Chapter 6 - THE SECOND BETRAYAL
James looked like a man trying very hard not to explode.
I knew that look.
His jaw locked.
His shoulders became perfectly still.
His voice dropped.
“Why is my name on this?”
Lauren crossed her arms.
“I didn't think it mattered.”
James stared at her.
“You forged my signature on a one-hundred-thousand-dollar loan.”
“You have good credit.”
I almost couldn't believe the sentence.
“You used my husband's credit?”
Lauren snapped at me.
“Dad needed help!”
Dad shouted, “Don't put this on me!”
Lauren spun toward him.
“Oh, please! You asked me to figure something out.”
“I never told you to forge James's name.”
“You knew I did it!”
Mom started sobbing.
I suddenly understood.
The inheritance was gone.
My parents had likely borrowed money trying to repay it—or rescue Lauren again.
“What was the loan for?”
Nobody wanted to answer.
I looked at Derek.
He shrugged bitterly.
“Lauren's boutique was failing.”
Of course.
Lauren turned on him.
“You promised you wouldn't tell them.”
“You promised you'd stop lying.”
“I was fixing it!”
“With what money?”
“My business would have recovered.”
Derek laughed.
“The business hasn't made a profit in eighteen months.”
Lauren's face went red.
“Shut up.”
“And she owes vendors.”
“Derek!”
“And the IRS sent a notice last month.”
My father sat down heavily.
I looked at him.
“You put your house up for a hundred thousand dollars because Lauren's store was failing?”
Dad rubbed his forehead.
“She said she needed a bridge loan.”
“And when the bank needed a guarantor?”
Silence.
I looked at Lauren.
“You chose James.”
“He has military benefits. Great credit. Stable income.”
The casual calculation in her voice made my skin crawl.
“You investigated his finances?”
“Dad had copies of your mortgage application from when you two bought the house.”
I looked at my father.
He wouldn't meet my eyes.
James folded the document slowly.
“Who submitted this?”
Lauren hesitated.
Dad answered.
“Lauren.”
James nodded once.
“Good.”
Lauren frowned.
“Good?”
“Yes.”
He took out his phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling my attorney.”
Lauren laughed nervously.
“It's Christmas night.”
“He'll answer.”
“James, come on.”
He dialed.
My mother stepped forward.
“We can resolve this inside the family.”
James looked at her.
“Your version of resolving things inside the family is why we're standing here.”
She stopped.
He put the phone to his ear.
I watched Lauren.
For the first time, she looked afraid.
Not annoyed.
Afraid.
“Mark,” James said when someone answered. “Merry Christmas. Sorry. I need you to listen carefully.”
Lauren grabbed her purse.
“I don't have to stand here for this.”
She turned.
I stepped between her and the door.
“You're not leaving yet.”
Her eyes widened.
“Move.”
“No.”
“Sarah.”
“You hit my child. You stole my inheritance. You forged my husband's signature.”
“I didn't steal your inheritance.”
“You spent it!”
“Mom and Dad gave it to me!”
“And you never wondered where one hundred fifty thousand dollars suddenly came from?”
She looked away.
There.
That was the answer.
“You knew.”
Lauren remained silent.
“You knew it was mine.”
Finally she whispered, “You didn't need it.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“You had James.”
The room went quiet.
“You had a husband with a career. You had school. You had a normal life.”
Her face twisted.
“I had nothing.”
I couldn't believe her.
“So you deserved my money?”
“I deserved something!”
Her voice cracked.
“I spent my whole life watching everything work out for you!”
I laughed in disbelief.
“Work out?”
“You got good grades without trying.”
“I studied every night.”
“You got into college.”
“I worked two jobs.”
“You got James.”
“I didn't win him in a raffle, Lauren!”
She flinched.
“You always got to be the good daughter.”
“No.”
My voice shook.
“I got to be the daughter who was expected to survive without help because all the help went to you.”
Lauren stared at me.
For once, she had nothing to say.
James ended his call.
“Mark is emailing instructions. Tomorrow morning I'm contacting the lender and reporting the forged guarantee.”
Dad stood suddenly.
“If you do that, they could call the loan.”
James looked at him.
“That's your problem.”
“We could lose this house.”
“Then maybe you should have thought about that before committing fraud.”
My mother gasped.
Lauren screamed, “You don't care if they lose everything?”
James turned toward her.
“You assaulted my infant daughter less than an hour ago.”
His voice remained calm.
“You are no longer in a position to lecture me about compassion.”
Then his phone vibrated.
He looked at the screen.
His expression changed.
“What?” I asked.
James turned the phone toward me.
It was a message from his attorney.
James, I ran a quick public-record check on the lender. Call me immediately. This isn't a normal bank loan. Lauren appears to own part of the lending company.
I looked at my sister.
May you like
And suddenly the hundred-thousand-dollar loan looked very different.
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