely planned to pressure her into refinancing the house.
He had already used forged documents to apply for a five-million-dollar loan against it.
And according to the application, Emily had personally guaranteed the debt.
Her signature appeared at the bottom.
It looked perfect.
Except she had never signed it.
Nathan pointed to the approval date.
“The lender releases the first funds tomorrow morning.”
Emily looked toward the staircase.
Daniel had stopped pretending only because he believed the money was already his.
But as footsteps moved overhead and drawers slammed shut, Emily understood something worse.
If Daniel had forged her signature before the wedding, then the marriage had never been the beginning of his plan.
It had been the final step.