Chapter 10
I showed the message to Detective Ellis.
His response was immediate.
Do not reply.
Ten minutes later, Daniel sent another.
Sarah, please. This is bigger than you think.
Then:
Lauren has copies of everything.
Then:
She’ll burn all of us.
I stared at the words.
Megan read over my shoulder.
“He’s turning on her.”
“Or baiting me.”
Rebecca agreed.
“Assume anything Daniel sends is strategic.”
My mother looked confused.
“Why would he be afraid of Lauren?”
I remembered the house.
Daniel had snapped at her.
Shut up, Lauren.
Not the way a man spoke to someone controlling him.
But fear had appeared later.
Especially when the evidence started surfacing.
“They’re partners,” I said. “Partners panic when the plan fails.”
That afternoon, Hartwell Interiors held its first full staff meeting since I returned.
I stood in the conference room facing twenty-eight people who had trusted me with their careers.
I hated bringing my personal disaster into their lives.
But Daniel had already done that.
“I’m not going to share details that could compromise an investigation.”
Everyone listened silently.
“But I need you to know that documents giving Daniel control of this company are disputed as fraudulent.”
Tasha looked furious.
“Disputed?”
Marcus smiled slightly.
“She’s being legally careful.”
A few people laughed.
The tension broke.
I continued.
“Our accounts are secure for now. Payroll will be made.”
Several employees visibly relaxed.
“And Beaumont?”
That came from Aaron, one of our senior designers.
I swallowed.
“We lost them.”
The room sank.
“But we’re challenging the termination. Evidence suggests confidential information was sent using compromised access.”
“Can we survive without them?” someone asked.
That question hurt because it was fair.
“Yes.”
Marcus glanced at me.
I corrected myself.
“We can survive if we make changes.”
I laid out the truth.
Freeze hiring.
Delay office renovations.
Cut discretionary spending.
I would stop taking a salary until cash flow stabilized.
Marcus immediately interrupted.
“No.”
Everyone looked at him.
He folded his arms.
“You don’t get to sacrifice first just because your name is on the building.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“If cuts happen, leadership takes them proportionally.”
“Marcus.”
“No.”
Tasha spoke.
“I agree.”
Then Aaron.
“Me too.”
I stared at my employees.
I had spent days watching people I loved betray me.
Now people who owed me nothing were refusing to let me carry everything alone.
My throat tightened.
“We’ll discuss compensation later.”
Marcus smiled.
“That means she knows we won.”
More laughter.
After the meeting, Rebecca called.
“We have a hearing tomorrow.”
“For the company?”
“Company authority, personal accounts, residence access, and document preservation.”
“Will Daniel be there?”
“Most likely.”
“Lauren?”
“She shouldn’t represent him because she’s a potential witness and alleged participant.”
“Shouldn’t?”
“She has apparently retained separate counsel.”
That surprised me.
“For herself?”
“Yes.”
The alliance was cracking.
Then Rebecca added, “Daniel retained someone too.”
“Who?”
“Martin Graves.”
I knew the name.
Aggressive divorce attorney.
Expensive.
“What are they arguing?”
“That you voluntarily executed the documents and are now repudiating them because you discovered Daniel’s affair.”
I laughed.
“They’re saying I gave him everything and then changed my mind because he cheated?”
“Yes.”
“And the fake doctor?”
“They claim they knew nothing about fabricated medical records.”
“Of course.”
“Their position is Diane and Lauren handled separate administrative matters.”
I leaned against my desk.
“So everybody blames everybody.”
“That’s what happens when conspiracies stop being convenient.”
That evening, my mother returned to her house alone.
I wanted her to stay with Megan.
She refused.
“I’m not letting Diane chase me out of my own home.”
At eight twelve, she called.
Her voice was shaking.
“Sarah.”
I stood instantly.
“What happened?”
“Diane is outside.”
“Don’t open the door.”
“I didn’t.”
“What does she want?”
“She keeps calling.”
I told Mom to call police if Diane refused to leave.
Then another call came through.
Diane.
I answered.
“Get away from my mother.”
“I only want to talk.”
“She doesn’t.”
“Sarah, you’re destroying your own family.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You helped your son forge my name.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because you keep having trouble hearing it.”
Her voice dropped.
“Daniel is going to lose everything.”
“Then maybe he shouldn’t have stolen everything.”
“He made decisions because you pushed him aside.”
“My success is not an excuse for his crimes.”
“You always thought you were better than him.”
I went silent.
Diane continued.
“The company. The money. The travel. Everyone praising Sarah.”
There was years of resentment in her voice.
Not just Daniel’s.
Hers.
“You hated me.”
“I never hated you.”
“You resented me.”
“I resented watching my son become an accessory in your life.”
I closed my eyes.
“He was my husband.”
“He was Mr. Sarah Hartwell.”
“That was his insecurity, Diane.”
“He deserved something of his own.”
“So you stole mine?”
Silence.
Then she said, “Briarwood was supposed to change everything.”
There it was.
I turned on speaker and motioned to Megan to record from her phone too.
“What was Briarwood supposed to change?”
Diane hesitated.
I softened my voice.
“You’re already standing outside my mother’s house. You obviously came there because you want someone to understand.”
That worked.
“Daniel found the property.”
She sounded almost proud.
“Lauren found investors. They needed bridge financing.”
“And I said no.”
“You dismissed him in five minutes.”
“Because the numbers were terrible.”
“You humiliated him.”
“At our kitchen table?”
“You made him feel stupid.”
“So he forged my signature?”
“No one was supposed to lose anything.”
I held my breath.
Diane continued.
“The development would sell. The loans would be repaid. Your accounts would be restored.”
Megan’s eyes widened.
I whispered, “And the house?”
Silence.
“The house was temporary leverage.”
“What about transferring it to MRL?”
“Protection.”
“For whom?”
“For Daniel.”
“From me?”
“From the divorce.”
My heart pounded.
“So you knew he planned to divorce me.”
Diane didn’t answer.
I pushed.
“And you knew about Lauren.”
Another silence.
Then she whispered, “That was never part of the original plan.”
Original plan.
I looked at Megan.
She covered her mouth.
Diane realized what she had said.
“Sarah—”
I hung up.
Then immediately sent the recording to Rebecca and Detective Ellis.
Less than a minute later, Rebecca replied.
Do not lose that file.
Megan stared at me.
“She admitted it.”
“Part of it.”
“No. She admitted there was a plan.”
My phone buzzed again.
This time it was my mother.
Police had arrived.
Diane was leaving.
I thought the danger had passed.
Then Mom sent me a photograph from her doorbell camera.
Diane’s car pulling away.
And another vehicle parked half a block behind it.
May you like
Lauren’s.
She had been watching Diane the entire time.
