Chapter 5 - SOMEBODY HAD BEEN WEARING MY NAME
"Four months?" I repeated.
June confirmed it.
"Four months, Emily. But there's something strange about the login history."
I was still sitting in Owen's site office.
Maisie's drawing lay beside the invoices.
"Tell me."
"The account was accessed from a computer inside the main office. Almost every approval originated from the third-floor administrative suite."
Vanessa's office.
My husband had apparently spent months using my name while convincing people I was too fragile to make decisions.
"Can you preserve those records?"
"Yes. I'm exporting the access history now."
"Good. Don't change anything."
I called Margaret immediately.
She told me to preserve the original records, not merely screenshots, and said she would arrange for an independent technology specialist to examine the approval system.
"Don't accuse anyone publicly yet," she warned.
"Why not?"
"Because Daniel will claim you authorized the transactions and later changed your mind. We need to establish who actually used that account."
I looked at Maisie's drawing.
"And what about the houses?"
"Have Owen preserve every disputed change order. We need an independent engineer before anyone covers up the work."
That afternoon, I went to Bennett Construction's headquarters.
The receptionist, a young woman named Allison, stared at me when I entered.
"Mrs. Bennett?"
"Hello, Allison."
She glanced toward the elevators.
"I thought you were away."
"Why?"
Her face turned pink.
"Mr. Bennett said you were entering a treatment program."
There it was again.
Daniel had spread the lie throughout the company.
"I'm not in treatment," I replied calmly. "And I haven't authorized anyone to speak about my health."
Allison looked deeply uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry."
I touched her arm.
"You haven't done anything wrong."
Upstairs, Vanessa was sitting behind her enormous desk.
Rebecca stood nearby holding a stack of contracts.
Both women froze when I entered.
"Emily," Vanessa said. "You should be resting."
I smiled.
"Apparently everyone thinks so."
Rebecca lowered her eyes.
I placed a copy of the Maple Row approval on Vanessa's desk.
"Can you explain this?"
Vanessa glanced at it.
"Routine project administration."
"Why is my name on it?"
"Because you authorized Daniel to handle company finances."
"That authorization did not give anyone permission to impersonate me."
Vanessa's jaw tightened.
"You're making accusations you don't understand."
"Then explain them."
She leaned back.
"You inherited money, Emily. You didn't build this company. Daniel did."
I felt the insult land, but I refused to react.
"Daniel built a business that was almost bankrupt eight years ago. My inheritance helped save it. Both things can be true."
Rebecca shifted uncomfortably.
Vanessa noticed.
"Rebecca, give us a moment."
Rebecca hurried toward the door.
As she passed, I caught the faint scent of the perfume Daniel had bought me for Christmas.
The perfume I'd seen on our shared credit card statement twice afterward.
I had assumed he'd accidentally ordered duplicates.
Now I understood.
When Rebecca disappeared, Vanessa stood.
"You want the truth? Daniel has been holding everything together while you've been obsessing over having a baby."
I looked at her.
"Be careful."
"Someone needed to say it."
"No, Vanessa. You wanted to say it."
Her face reddened.
"You don't understand what this family has sacrificed."
For the first time, I saw something beneath her cruelty.
Fear.
Vanessa had spent sixteen years working beside her brother.
After their father died, the company had become the only piece of him they still possessed.
She wasn't simply protecting Daniel.
She was terrified of losing the identity she'd built around their family business.
But fear didn't excuse what she had done.
"Then help me protect the company," I said.
Her expression changed.
"Protect it from what?"
"From whoever moved four hundred and thirty thousand dollars out of Maple Row."
For a moment, she said nothing.
Then she walked to the door and opened it.
"I think you should leave."
I remained seated.
"Did Daniel ask you to do this?"
"Emily."
"Did he?"
Vanessa gripped the handle.
"You're going to destroy everything because you can't stand the thought of losing him."
I stood slowly.
"No. I'm trying to find out what you've already destroyed."
As I entered the hallway, Rebecca stepped out of the copy room.
"Emily," she whispered.
I stopped.
She looked frightened.
"I know you probably hate me."
I studied her.
"Do you have something to tell me?"
Rebecca glanced toward Vanessa's office.
Then she shook her head.
"Not here."
She pressed a small business card into my hand.
It wasn't her personal card.
It belonged to the company that maintained Bennett Construction's electronic records.
"I heard they're replacing the server next week," she whispered. "The old approval records might not all transfer."
Before I could respond, Vanessa called her name.
Rebecca hurried away.
I looked down at the card.
The woman sleeping with my husband had just helped me preserve evidence against him.
I didn't know whether that made her brave, frightened, or simply guilty.
But I intended to find out.
That evening, Owen sent me photographs taken during an independent preliminary inspection he had requested.
One showed the wall assembly specified in the original plans.
The other showed materials delivered after the disputed approvals.
The differences were obvious even to me.
Then Owen sent one final message.
Emily, the engineer says these substitutions could affect the fire-safety rating. We need the work stopped until they're properly reviewed.
I stared at the screen.
Daniel hadn't merely risked our money.
He had potentially risked the safety of people who trusted us to build their homes.
May you like
And at the bottom of the disputed material approval was the same name.
Mine.
Related Stories
