Dianne stared at the words probable simulation until they lost meaning.
She looked at her mother's signature.
Then at Arthur's beneath it.
The page was dated seven years earlier.
“What was he trying to do?”
Santos pulled the document closer.
“This was connected to a proposed personal guarantee.”
“For Dad's business?”
“Yes.”
“Using the brownstone?”
“Indirectly.”
Dianne rubbed her forehead.
“Explain it like I'm not a lawyer.”
“Arthur's company needed financing. The lender wanted additional security. Elena refused to pledge the property. Several weeks later, paperwork appeared bearing what looked like her signature.”
“And Mom said it wasn't hers.”
“Yes.”
“Did she call the police?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Santos looked uncomfortable.
“Arthur claimed a staff member had misunderstood authorization.”
Dianne laughed once.
“That sounds familiar.”
“It does.”
“What did Mom believe?”
“That Arthur had signed her name or directed someone else to.”
Susan sat beside Dianne.
“Elena was furious.”
“You knew?”
“I knew there had been forged paperwork. I didn't know Santos still had the examiner's report.”
Dianne looked at her aunt.
“What happened after?”
“The transaction collapsed.”
“Because Mom caught it?”
“Yes.”
“And Dad stayed married to her.”
Susan's face tightened.
“Life is rarely clean from the inside.”
Dianne looked back at the paper.
Seven years ago, Arthur had apparently tried to reach the house through Elena.
Now he was trying through Dianne.
Different signature.
Same property.
Same need.
“What happened to his company?”
Santos said, “It survived for several years, then folded.”
“When?”
“About eighteen months ago.”
Dianne thought quickly.
Arthur had told everyone he sold his interest.
“He said he exited.”
“He did exit,” Santos replied. “Whether voluntarily or because creditors forced the issue is a different question.”
Dianne remembered the new company.
REED URBAN HOLDINGS LLC.
“Was tonight about old debt?”
“Likely at least partly.”
“Can we find out?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Public filings, litigation searches, credit records where legally accessible, and discovery if litigation begins.”
“I want all of it.”
Santos studied her.
“Be careful.”
“About what?”
“Knowledge can become another way to stay emotionally tied to someone who has hurt you.”
Dianne's mouth tightened.
“I don't want to understand him.”
“Good.”
“I want to understand what he can still do.”
Santos nodded.
“That is the correct question.”
They continued through the estate file until dawn.
Elena had documented everything.
Property taxes.
Repairs.
Insurance.
Appraisals.
Rental income from the upper unit during years when the family had not occupied the brownstone.
Arthur had told Dianne the property was a financial burden.
The records showed the opposite.
It had generated modest income while appreciating substantially.
“Where did the rental money go?” Dianne asked.
Santos checked the statements.
“Into a maintenance account.”
“Who controlled it?”
“During your minority, the trustee structure allowed approved property expenses.”
“Dad?”
“Along with a property administrator.”
“Can we audit it?”
“Yes.”
Dianne looked at him.
“Do that.”
Santos wrote a note.
Susan glanced at Dianne.
“You haven't slept.”
“I'll sleep when people stop pretending to be me.”
“That may be the most Reed sentence you've ever spoken.”
Dianne looked at her mother's letter again.
She folded it carefully and placed it back into the envelope.
At six thirty, Santos's assistant arrived and nearly dropped her coffee when she saw the three of them in the conference room.
By seven, Santos had requested records on Reed Urban Holdings.
At seven fifteen, Dianne's phone rang.
Arthur.
She looked at the name.
Susan said, “Don't.”
Santos held out one hand.
“Let it go to voicemail.”
Dianne did.
A message arrived.
We need to speak privately before lawyers make this worse.
Dianne read it aloud.
Santos said, “Predictable.”
A second message followed.
You embarrassed Lily and damaged this family for no reason.
Dianne's jaw tightened.
Susan muttered, “There it is.”
“What?”
“Shift the victim.”
Dianne kept reading.
Renata misunderstood what she was being asked to do. There was no attempt to steal anything from you.
Dianne took screenshots.
Then:
Your mother would be ashamed of how you're handling this.
Dianne went completely still.
Susan reached for the phone.
“No.”
Dianne pulled it back.
Her hands shook.
Not from uncertainty.
From rage.
For years, Arthur had invoked Elena whenever he wanted obedience.
Your mother valued discipline.
Your mother hated selfishness.
Your mother would expect you to respect me.
Now Dianne had Elena's actual words sitting three feet away.
A place no one can take away from you for refusing them.
Dianne typed:
Do not speak for Mom again.
She showed Santos before sending.
He considered it.
“Fine. Nothing else.”
Dianne sent it.
Arthur responded almost immediately.
