Chương 10
“Then maybe somebody can finally make him pay attention.”
Darcy did not move aside.
“What exactly are you here to discuss?”
Graham looked at her.
“Julian’s loan.”
“Which loan?”
“All of them, effectively.”
Julian stepped toward the door.
“You need to leave.”
Graham ignored him.
“I have documentation that may affect the property.”
Darcy’s face hardened.
“What property?”
He looked at me again.
“This one.”
My stomach tightened.
Julian said, “He’s bluffing.”
Graham turned toward him.
“Am I?”
“You have nothing against this house.”
“I have the file you submitted.”
Darcy’s gaze snapped to Julian.
He looked away.
Something inside me went cold.
“What file?”
Graham finally seemed to understand that I genuinely did not know.
His irritation faded by a degree.
He opened the portfolio.
Julian grabbed the edge.
“Don’t.”
Darcy caught Julian’s wrist before he could pull it away.
“Take your hand off.”
He stared at her.
“Now.”
He released the portfolio.
Graham removed a packet of documents.
The first page showed the address of my house.
My name appeared beneath it.
So did Julian’s.
I looked at Darcy.
She took the packet.
Her eyes moved quickly down the page.
Then slower.
“What is this signature?”
Julian said nothing.
Darcy looked at me.
“Sloan, did you sign any authorization involving this property in the last year?”
“No.”
Julian shut his eyes.
The foyer seemed to contract around us.
Darcy held the page up.
The signature looked like mine.
Not perfectly.
But close enough to make my skin crawl.
My handwriting had a slight rightward slant.
The one on the page copied it.
Even the oversized S.
I stared at Julian.
“Did you sign my name?”
“No.”
Graham scoffed.
“Then who did?”
“I sent scans.”
“That is not what I asked.”
Julian looked furious now.
“I did not forge her signature.”
Darcy examined the page again.
“Was this electronically executed?”
Graham nodded.
“Through our document platform.”
“Email verification?”
“Yes.”
“Which email address?”
He told her.
It was not mine.
The address contained my first and last name followed by three numbers.
I had never seen it before.
Darcy looked at Julian.
He shook his head immediately.
“That wasn’t me.”
Graham’s eyebrows rose.
“Interesting.”
“What?”
“You were very comfortable using it when you submitted the application.”
Julian took a step back.
“I never created that email.”
“Then someone created it for you.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You don’t have to.”
Darcy’s voice cut between them.
“Who had access to the submission portal?”
Graham looked at Julian.
“Julian.”
“Anyone else?”
He hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Tessa Caldwell.”
The room went completely still.
Julian stared at him.
“No.”
Graham looked confused.
“She handled the upload.”
“No, she didn’t.”
“She absolutely did.”
Julian’s face drained of color.
“She told me she was just helping organize the file.”
“That is handling the upload.”
“You let her submit documents in Sloan’s name?”
Graham’s irritation returned.
“You told us she was authorized.”
“I never said that.”
“You represented Tessa as your financial consultant.”
“She was an operations consultant.”
“To us, she was the person coordinating your restructuring.”
Julian shook his head.
“No.”
Graham laughed once.
“You really are going to do this.”
Darcy closed the folder.
“Everyone needs to stop talking for a minute.”
No one did.
Julian turned on Graham.
“You knew the property wasn’t mine.”
“We knew you claimed an equitable interest.”
“That is not ownership.”
“You supplied documents stating Sloan intended to pledge the property.”
“I supplied drafts.”
“You supplied an executed authorization.”
“I did not.”
Darcy raised her voice.
“Stop.”
The word cracked through the foyer.
For once, everyone listened.
She turned to Graham.
“Do you have copies of every document submitted to Crescent Bridge?”
“Yes.”
“Original metadata?”
“Yes.”
“Portal logs?”
“I assume so.”
“Do not alter them.”
His expression tightened.
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Do not delete them.”
“I heard you.”
“Do not contact Sloan directly after today without going through counsel.”
He looked at me.
“Fine.”
Then Darcy turned to Julian.
“Do not touch Sloan’s devices, her email, her files, or any account connected to her.”
Julian laughed bitterly.
“I didn’t.”
“You have said that enough times today that it has stopped being reassuring.”
Eleanor had remained near the kitchen doorway.
She looked as though she might be sick.
“Tessa did this?”
No one answered her.
She looked at Julian.
“You brought this woman into your finances?”
“I didn’t know she was doing any of this.”
Graham frowned.
“What exactly did you think she was doing?”
Julian stared at him.
“Helping me negotiate.”
“She did more than negotiate.”
Darcy looked at Graham.
“What else?”
He hesitated.
That hesitation mattered.
“What else?” she repeated.
Graham glanced at Julian.
“Crescent Bridge purchased the remainder of Marcus Hale’s debt.”
I felt the floor drop beneath the sentence.
Julian’s head jerked up.
“What?”
Graham looked genuinely surprised.
“You didn’t know?”
“No.”
“You signed the assignment acknowledgment.”
“No, I didn’t.”
Graham opened the portfolio again.
Julian stepped toward him.
Darcy raised one hand.
He stopped.
Graham pulled out another document.
“I met you at the restaurant.”
“You met me about restructuring.”
“Yes.”
“Not buying Marcus’s debt.”
“That was the restructuring.”
Julian stared at him.
“No.”
“Tessa knew.”
Julian’s face changed.
Not guilt this time.
Something rawer.
Betrayal.
Graham continued.
“She brought us the file.”
“What file?”
“Marcus’s.”
“I never gave her Marcus’s documents.”
“She already had them.”
Julian went silent.
Eleanor looked confused.
“How?”
Graham shrugged.
“You’d have to ask her.”
Darcy watched him carefully.
“Was Tessa compensated for referring Julian?”
Graham hesitated again.
Julian saw it.
“You paid her?”
Graham closed the portfolio.
“That arrangement is not relevant to Sloan.”
“It is relevant to me.”
“You are not my client.”
“How much?”
Graham said nothing.
Julian moved closer.
“How much did you pay her?”
Darcy stepped between them.
“Julian.”
He looked past her.
“Tessa told me she was helping me.”
Graham’s expression flattened.
“She was helping complete the transaction.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
May you like
“I don’t know what she told you privately.”
“You slept with her?” Eleanor asked.
