Chapter 3 - The Signature That Wasn’t Hers
“You’ve seen this before,” Elena said.
Nathan swallowed. “A version of it.”
The ballroom erupted in whispers.
Elena laughed once, but there was no humor in it. “A version?”
Victoria stepped forward. “This is private family business.”
“No,” Elena said. “You made it public when you grabbed me in front of two hundred people.”
Walter nodded toward page seven. “Look at the signature line.”
Elena did.
Her name was there.
Elena Marlowe.
Written in blue ink.
Her skin went cold.
“That is not my signature.”
Nathan took the pages from her. “What?”
“I didn’t sign this.”
Victoria folded her arms. “You sign dozens of things during a wedding week. You probably forgot.”
Elena stared at her. “I don’t forget my own handwriting.”
Walter said, “Neither does a forensic document examiner.”
Victoria’s eyes flashed. “You had no right.”
Walter looked at Elena. “Three days ago, I received a copy by mistake from an old Hale Meridian server account that was never removed from my legal archive. I thought the signature looked wrong. So I checked the metadata.”
Nathan flipped to the last page.
The document had been created nine days earlier.
Elena’s supposed signature had been added electronically two days ago.
She had spent that entire day in Charleston with her bridesmaids.
Nathan’s face drained of color.
“Mom.”
Victoria’s voice lowered. “This family is trying to protect you.”
“By stealing her company?”
“By saving you from marrying someone who will embarrass you when her little business collapses.”
Elena felt a strange calm settle over her.
Her company was not little.
Marlowe Events had just signed a confidential three-year contract with a national hotel group. The deal was worth more than most people in the ballroom knew.
Only four people knew the final number.
Elena.
Her attorney.
Her chief financial officer.
And Nathan.
She looked at him.
“Who told your mother about the hotel contract?”
Nathan’s silence lasted less than two seconds.
It was enough.
Victoria moved toward him. “Nathan, do not answer that.”
Elena backed away.
He reached for her. “I can explain.”
“Then explain why your mother drafted a transfer agreement exactly six days after I told you how much my company would be worth.”
Nathan opened his mouth.
Before he could speak, every phone in the ballroom buzzed at once.
A message had been sent to the wedding guest group.
May you like
It contained a video.
The thumbnail showed Nathan in his mother’s library, holding the same agreement.
