Chapter 7: His Mother Was Part of the Scheme
I listened to Richard's voicemail four more times.
"Mom is involved, and if you keep pushing, you're going to hurt people who had nothing to do with this.""
Every time I heard it, the sentence became more disturbing.
Patricia had spent five years treating me like an outsider who happened to sleep in her son's house.
She criticized my cooking, questioned my military schedule, and once told me that Richard deserved a wife who was home more often.
I'd tolerated it because I believed she was simply protective of her son.
Now her phone number appeared on a fraudulent company registration.
Her email address was connected to an entity carrying a false version of my identity.
And Richard had just admitted she was involved.
I forwarded the voicemail to Dana.
Her response came immediately.
*Preserve the original. We need to establish what Patricia actually did before confronting her.*
I called her anyway.
Not to confront her.
To give her one opportunity to tell the truth.
She answered after three rings.
"Charlotte?""
"Good morning, Patricia.""
"Richard tells me you're making accusations.""
"Then perhaps Richard should tell you what I found.""
She sighed.
"Whatever you're doing, you're taking this too far.""
I looked at the company registration on my laptop.
"Did you help Richard register a company using my identification?""
Silence.
"Patricia?""
"I don't know what you're talking about.""
"There's a company registered under a variation of my name. Your telephone number is listed as its emergency contact.""
She inhaled sharply.
"Richard handles those things.""
"Did you provide the contact information?""
"I might have helped with paperwork.""
"What paperwork?""
"I don't remember.""
I closed my eyes.
"Patricia, did you know he was using my identity?""
Her voice became defensive.
"Charlotte, you need to understand something. My son has been under enormous pressure.""
"That's not an answer.""
"His business was going to collapse.""
"Then he should have dealt with his creditors honestly.""
"You have a good salary. You have savings. You have that beautiful house. Richard thought you could help him.""
"Help him how? By taking out loans without my consent?""
"Nobody was trying to hurt you!""
I stared at the screen.
"Did you know my name was on the loan documents?""
She didn't respond.
Then she said something I would never forget.
"I thought you'd eventually agree once you understood how much was at stake.""
I sat down.
"So you knew.""
"I knew Richard needed help.""
"Did you know he was pretending I had already agreed?""
"Charlotte, please.""
"Did you?""
She started crying.
I let the silence stretch.
Finally, she whispered, "He told me you were going to sell the house eventually.""
"Who told him that?""
"He said you had discussed it.""
"With whom?""
"With him.""
"I never discussed selling my house.""
Patricia's voice became smaller.
"I didn't know that.""
"Did you help him create the company?""
"I only gave him an email address and a contact number. He said it was for administrative purposes.""
"Did you know he was using a false version of my name?""
"I thought it was some kind of holding company.""
"Did you receive money?""
Silence.
Then she said, "He paid off some of my medical bills.""
I closed my eyes.
There it was.
Another financial benefit.
Another person who had decided that keeping Richard comfortable was more important than telling me the truth.
"How much?""
"I don't know.""
"Patricia.""
"About eighteen thousand dollars.""
I felt physically sick.
"From where?""
"I thought it came from his business.""
"Did you ask?""
"He said it was a family arrangement.""
I looked at the transaction records.
Seventy-three thousand five hundred dollars had already gone to Daniel's company.
Now Patricia admitted receiving eighteen thousand.
I had no idea how many other payments existed.
"Listen carefully," I said.
"My attorney is handling this. Do not delete emails, messages, financial records, or anything connected to that company.""
"You're going to have me arrested?""
"I'm telling you not to destroy evidence.""
"Richard said you'd do this.""
"What?""
"That once you found out, you'd turn against all of us.""
I stared at the phone.
"Patricia, you all made decisions without me. You used my identity. You put my property at risk. You don't get to blame me for discovering it.""
She began sobbing.
Then she whispered:
"Richard said you were supposed to be the one who took the blame.""
My entire body went still.
"What did you say?""
She realized what she'd admitted.
"Nothing.""
"Patricia, repeat that.""
"I have to go.""
The call ended.
