Chapter 2: The Signature I Never Made
"That's fake.""
My father's voice cracked through the ballroom.
Daniel didn't blink.
"Then I'm sure you'll have no objection to having it examined.""
Dad grabbed the document.
One of the security officers immediately stepped forward.
"Sir, please don't touch the evidence.""
"Evidence?"" Dad shouted.
"This is a family matter!""
Daniel calmly retrieved the paper.
"Not anymore.""
I was still sitting on the floor beside Nathan. A paramedic had arrived and was examining my face.
He gently checked my pupils before looking at my nose.
"Miss Cole, I'm concerned about a possible fracture. We need to get you to the hospital for imaging.""
I nodded.
Nathan crouched beside me.
"Daniel will handle this. I'll come with you.""
Dad suddenly moved toward us.
"Emma! Tell him to stop this nonsense!""
I looked up.
His expensive black shoes were inches from the hem of my wedding dress.
The dress I had spent six months choosing.
The dress my mother had called excessive because she thought I should have spent less on flowers and more on helping my parents.
"Emma," he repeated.
"Tell your husband to put those papers away.""
I stared at him.
"You broke my nose.""
He rolled his eyes.
"You embarrassed me in front of everyone.""
The paramedic stopped what he was doing.
Even Nathan looked momentarily stunned.
Dad continued.
"You could have simply asked Nathan for the money. Instead, you decided to humiliate your own father.""
I felt something inside me go very still.
"Thirty thousand dollars?""
"Yes!""
"For your car?""
"An Escalade is a reasonable purchase for a man of my position!""
I looked at my mother.
She finally spoke.
"Emma, your father has worked hard his entire life. He deserves something nice.""
I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"Then why doesn't he buy it himself?""
Mom's lips pressed together.
"Because he has responsibilities.""
I turned toward Daniel.
"Can you explain the document?""
Daniel nodded.
"Certainly.""
He placed a second paper beside the first.
"According to this agreement, you supposedly authorized a loan of $180,000 to your father. The funds were transferred from an account associated with your personal identity.""
I blinked.
"One hundred and eighty thousand?""
Nathan's jaw tightened.
"Emma, I didn't know about the full amount until Daniel traced the transfers.""
My father immediately interrupted.
"That money was a gift!""
Daniel looked at him.
"Your daughter supposedly signed a loan agreement. You cannot simultaneously claim it was a gift when the documentation says otherwise.""
Dad turned red.
"She agreed to it!""
"I didn't!"" I shouted.
My voice hurt my face, but I didn't care.
"I never signed anything!""
Daniel opened the tablet.
"We anticipated that response.""
He tapped the screen.
A document appeared.
It showed a digital signature beside my name.
But something was wrong.
The signature looked almost identical to mine.
Almost.
I leaned forward.
"That's not how I sign my name.""
Daniel nodded.
"We noticed that. The signature appears to have been copied from an older document.""
Mom suddenly stood up.
"Richard, I told you this was a terrible idea.""
The ballroom went silent.
Dad turned toward her.
"Shut up, Diane.""
But she had already said too much.
Nathan looked at Daniel.
"Play the recording.""
My stomach tightened.
"What recording?""
Daniel hesitated.
Then he pressed a button.
A woman's voice came through the tablet.
My mother's voice.
"Once the money is transferred, she won't be able to prove anything. Emma trusts us. She'll believe we needed it for the house.""
Then my father's voice answered.
"And if Nathan finds out?""
"He won't. Not unless she tells him.""
A pause followed.
Then Dad laughed.
"That girl has always been easy to control.""
I stopped breathing.
The recording continued.
"Besides," Mom said, "once the wedding is over, we can get him to put us on the family investment account. Then we won't have to worry about money again.""
Dad chuckled.
"Exactly. Thirty thousand for the Escalade is nothing compared to what we'll get eventually.""
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
I looked at my mother.
She had gone pale.
"Where did you get that?"" she whispered.
Daniel closed the tablet.
"From a voicemail attachment and audio files provided by Mr. Cole.""
Dad suddenly pointed at Nathan.
"You recorded my wife?""
Nathan's voice was ice-cold.
"She left the messages voluntarily.""
"That's illegal!""
"Then you should be relieved that the original files and their metadata have been preserved for investigators.""
Dad turned toward the guests.
"Don't believe this! Nathan is trying to destroy us because Emma has been poisoning him against her own parents!""
Nobody answered.
Then a man near the bar stepped forward.
It was Uncle Peter, my father's younger brother.
He had been sitting with our extended family all evening.
"Richard," he said quietly, "you told me Emma had agreed to help you buy the car.""
Dad spun around.
"Peter, stay out of this.""
"You also told me the money was coming from your daughter's inheritance.""
I looked at him.
"My inheritance?""
Peter nodded.
"That's what he said. He claimed your grandmother had left you money and that you were finally sharing it with your parents.""
I stared at my father.
My grandmother had died two years earlier.
She had left me something.
Something my parents had told me was too complicated to access.
I had never questioned it because I trusted them.
"Daniel," I whispered.
"What inheritance?""
He exchanged a glance with Nathan.
Then he opened the leather briefcase again.
This time, he removed a sealed envelope with my grandmother's handwriting on the front.
My name.
Emma.
My fingers began trembling.
Nathan leaned close.
"There's something else you need to know.""
I looked at him.
"What?""
He swallowed.
"Your grandmother didn't leave your parents anything.""
May you like
He paused.
"She left you an entire trust.""
