The Signature That Wasn't Hers
Chapter 05 - The Signature That Wasn't Hers
Daniel arrived before noon.
He brought a laptop and a stack of documents.
Ryan paced the living room.
“This is ridiculous,” he said. “I was exploring options.”
Daniel opened a digital listing agreement.
“With your wife’s authorization?”
Ryan stopped.
Elena leaned over the screen.
At the bottom was her name.
Elena Margaret Hart.
A signature appeared beneath it.
It looked almost perfect.
Almost.
Elena touched the screen.
“I didn’t sign this.”
Ryan stared at Daniel.
“It was preliminary.”
Daniel’s voice hardened.
“A forged signature on a property document is not preliminary.”
Ryan turned to Elena.
“I was going to talk to you.”
“After the house sold?”
“It never got that far.”
Daniel clicked another file.
“Actually, it did.”
A private buyer had submitted a letter of intent.
Four million dollars.
Cash.
Elena looked at Ryan.
The villa was worth considerably more.
“Why would you accept four million?”
Ryan shook his head.
“I didn’t.”
Daniel looked at him.
“You countersigned the letter.”
Elena felt the room tilt.
Her husband had been willing to sell her mother’s home below market value.
Then she noticed the buyer’s company name.
Mercer Holdings.
She knew that name.
Chloe Mercer.
The woman in the pool.
Elena turned toward Ryan.
“You weren’t selling the villa with Chloe.”
She pointed to the document.
May you like
“You were selling it to her.”
And suddenly the affair and the property deal became the same betrayal.
