Chapter 4 - a name in the ledger
After leaving the hospital, Rachel contacted a lawyer named Nina Patel.
She did not tell Daniel.
Nina’s office was small and quiet, with no family photographs on the desk and no unnecessary decorations.
Rachel explained the eight-thousand-dollar transfer. She described Daniel’s access to her accounts and the strange financial documents arriving at the house.
Nina listened without interrupting.
“Do you still have access to the company records?” she asked.
“I designed the accounting system.”
“Then start there.”
That night, Daniel attended a business dinner with Megan. Rachel waited until she heard his car leave the driveway.
She opened her laptop and entered the company database.
At first, everything appeared normal.
Then she noticed payments to a marketing agency she did not recognize.
The agency had received nearly sixty thousand dollars during the previous year.
Rachel searched the registration records.
The business address matched Megan’s apartment.
Her pulse quickened.
She continued searching.
There were payments for consulting, event planning, clothing purchases, and transportation. Each invoice had been approved using Daniel’s electronic signature.
Then Rachel found a loan application connected to the house.
The application listed Daniel as an authorized co-owner.
He was not.
Attached to the application was a copy of the property deed with Rachel’s signature beneath an authorization statement.
The signature looked almost perfect.
Almost.
Rachel enlarged the image.
The final letter in her surname curved in a way she had never written it.
Daniel had forged her name.
The loan had not yet been completed, but the application requested four hundred thousand dollars against the value of the house.
Rachel photographed every page and saved the records in three separate locations.
Before closing the system, she found another file.
It contained scanned copies of her passport, bank card, insurance information, and medical identification.
Someone had created a complete financial profile in her name.
Rachel sat alone in the dark kitchen, staring at the screen.
May you like
Daniel was not helping his sister.
He was building a way to take everything Rachel owned.
