Chapter 4 - The Signature of a Six-Year-OldI stared at the signature.
It resembled mine.
Almost perfectly.
But I knew immediately it wasn't mine.
“I was six.”
Nathaniel nodded.
“Which means someone forged it.”
“Who?”
He didn't answer.
My phone rang.
It was my attorney.
“Cassandra, where are you?”
“Baltimore.”
“Get back here immediately.”
“What happened?”
“We've received an emergency filing from Gavin.”
My stomach tightened.
“What kind?”
“He's accusing you of financial fraud.”
I laughed once.
“Of course he is.”
“No, Cassandra. You don't understand.”
She sounded frightened.
“He is claiming you secretly diverted $18 million from the company.”
“That is impossible.”
“He attached documents.”
“Forged documents?”
“Yes.”
“Then expose them.”
“We're trying.”
“What's the problem?”
She paused.
“They appear authentic.”
I looked at Nathaniel.
He already understood.
Gavin was not trying to win the divorce anymore.
He was trying to bury me before the ownership issue could be examined.
I returned to Montgomery County that afternoon.
The courtroom was already buzzing.
Gavin sat at the table with his attorneys.
Sloane was behind him.
When I entered, Gavin smiled.
“You should have stayed in Baltimore.”
I sat down.
“What did you do?”
He leaned toward me.
“You should have thought about that before stealing from me.”
Judge Beckett entered.
The hearing began.
Philip Dane presented the alleged transactions.
Eighteen million dollars.
Corporate funds transferred into various Bellamy accounts.
Then withdrawals.
Then personal purchases.
He made it sound devastating.
“Your Honor, these records establish financial misconduct.”
My attorney stood.
“These documents are fabricated.”
Philip smiled.
“We anticipated that claim.”
He produced notarized copies.
Bank confirmations.
Digital signatures.
Tax records.
Everything looked perfect.
Too perfect.
I looked at Gavin.
He wasn't smiling anymore.
He was watching me closely.
Waiting for panic.
But there was one detail he didn't know.
I had kept the original server.
Years earlier, when Gavin upgraded the company's systems, I had insisted on maintaining an offline archival server for legal compliance.
He had forgotten about it.
I had not.
My attorney called our forensic accountant.
The files were transferred.
He compared the transaction records to the original archived metadata.
Then he looked up.
“The timestamps are wrong.”
Judge Beckett frowned.
“How wrong?”
“Two of these documents were created six months after the transactions they're supposed to record.”
Philip objected.
“That is speculation.”
The accountant shook his head.
“No. Metadata doesn't lie.”
Gavin's face changed.
The judge ordered an independent forensic review.
That should have been enough to stop him.
It wasn't.
During a recess, I found Sloane waiting outside.
She looked exhausted.
“Did you know?”
“Know what?”
“That he forged the records?”
“No.”
She swallowed.
“What about my pregnancy?”
My heart stopped.
“What pregnancy?”
She looked terrified.
“He told me he couldn't have children after the twins.”
I stared at her.
“He told you that?”
She nodded.
“He said the boys were his only chance at a family.”
Something was very wrong.
I asked quietly,
“Are you pregnant?”
She didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
Gavin had lied about everything.
To her.
To me.
To the court.
Before we could continue talking, Gavin appeared.
He grabbed Sloane's arm.
“Come with me.”
She pulled away.
“Don't touch me.”
He froze.
Then he looked at me.
For the first time, I saw pure hatred.
Not anger.
Not fear.
Hatred.
“Do you know what happens when you destroy a man's life, Cassandra?”
I answered quietly.
“I think you mean yours.”
He leaned closer.
“You have no idea what you're exposing.”
I stared at him.
“Then tell me.”
His mouth tightened.
“You're digging up people who were buried for a reason.”
Then he walked away.
Sloane remained behind.
She whispered,
“He wasn't talking about your father.”
I turned.
“Who was he talking about?”
She looked toward the courtroom doors.
“The judge.”
I froze.
“What?”
Sloane lowered her voice.
“Judge Beckett knows Gavin.”
My heart pounded.
“From where?”
“I don't know.”
She stared at me.
“But yesterday, before court, I saw them together.”
My world tilted again.
May you like
Because Judge Marian Beckett had not looked surprised when she saw the ownership record.
She had looked afraid.
