I didn’t.
She continued.
“Daniel told me you had been separated emotionally for almost a year.”
“We slept in the same bed Tuesday.”
Lauren flinched.
“He said you were planning to leave after the baby.”
“No.”
“He said you refused to help him financially because you wanted to watch his company fail.”
“No.”
“He said the inheritance was marital money.”
“It isn’t.”
Her face changed.
“And he told me you had agreed to invest five million dollars.”
I stared at her.
“Did you prepare the loan application?”
Lauren’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
My anger rose.
“But Daniel gave me emails that appeared to come from you.”
“Emails?”
“He showed me messages approving the investment.”
“I never sent them.”
She looked down.
“I know that now.”
“Why?”
“Because after yesterday, I checked the metadata.”
Daniel had created a second email account.
My full name.
A slightly different domain.
At a glance, it looked real.
He had written messages to Lauren pretending to be me.
Approving the loan.
Agreeing to become an advisor.
Promising trust money.
Lauren wiped her face.
“I should have verified everything directly with you.”
“Yes.”
“I was sleeping with your husband.”
“Yes.”
“I have no defense for that.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“But there’s something else you need to know.”
I waited.
“The federal contract wasn’t Daniel’s idea originally.”
“What do you mean?”
“His company is almost insolvent.”
“How insolvent?”
“Payroll was going to fail next month.”
I closed my eyes briefly.
Lauren continued.
“The federal subcontract could save the company. But Lawson didn’t have enough qualifying experience.”
“So he used mine.”
“Yes.”
“And my rank.”
“Yes.”
“And my future inheritance to satisfy lenders.”
“Yes.”
I looked toward Clara.
Daniel had not just betrayed our marriage.
He had converted my identity into a business asset.
Lauren reached into her bag.
“I brought everything.”
A USB drive.
Printed emails.
Text messages.
Internal accounting records.
Messages from Daniel.
One text immediately caught my eye.
Once Rebecca signs, we’re covered. She doesn’t understand business anyway.
Another:
If she fights the divorce, we remind her the Army won’t like her name appearing on our bid. She’ll cooperate.
