Chapter 5 - The Groom Who Needed a Signature
Michael became more affectionate as the wedding approached.
That frightened Caroline more than anger would have.
He sent flowers to her office.
Cooked dinner.
Booked a surprise spa day.
Told her she seemed stressed and should stop worrying about money.
Especially money.
On Wednesday evening, thirteen days before the wedding, he arrived with Ross Kellerman.
Caroline opened her apartment door and looked from Michael to the accountant.
"I thought we were having dinner."
"We are."
Michael smiled.
"Ross was nearby."
Ross lifted a leather folder.
"Two-minute thing."
Caroline stepped aside.
Lena's recorder was hidden beneath the console table.
Martin had helped install three cameras in the apartment that morning.
Caroline hated every one of them.
But she hated the forged signature more.
Ross spread several documents across the dining table.
"Routine marital structuring."
Caroline sat.
Michael poured himself a drink.
"We talked about this."
"Did we?"
Ross smiled.
"Most couples with significant premarital assets create a unified management structure."
Caroline flipped through the pages.
"What does that mean in English?"
"Efficiency."
"That isn't English. That's sales language."
Michael laughed too loudly.
"Come on, Caroline."
She kept reading.
Page eight contained a consent clause.
Page twelve authorized appointment of an asset manager.
Page sixteen referenced Halcyon Residential Holdings.
Caroline looked up.
There it was.
Michael's eyes flickered.
Only once.
"What's Halcyon?" she asked.
Ross answered first.
"A holding vehicle."
Michael stared at him.
Caroline slowly turned toward her fiancé.
"I thought you'd never heard of it."
Michael recovered.
"I hadn't."
"You said you had no idea what it was."
"I didn't. Ross apparently uses it."
Ross cleared his throat.
"It's one of several."
Caroline tapped the paragraph.
"This transfers my apartment."
"No," Ross said quickly. "It permits management."
"It says title contribution."
"Technical language."
"Title contribution means ownership."
Michael set down his glass.
"Why are you attacking him?"
Caroline looked at him.
"I'm reading."
"You're interrogating."
"I have a right to understand what I'm signing."
"Of course you do."
Michael's voice had changed.
He walked around the table and put a hand on her shoulder.
Caroline resisted the instinct to pull away.
"We're getting married in thirteen days."
"I know."
"Do you trust me?"
The question hung between them.
In the old version of their relationship, Caroline would have said yes automatically.
Now she looked into his face and wondered how many times that word had been used as a substitute for informed consent.
"I trust paper," she said.
Ross gave an awkward chuckle.
Michael didn't.
"What does that mean?"
"It means Martin reviews everything."
"Your aunt's lawyer?"
"My lawyer."
Michael removed his hand.
"You told me he was handling the prenup."
"He is."
"This is not prenup business."
"Anything involving my apartment is his business."
Michael's face hardened.
Ross began gathering documents.
"No problem. We can revisit."
"No."
Both men looked at Caroline.
She took the folder.
"I'll keep these."
Ross froze.
"Those are internal drafts."
"You brought them to my home and asked for my signature."
"They're not final."
"Then you won't mind if my lawyer sees them."
Michael stepped closer.
"Caroline."
She held his gaze.
"What?"
For three seconds she thought he might reach for the folder.
Instead he smiled.
"Nothing."
Ross left ten minutes later.
Michael remained.
He waited until the elevator doors closed before turning on Caroline.
"What the hell was that?"
Caroline folded her arms.
"What was what?"
"Embarrassing me."
"In my own dining room?"
"You made Ross look like a criminal."
"Did I?"
"Jesus."
Michael paced.
"You've become impossible since Evelyn died."
There it was again.
Evelyn.
Caroline stayed quiet.
Michael pointed toward the folder.
"Do you know how insulting it is to act like I'm after your apartment?"
"Then why does your accountant have paperwork transferring it?"
"Because married people combine assets."
"Some do."
"Normal people do."
Caroline's chest went cold.
"So I'm not normal?"
"You know what I mean."
"No. Explain it."
Michael dragged both hands over his face.
"We're building a life. You keep one foot outside the marriage like you're waiting for me to betray you."
Caroline almost told him she already knew.
Instead she said, "Maybe I learned from my father."
Michael stopped.
That did it.
A tiny reaction.
Barely visible.
But Caroline saw it.
"Your father?"
"About contracts."
Michael looked away.
"He was a businessman."
"You knew that."
"Everybody knows that."
"Did you know Reed Holdings still exists?"
Silence.
Michael turned back.
"What?"
Caroline watched him.
There was no confusion.
Only calculation.
"I found an old article," she lied. "It mentioned the name."
Michael's shoulders relaxed.
"Oh."
"Why?"
"No reason."
He picked up his coat.
"I need air."
"Michael."
He stopped at the door.
"Do you know Adrian Vale?"
The color left his face.
It happened so quickly Caroline almost missed it.
Then Michael smiled.
"No."
He walked out.
Thirty seconds later Caroline's phone buzzed.
Lena.
That was the first question he answered honestly.
Caroline stared at the message.
What?
Lena replied.
May you like
He doesn't know Vale.
He's afraid of him.
