Chapter 8 - Thomas's Signature
When the approval record surfaced, I agreed to meet Thomas at Lena's office. I had no interest in arguing with him on a sidewalk again.
He looked tired, but he arrived with documents rather than excuses.
“I approved a funding package,” he said. “Vincent described it as an internal reserve reallocation. I did not know your name had been placed on it.”
“Did you read what you approved?”
He hesitated.
“Not carefully enough.”
“And you expect that answer to make me feel better?”
“No.”
Thomas acknowledged that he had chosen convenience over oversight, just as he had chosen not to hear me when our marriage fell apart.
“I let Sarah handle every uncomfortable conversation,” he said. “I let Vincent handle every difficult number. Then I told myself I hadn't done anything wrong.”
For a moment, he looked more like the man I had married than the billionaire in the newspapers.
But I had learned not to mistake an apology for a repaired relationship.
Lena asked Thomas's counsel to provide the underlying materials and communications so that the approval could be evaluated. Thomas agreed, subject to proper protections.
A qualified document examiner later reported irregularities in the authorization attributed to me. The investigation continued into who created and submitted the false paperwork.
That week, Sarah's attorney produced messages showing Vincent had instructed her to suppress my pregnancy notice because it would “complicate the family-office settlement.”
One message carried an additional instruction.
Ensure Amelia has no independent counsel before final disbursement.
I reread it until the words blurred.
May you like
They hadn't merely hidden me from my husband.
They had counted on me being too isolated to challenge them.
