PART 2: The Debts Bearing My Name

Beatrice’s investigators had uncovered stolen employee funds, forged signatures, and signs that Adrian intended to leave me financially exposed. Suddenly, his demands that I sign refinancing papers without reading them looked different.

He had changed passwords, dismissed my questions, and insisted his mother was confused whenever she mentioned money. Graham now showed me loan applications and corporate guarantees bearing signatures that resembled mine.

I had never authorized them. Unchallenged, they could have left me responsible for several million dollars.

My phone showed thirty-seven missed calls from Adrian. After the hospital contacted him, he had finally become desperate to reach me.

I sent a brief message telling him his mother had died the previous night. When I eventually answered, he demanded to know why I hadn’t warned him.

“I called thirty-one times.”

He claimed he had been working. I mentioned Maui and the woman who had answered, Victoria.

His excuses stopped when I told him Beatrice had heard the conversation. He said he was coming home, but I ended the call without discussing the documents.

Graham then showed me transfers to Pacific Crest Holdings, a company registered to Victoria Elise Shaw. It owned approximately four million dollars in property, including a beachfront villa in Maui.

Adrian had insisted we couldn’t afford more nursing assistance for his mother. I had covered those nights myself while he directed money toward Victoria’s properties.

Records showed transfers of $800,000, $1.2 million, and $600,000. Another authorization, dated three months earlier, moved $2,750,000 from employee retirement reserves under my forged signature.

Hundreds of people at Northbridge Industries depended on those savings. I told Graham to involve investigators and challenge every transaction connected to my identity.

Before he could call, his assistant reported two men downstairs asking for me. One claimed to work for Adrian.

Graham realized my phone still shared its location with my husband. I disabled it while he instructed security to deny the men access and contact police if necessary.

He then escorted me out through a private entrance. We were going to a bank, where Beatrice had left something else.