Chapter 6 - the account elena did not know about)
Elena left the house at 12:17 p.m.
She returned less than three hours later.
Alone.
Vivian was surprised.
Rachel was still there.
Julian had left with his parents after spending forty minutes on the phone with his attorney.
Before going, he had stood in the foyer and told Vivian this was not over.
Vivian had answered, "I know."
Now Elena's car returned through the gate.
Vivian watched from the kitchen window.
Rachel looked up from her laptop.
"Expecting her?"
"No."
"Want me to stay?"
"Yes."
Elena knocked.
Vivian opened the door.
The woman standing outside no longer looked smug.
She wore the same floral dress.
No robe.
No favorite mug.
Her hair was tied back.
"Can I talk to you?"
Vivian stepped aside.
Elena entered.
She saw Rachel.
"I wanted this private."
"Rachel stays."
Elena hesitated.
Then nodded.
They sat in the living room.
Elena did not touch the coffee Vivian offered.
For several seconds, she stared at her hands.
Then she said, "Julian lied to me."
Vivian almost laughed.
"You're going to need to be more specific."
Elena looked up.
"He told me you were separated."
"We weren't."
"I know that now."
"You were in my bedroom."
Elena flinched.
"He said you slept in separate rooms."
"We didn't."
"He said you were only together because of business obligations."
Vivian's expression remained flat.
Elena continued.
"He said the house was his."
"Also false."
"He said you used his company to build your consulting network."
Vivian smiled without humor.
"His company nearly collapsed twice."
Elena looked embarrassed.
Vivian leaned back.
"What do you want?"
Elena swallowed.
"To know whether I'm in legal trouble."
Rachel answered.
"Potentially."
Elena looked toward her.
"The invoices weren't my idea."
Vivian's attention sharpened.
"Whose?"
"Julian's."
"Explain."
Elena took a breath.
"He said he couldn't transfer personal money because you monitored everything."
"I didn't."
"He said you did."
"Continue."
"He asked me to issue consulting invoices. He said it was temporary."
"For twelve thousand four hundred dollars?"
Elena nodded.
"Where is the money?"
"Some of it is in my business account."
"Some?"
Elena looked down.
"Julian asked for part of it back in cash."
Rachel stopped typing.
Vivian stared.
"How much?"
"Seven thousand."
"When?"
"Different times."
"Why?"
"He said he needed money you couldn't trace."
Rachel and Vivian exchanged a look.
That changed things.
"Do you have messages?" Rachel asked.
Elena nodded.
"Yes."
"Receipts?"
"Some."
Rachel shifted forward.
"Would you be willing to provide copies?"
Elena hesitated.
Vivian watched her.
"What did he promise you?"
Elena's eyes filled with anger.
"That we were starting a life together."
Vivian said nothing.
"He rented the apartment."
"With company money."
Elena looked shocked.
"He told me it came from his personal savings."
"It didn't."
Elena closed her eyes.
Vivian felt no sympathy.
Not yet.
But she recognized betrayal when she saw it.
Elena had participated willingly in humiliating another woman.
She did not get to transform into an innocent victim simply because the same man had lied to her too.
"What did he say about the debt?" Vivian asked.
Elena opened her eyes.
"What debt?"
"One hundred fifty thousand dollars."
Confusion.
"He said his company was debt free."
Rachel leaned back.
Vivian almost smiled.
"Of course he did."
Elena looked between them.
"What aren't you telling me?"
Vivian answered.
"Julian's company owes my holding company one hundred fifty thousand dollars, plus accrued interest."
Elena went pale.
"That's not possible."
"It is."
"He said you gave him the money."
"He misunderstood."
Elena sat silently.
Then she whispered, "There was another account."
Vivian's focus sharpened.
"What account?"
"I don't know exactly."
"Then how do you know?"
"Julian mentioned it."
"When?"
"Two weeks ago. We were talking about the apartment."
Elena rubbed her fingers together nervously.
"He said once the divorce started, he was moving money somewhere nobody could touch it."
Rachel leaned forward.
"Exact words?"
"Something like that."
"Did he name the bank?"
"No."
"Account holder?"
"No."
Elena frowned.
"He called it the Ridge account."
Vivian's stomach tightened.
Ridge.
She knew the word.
Cedar Ridge Holdings.
A company Julian had created years earlier for a development project that never happened.
Vivian believed it had been dissolved.
"Rachel."
Already moving, Rachel opened her laptop.
Cedar Ridge Holdings still existed.
Dormant, but active.
Registered to Julian.
Vivian stared at the screen.
Rachel searched public filings.
Then business records.
Then a commercial database.
"There."
A recent financing statement.
Cedar Ridge Holdings had opened a business account five months earlier.
The bank name was listed.
Vivian stood.
"Can we see transactions?"
"Not without lawful access."
"But we can trace outgoing transfers from Carter Development."
Rachel searched.
One appeared immediately.
Six thousand dollars.
Then nine thousand.
Then eleven.
Then five.
Thirty-one thousand dollars total.
All transferred to Cedar Ridge Holdings over four months.
Vivian felt the room become very still.
Julian had not just funded an affair.
He had been hollowing out his company.
Moving assets away from collateral.
Preparing for something.
Rachel's face changed.
"This is worse."
Elena looked frightened.
"How much trouble is he in?"
Rachel did not answer immediately.
Vivian did.
"More than he knows."
Her phone rang.
Julian.
Vivian stared at the screen.
Then answered.
"What?"
His voice came fast.
"You contacted my bank?"
"No."
"You froze the company line?"
"No."
"They rejected the credit application."
"That sounds like their decision."
"Don't play games."
Vivian looked at Rachel.
Rachel quietly turned on speaker mode with Vivian's permission.
Julian continued.
"I need you to tell them the debt isn't active."
"It is active."
"You bought it to help me."
"I bought it to keep your company alive."
"Same thing."
"No."
"Vivian, listen to me."
His voice softened.
The old voice.
The persuasive one.
"I know today got ugly."
Vivian looked at Elena.
Elena looked stunned.
Julian continued.
"My mother went too far."
Vivian almost admired him.
Already shifting blame.
"And Elena?"
Pause.
"That situation is complicated."
Elena's eyes widened.
Vivian said, "She's sitting in my living room."
Silence.
Then Julian whispered, "What?"
Elena leaned toward the phone.
"Hi, Julian."
The line went dead.
Rachel slowly closed her laptop halfway.
Elena stared at Vivian.
Vivian stared back.
Then Elena's phone began ringing.
Julian.
She declined it.
It rang again.
Declined.
A text appeared.
Do not say anything to her.
Elena showed them.
Vivian looked at Rachel.
May you like
Rachel smiled faintly.
"Save that."
