Chapter 10 - THE DEAL MY HUSBAND SIGNED WITHOUT READINGVincent's Perspective
My first reaction to Sophia's pregnancy announcement was fear.
My second was responsibility.
If she truly was pregnant, and if I was the father, another child would be affected by the choices I'd made.
That child would deserve care and honesty.
But I couldn't ignore everything else that had happened.
I looked at the photograph of the positive pregnancy test lying on my desk.
“Sophia, how far along are you?”
She hesitated.
“About eight weeks.”
“Have you seen a doctor?”
“Not yet.”
I nodded slowly.
“All right.”
Her eyes searched my face.
“That's all you're going to say?”
“What do you want me to say?”
“That you'll take care of me.”
I swallowed.
“If I'm the father, I'll take responsibility for our child. But that doesn't mean we're going to be together.”
Sophia stared at me.
“Vincent—”
“And I won't discuss Claire's pregnancy with you.”
Her expression hardened.
“You're still choosing her.”
“No. I'm refusing to treat either woman's pregnancy as a competition.”
She looked away.
For several moments, neither of us spoke.
Then she whispered, “You promised I was special.”
I closed my eyes.
“I said things I shouldn't have said.”
“You told me your marriage was practically over.”
“I lied to you about that. And I lied to Claire about us.”
Her eyes filled with anger.
“You think admitting it makes you noble?”
“No.”
I looked directly at her.
“It makes me responsible for what I did.”
She stared at me for another moment.
Then she picked up her handbag and left.
I called Nathan immediately.
He advised me to keep communication through counsel, preserve the information Sophia had provided, and avoid making accusations about her pregnancy without evidence.
I agreed.
I wouldn't repeat the cruelty I'd already shown Claire by making careless assumptions about another woman.
But I also wouldn't let Sophia use uncertainty to stop an investigation into possible financial misconduct.
Two days later, I received a report from the independent forensic accountants reviewing Harbor Point.
The findings were worse than I'd expected.
The six hundred eighty thousand dollars transferred to Sable Advisory hadn't all gone toward consulting expenses.
A substantial portion had moved through another business entity.
North Pier Holdings.
It had been formed less than a year earlier.
Its ownership records connected it to people associated with Sophia and Everett Price.
I stared at the report.
Everett.
My chief financial officer.
The man I'd trusted to protect the company when I couldn't.
I called Nathan.
“Have you seen the North Pier findings?”
“Yes.”
“Everett knew?”
“We have evidence suggesting involvement. We still need to determine the extent of it.”
I stood.
“Bring him in.”
An hour later, Everett sat across from me.
Nathan and an outside investigator were present.
Everett looked older than he had the previous week.
His hands rested tightly together.
“Vincent, I know how this looks.”
I stared at him.
“Then explain it.”
He swallowed.
“Harbor Point was behind schedule. Investors were threatening to withdraw. Sophia said she could secure the financing and resolve the access problem.”
“What access problem?”
Everett looked at Nathan.
Then back at me.
“The eastern entrance.”
My stomach tightened.
“The road beside Claire's schoolhouse?”
He nodded.
I remembered an early Harbor Point presentation.
A map had shown several possible entrances to the waterfront development.
One option used an existing industrial access road.
Another crossed land beside an old brick schoolhouse.
I hadn't studied the details.
I'd told the planning team to choose the most efficient route.
I hadn't realized Claire's property was involved.
Or maybe I hadn't wanted to think about it.
“Did you tell Sophia to acquire the schoolhouse?” I asked.
“No. She proposed a purchase option. She said Claire was willing to sell.”
I shook my head.
“Claire would never sell that property without serious consideration.”
Everett looked down.
“I know that now.”
“You knew her mother wanted to turn it into a community center.”
He didn't answer.
“Everett.”
His eyes lifted.
“I should have verified everything.”
I stared at him.
“That's becoming a very familiar excuse.”
He flinched.
I continued.
“Did you personally authorize the consulting transfers?”
He hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Sophia told me the payments covered financing and land-acquisition services.”
“Did you receive any benefit from them?”
His expression changed.
Nathan leaned forward.
“Everett, you may want separate legal representation before answering further questions.”
Everett looked as though he might be sick.
“I made a terrible mistake.”
I felt something cold settle in my chest.
“Did you take money?”
He covered his face.
After a long silence, he nodded.
“I received consulting compensation through North Pier.”
I stared at him.
“How much?”
He swallowed.
“One hundred and twenty thousand dollars.”
For a moment, I couldn't speak.
My trusted chief financial officer had accepted undisclosed money connected to the same project that used my wife's signature without permission.
He'd placed his career, the company, and Claire's property at risk.
And he'd done it while I was busy having an affair with the woman orchestrating the transactions.
Nathan turned toward him.
“Everett, I strongly recommend that you obtain independent counsel and cooperate with the investigators.”
Everett nodded shakily.
“I will.”
I looked away.
There was no satisfaction in watching him collapse.
Only sadness.
For years, I'd believed our company was built on loyalty.
Now I was discovering that loyalty without accountability could become a convenient excuse for dishonesty.
When Everett left, I remained seated.
Nathan closed his folder.
“Vincent, there's something else you need to understand.”
I looked up.
“The investigators believe Sophia wasn't simply trying to secure financing.”
“What do you mean?”
“The proposed acquisition of Claire's schoolhouse may have been essential to increasing Harbor Point's development value.”
I frowned.
“How essential?”
“Without the eastern access route, several planned commercial buildings may need to be redesigned.”
I stared at him.
“So the property could be worth considerably more to the project than its ordinary market value.”
“Potentially, yes.”
I thought about Claire.
The way she'd spoken about her mother.
The photographs she'd kept of the old schoolhouse.
The promise she'd made to restore it.
I suddenly understood what Sophia had been trying to take.
Not just property.
A dream.
A piece of Claire's family history.
Something money alone couldn't replace.
My phone vibrated.
A message from Marcus.
SIR, WE FOUND AN EARLIER VERSION OF THE HARBOR POINT ACCESS PLAN. YOU NEED TO SEE IT.
I opened the attachment.
It was a presentation dated four months earlier.
On one page, the schoolhouse parcel was highlighted in red.
Beside it were three words.
ACQUISITION REQUIRED BEFORE CONSTRUCTION.
Below the map was a note from Sophia.
Obtain owner consent. If unavailable, proceed through alternate authorization process discussed with E.P.
E.P.
Everett Price.
I looked at Nathan.
“Find out what alternate authorization process means.”
He nodded.
Then another document arrived.
It was the preliminary sale proposal for Claire's schoolhouse.
The proposed purchase price was far below the estimated value of the property's access rights.
The buyer was North Pier Holdings.
And the person who had approved the proposal on behalf of the buyer was Everett.
I stared at the screen.
Sophia and Everett hadn't simply been arranging a questionable loan.
They had apparently been positioning themselves to acquire my wife's property at a fraction of its value.
I looked up at Nathan.
“Whatever it costs to uncover this, do it.”
He studied me.
“Vincent, this isn't something you can fix by writing a check.”
“I know.”
“Claire may never forgive you.”
I swallowed.
“I know that too.”
Then I looked again at the schoolhouse plans.
For the first time, I understood that the woman I'd betrayed hadn't been asking for luxury.
May you like
She'd been asking for a chance to protect something meaningful.
And the people I'd trusted had nearly taken that away from her.
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