Chapter 2 - A SIGNATURE THAT WASN’T HERS
The bank manager showed Elena the transfer record in a private office.
The document contained her full name, account information, and signature. According to the form, she had authorized three hundred thousand dollars to be transferred into a company called Northbridge Events Consulting.
The signature looked nearly perfect.
Nearly.
Elena had signed her name thousands of times. She knew the angle of every letter and the pressure of every stroke. Whoever had copied it had focused so carefully on its appearance that they had forgotten its rhythm.
“This isn’t mine,” she said.
The manager adjusted his glasses.
“The authorization was submitted with a copy of your identification.”
“My identification was in my desk at home.”
“The request also came from an approved device.”
Elena’s stomach tightened.
“What device?”
The manager turned the computer screen toward her.
The transfer had been submitted from Daniel’s office laptop.
Elena photographed the record and requested that the bank begin a fraud review. Before leaving, she asked for the address connected to Northbridge Events Consulting.
The manager hesitated, then wrote it down.
The address belonged to an office building in downtown Boston.
When Elena arrived, she discovered that Northbridge had no office there. It rented a mailbox through a business registration service.
She was standing near the building entrance when her phone rang.
Daniel.
“Where are you?” he asked.
“Running errands.”
“You went to the bank again.”
It was not a question.
Elena looked through the glass doors of the office building.
“How do you know?”
“The manager called our financial adviser.”
“That account is mine.”
“We’re married.”
“That doesn’t make my money yours.”
Daniel became silent.
Then his voice softened.
“Elena, come home. Brianna’s wedding is close, and Mother is under enormous pressure. We can fix this privately.”
The word privately stayed with her.
Not correctly.
Not legally.
Privately.
Elena ended the call and searched the state business registry on her phone.
Northbridge Events Consulting had been created four months earlier.
Its registered director was a man named Victor Hale.
May you like
Elena recognized the name.
Victor was Daniel’s closest friend from business school.
