Chapter 4 - The Family Meeting
At exactly ten the next morning, I walked into my house carrying two folders.
One blue.
One red.
The blue folder contained the documents Marcus expected.
The red folder contained his future.
Beatrice was already sitting at my dining room table.
Sebastian paced near the kitchen.
Marcus stood when I entered.
“Camila.”
He approached as if he intended to hug me.
I stepped aside.
His hands fell awkwardly.
“Let's sit.”
Beatrice wasted no time.
“We've already lost two days.”
“Good morning to you too.”
She rolled her eyes.
Sebastian looked terrible.
His skin was pale, his hair unwashed, his hands restless.
For the first time, I wondered whether fear—not greed—had brought him there.
Marcus placed a thick packet on the table.
“Here's everything.”
I opened it.
It was not everything.
It showed approximately $1.9 million in Sebastian's obligations.
No Bennett Development Group.
No Calvin Reese.
No fraudulent guarantees.
They were still lying.
I looked at Sebastian.
“Is this all of it?”
His eyes shifted toward Marcus.
“Yes.”
Interesting.
I nodded.
“And if I pay this, everything is solved?”
Marcus answered.
“Basically.”
“Basically?”
“There may be some additional expenses.”
“How much?”
“We'll figure it out.”
Beatrice leaned forward.
“Camila, you have eight million dollars. Why are we discussing every penny?”
Because every penny belonged to my mother.
But I didn't say that.
Instead, I opened the blue folder.
“I spoke to the trust administrator.”
Marcus straightened.
“And?”
“I can request a distribution.”
Beatrice smiled.
Sebastian stopped pacing.
Marcus reached across the table.
“I knew you'd understand.”
I looked at his hand.
Then at him.
“I do understand.”
He withdrew it.
“I understand that Sebastian owes far more than you're telling me.”
Silence.
Marcus's face changed.
Just slightly.
“What are you talking about?”
I pulled out the first document.
Bennett Development Group.
Sebastian sat down.
Beatrice whispered, “Marcus.”
I placed the next document beside it.
My forged ownership agreement.
Then the loan application.
Then the personal guarantee.
Each page landed softly.
Yet every one sounded like a gunshot in that silent room.
Marcus stared at them.
“Where did you get these?”
Wrong question.
Sebastian covered his face.
Beatrice turned toward Marcus.
“You said she wouldn't find out.”
There are moments when people destroy themselves more efficiently than you ever could.
I looked at Beatrice.
“Wouldn't find out what?”
She realized too late.
“Nothing.”
Marcus stood.
“This looks worse than it is.”
“That's encouraging.”
“Camila—”
“Did you forge my signature?”
“No.”
“Did Sebastian?”
“No.”
Sebastian suddenly looked up.
“Don't put this on me.”
Marcus turned.
“Shut up.”
There it was.
The crack.
I waited.
Sebastian pointed at him.
“You said it was temporary.”
“Sebastian.”
“You said once the condo sold, we'd replace everything and nobody would care.”
My stomach turned.
Marcus lunged toward him.
“Stop talking.”
I stood.
“Sit down.”
Maybe it was my tone.
Maybe it was the fact that they finally realized I wasn't the frightened woman they had expected.
Marcus sat.
I looked at Sebastian.
“Keep going.”
He swallowed.
“The first property was Marcus's idea.”
Marcus cursed.
Sebastian ignored him.
“He said commercial real estate was easy money. We bought the warehouse, then discovered contamination. We needed more financing.”
“So you used me.”
“Marcus said because you were his wife, it wasn't really fraud.”
I looked at my husband.
He wouldn't meet my eyes.
Beatrice interrupted.
“He was trying to protect your future!”
I turned toward her.
“My future?”
“Yes!”
“With fake documents?”
“You would have benefited if the investments worked.”
That sentence told me everything about Beatrice.
In her mind, betrayal was acceptable if it was profitable.
I reached into the red folder.
“Did I also benefit from your Florida condo?”
Her face drained.
Marcus whispered, “Camila.”
I placed the bank transfer on the table.
Four hundred thousand dollars.
Then the property record.
Beatrice stared at it.
Sebastian stood.
“You bought a condo?”
“Sit down.”
“You told me there was no money!”
“Sebastian—”
“You let me borrow from Reese while you bought a condo?”
He turned toward Marcus.
“You knew?”
Marcus said nothing.
Sebastian laughed.
It wasn't amusement.
It was disbelief.
“You knew.”
For the first time, the family wasn't united against me.
They were turning on each other.
I almost felt sorry for them.
Almost.
Marcus reached for my arm.
I stepped back.
“Camila, please. I made mistakes.”
“Mistakes?”
“I panicked.”
“You forged my signature.”
“I was going to fix it.”
“You tried to steal from my mother before she was dead.”
His face collapsed.
That was the sentence.
The truth beneath everything.
My voice shook for the first time.
“My mother was dying, Marcus.”
“I know.”
“No. You don't.”
Tears burned my eyes.
“You sat beside me while I cried because she couldn't remember my birthday, and meanwhile you were trying to borrow against her home.”
He looked down.
Beatrice opened her mouth.
I raised my hand.
“Don't.”
She actually stopped.
I pulled the final document from the red folder.
Marcus looked at it.
“What is that?”
I placed it in front of him.
“Divorce papers.”
Nobody spoke.
Then the doorbell rang.
Marcus looked toward the hallway.
“Who is that?”
“I invited someone.”
His face tightened.
I walked to the door.
David stood outside.
Beside him were two investigators from the lender's fraud department.
And behind them stood someone I had never expected to see again.
Calvin Reese.
He looked past me directly at Marcus.
May you like
Then he said:
“Mr. Bennett, I believe we need to discuss the signatures on your loan documents.”
