Chapter 7 - LAUREN'S COMPANY
“What company?”
Lauren backed toward the door.
Derek stared at her.
“Lauren?”
She ignored him.
James read from the message.
“North Star Capital Holdings.”
Derek's expression changed.
“You told me North Star was some private lender.”
“It is.”
James continued.
“Registered agent: Lauren Michelle Hayes.”
My father stood so fast his chair fell over.
“What?”
Lauren looked trapped.
Dad crossed the room.
“You told me you found them through a business contact.”
“I did.”
“You own the company?”
“Part of it.”
“How much?”
She said nothing.
“HOW MUCH?”
Dad's roar startled Emma awake.
She started crying.
Immediately, James moved back toward me.
“Keep the voices down.”
Dad looked ashamed.
“Sorry.”
I rocked Emma gently.
Lauren's eyes darted toward the front door.
Derek blocked it.
“No.”
She stared at him.
“Move.”
“Not until you explain.”
Her face hardened.
“You don't get to control me.”
“I signed our tax returns, Lauren. If you own some lending company I don't know about, then this affects me too.”
James looked at the loan document again.
“Interest rate is fourteen percent.”
Dad's face went white.
“What?”
“Fourteen percent.”
“No. Lauren told me it was six.”
James pointed to a page.
“Fourteen after introductory period. Plus origination fees.”
My father grabbed the paper.
His eyes raced across the print.
“I never saw this page.”
Lauren said nothing.
Dad looked up.
“You told me where to sign.”
“You should have read it.”
The cruelty of that answer stunned everyone.
Even Mom stopped crying.
Dad stared at his daughter.
“I mortgaged our home to save your business.”
“You made your own choice.”
“You said we'd pay six percent.”
“It changed.”
“And the interest goes to your company?”
Lauren folded her arms.
“Some of it.”
I suddenly understood.
“You didn't just take their money.”
She looked at me.
“You trapped them in debt.”
“No.”
“You got Dad to borrow one hundred thousand dollars from a company you own, using his house as collateral.”
“It was legitimate.”
“And you forged James's signature so the loan would be approved.”
She shook her head.
“It was a temporary solution.”
James's voice was ice-cold.
“For you.”
Derek rubbed both hands over his face.
“How long?”
Lauren ignored him.
“How long have you owned North Star?”
“Two years.”
Derek's eyes widened.
“Before we got married?”
No answer.
“Lauren!”
“Eighteen months.”
Derek stepped back like she'd struck him.
“We've been married fourteen months.”
“So?”
“So you hid an entire company from me.”
Lauren threw up her hands.
“Because you wouldn't understand.”
I looked at Dad.
“How much have you paid North Star?”
He swallowed.
“Three payments.”
“How much?”
“Almost four thousand a month.”
James frowned.
“That doesn't reduce principal much at this rate.”
Dad's face crumpled.
Lauren snapped, “Stop making this dramatic. The store was going to recover. I would've paid everything off.”
“With what?”
She glared at me.
“Why are you enjoying this?”
The accusation almost made me laugh.
“Enjoying?”
“You've always wanted me to fail.”
“No, Lauren. I spent half my life helping you not fail.”
“You judged me.”
“I covered for you.”
“Same thing.”
Something clicked in my memory.
A voicemail.
Three months earlier.
Mom had called me while James was deployed and asked whether I could lend Dad twenty thousand dollars for “unexpected home repairs.”
I'd said no because we were preparing for James to return and trying to rebuild our emergency fund.
Mom had sounded angry.
Lauren had called the next day and told me I was selfish.
I looked at Mom.
“That twenty thousand.”
She froze.
“What?”
“The money you asked me for in September.”
Dad looked confused.
“What twenty thousand?”
Mom's face collapsed.
I knew immediately.
Dad didn't know.
“What did you need it for?”
“Sarah…”
“Mom.”
She started crying again.
“Lauren said if we missed a payment, North Star could begin foreclosure proceedings.”
Dad stared at his wife.
“What?”
Mom whispered, “She told me not to worry you.”
Dad slowly turned toward Lauren.
“You threatened your own mother with foreclosure?”
Lauren shook her head.
“I reminded her what the contract said.”
Dad took one step toward her.
James stepped subtly between them.
Not to protect Lauren emotionally.
To keep everyone physically separated.
Dad's voice cracked.
“I gave you everything.”
Lauren stared back.
And then she said the cruelest thing she'd said all night.
“It still wasn't enough.”
Before anyone could respond, Derek's phone rang.
He glanced at the screen.
His face changed.
“Who is it?” I asked.
He answered.
“Hello?”
We watched him listen.
Then he looked directly at Lauren.
“You did what?”
Lauren went pale.
Derek lowered the phone.
“That was our accountant.”
He swallowed.
“The IRS isn't investigating the boutique.”
Lauren didn't move.
Derek's eyes filled with fury.
May you like
“They're investigating North Star.”
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