I immediately contacted Dana.
When I told her what Patricia had said, she went quiet.
"That statement is important," Dana finally replied.
"Write down the exact words and the time of the conversation. We'll need to distinguish what she personally knows from what Richard told her.""
I opened my notebook.
*Patricia: admitted providing contact information for company registration; admitted receiving approximately $18,000; stated Richard expected Charlotte to take the blame.*
I underlined the last sentence.
Then I received an email from Dana.
She had obtained preliminary records from the company formation service.
The original registration included an uploaded identity document.
My driver's license.
But the document had been altered.
My real surname had been replaced with the surname Mercer.
Someone had also changed the date of birth.
I looked at the file.
It wasn't a mistake.
It was deliberate.
At 11:42 a.m., Dana called again.
"Charlotte, we have another development.""
"What now?""
"The first lender has confirmed that the personal guarantee was submitted through an online portal. The application was associated with an email address that doesn't belong to you.""
"Whose?""
"Richard's.""
I stared at the ceiling.
"Can they identify the device?""
"They're preserving the login records, IP information, and electronic submission history. We have requested those records.""
"Can they establish who uploaded the documents?""
"Potentially. We need the complete audit trail.""
I rubbed my forehead.
"How much did Richard actually receive?""
"The lender has confirmed that approximately three hundred and forty thousand dollars was disbursed under the first facility.""
"Where?""
"Some went to the business. Some went to accounts associated with the holding company.""
"And the second loan?""
"Approximately one hundred and ninety thousand dollars was released before the suspension.""
I closed my eyes.
More than half a million dollars.
Possibly more.
And I hadn't known about any of it.
At noon, Richard sent a photograph.
It showed our wedding picture, the one from the front hallway.
His message read:
*Five years together. Are you really going to throw it away over paperwork?*
I stared at the photograph.
Then another message arrived.
*Mom is devastated. Melissa is terrified. Julian thinks you've lost your mind.*
I typed a reply.
Then deleted it.
I didn't need to explain myself to someone who had invented my consent.
Instead, I sent the screenshot to Dana.
At 1:15 p.m., she called.
"There's something else I want you to see.""
She sent a document.
It was a preliminary transaction summary from the holding company.
The list contained several payments.
A property acquisition in Raleigh.
A commercial office building in Virginia.
An eighteen-thousand-dollar transfer to Patricia.
A thirty-thousand-dollar payment to Daniel.
And one more transaction.
$96,000.
Recipient: J. Bennett.
I frowned.
"Who is J. Bennett?""
Dana paused.
"Do you recognize the initials?""
I stared at the amount.
Then it clicked.
Julian.
Julian's legal surname was Bennett.
Richard had apparently transferred ninety-six thousand dollars to his son.
I called Dana.
"That's Julian.""
"Are you certain?""
"Yes.""
"What would he need that much money for?""
I thought about his BMW.
His apartment.
His girlfriend.
The expensive restaurants.
His constant complaints about being broke.
Then I remembered something he'd said at dinner.
"Just give me the keys, Charlotte.""
I looked at the transaction date.
The money had been transferred only twelve days before that Sunday dinner.
And suddenly, his behavior made a terrible kind of sense.
He hadn't been asking for the government vehicle because he couldn't afford transportation.
He'd recently received ninety-six thousand dollars.
He wanted access to the Explorer because he believed he was entitled to everything I controlled.
My phone vibrated.
A new message from an unknown number.
*Charlotte, it's Julian. Dad says you're making a huge mistake. But I think you deserve to know what he bought with the loan money.*
I stared at the screen.
Then a photograph arrived.
It showed a luxury apartment building.
Beneath it was a message.
*He bought this place for me. It's in my name.*
I enlarged the photograph.
The address was visible.
And it was the same address Richard had listed as his business's new administrative office.
I immediately sent it to Dana.
Then Julian sent another message.
*There's something else. Dad told me you knew about the money. He said you were the one who arranged everything.*
I read it twice.
May you like
Then he added:
*But I found the original paperwork. Your signature isn't even real.*