Then come home and talk to me.
Dianne turned the phone facedown.
“That was fast.”
Susan poured stale coffee into a paper cup.
“He's losing leverage.”
Santos's assistant entered.
“Gabriel.”
She held several printed pages.
“That company search came back.”
Santos took them.
His eyebrows rose.
“What?”
The assistant pointed to the second page.
“Reed Urban Holdings isn't the only new entity.”
Dianne stood.
“What else?”
“Three LLCs were created within the last four months.”
All used variations of Arthur's business address.
One listed Arthur directly.
Another listed an attorney.
The third listed Celia.
Dianne read the names.
Urban Reed Capital.
AR Property Ventures.
C&R Family Investments.
“They're shells?”
Santos said, “Potentially.”
“For what?”
“We don't know yet.”
His assistant handed him another report.
“There are also two civil judgments against Arthur personally.”
Susan whispered, “How much?”
The total exceeded six hundred thousand dollars.
Dianne sat down.
“Does he have that kind of money?”
Santos did not answer.
He did not need to.
The nearly two-million-dollar proposed loan suddenly looked less mysterious.
Arthur was drowning.
And the brownstone was the nearest thing he could reach.
“What happens if his creditors know about the house?”
“They cannot ordinarily seize property he does not own.”
“But if it gets transferred into his company?”
“That becomes far more dangerous.”
Dianne leaned back.
“So tonight wasn't greed.”
Susan said softly, “It can be both.”
Dianne looked at the judgments again.
“He needed money fast.”
Santos nodded.
“And that urgency may explain the sloppy impersonation.”
The office phone rang.
Santos's assistant answered outside.
A minute later, she returned.
“Mrs. Cho's firm's counsel.”
Santos took the call in his office.
Dianne and Susan remained in the conference room.
Neither spoke.
Then Dianne's phone buzzed again.
This time it was Lily.
Can you call me?
Dianne hesitated.
Susan saw the screen.
“Your choice.”
Dianne called.
Lily answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
“With Susan.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
“I'm safe.”
Lily breathed out.
“Mom came home.”
Dianne sat straighter.
“Celia?”
“Yes.”
“Dad?”
“No.”
“What did she say?”
“That you misunderstood something and that Renata panicked.”
Dianne closed her eyes.
“Of course.”
Lily's voice sharpened.
“Dianne, I know what I heard at the party.”
Silence.
Then Lily added, “And Mom is packing.”
Dianne stood.
“What?”
“She thinks I don't know.”
“Packing what?”
“A suitcase.”
Susan was already listening.
Dianne asked, “Where is she going?”
“I don't know.”
“Do not confront her.”
Lily gave a bitter laugh.
“Everybody keeps telling me that.”
“Because you don't know what she might do.”
“She isn't dangerous.”
Dianne thought about the fake identity.
“Maybe not physically.”
“That isn't fair.”
“No. None of this is.”
Lily went quiet.
Then she said, “I found something.”
Dianne tightened her grip.
“What?”
“Mom left her laptop open.”
“Don't touch it.”
“Too late.”
“Lily.”
“There was an email.”
“To who?”
“A lawyer, I think.”
“What did it say?”
Lily hesitated.
“Something about transferring funds after closing.”
Dianne looked at Susan.
“How much?”
“Four hundred thousand.”
Dianne's mouth went dry.
“To Celia?”
“I think so.”
Santos returned at that moment.
Dianne raised one hand, keeping him quiet.
“Take a photo of the email,” she told Lily.
Susan immediately shook her head.
Santos whispered, “No.”
Dianne corrected herself.
“Actually, don't. Don't access anything else. Just remember what you saw.”
Lily sounded frustrated.
“You want evidence and now you don't?”
“I don't want you getting involved in something illegal.”
A long pause.
Then Lily whispered, “I think Mom knew everything.”
Dianne closed her eyes.
“I think so too.”
The words seemed to hurt Lily more because Dianne did not pretend otherwise.
“I need to go,” Lily said suddenly.
“Why?”
“I heard the garage.”
“Lily—”
The call ended.
Dianne immediately called back.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Susan grabbed her keys.
“We're going.”
Santos blocked the doorway.
“Think.”
“She is eighteen and alone in that house with Celia.”
“Then call police if you believe she's in danger.”
Dianne froze.
Did she?
Celia had participated in fraud.
That did not mean she would hurt Lily.
But desperation had already rewritten too many assumptions.
Dianne called Lily again.
This time she answered.
Dianne exhaled.
“Don't hang up.”
“Mom's leaving.”
“Let her.”
“I asked where she was going.”
Dianne gripped the table.
“Why?”
Lily ignored the question.
“She told me to stay out of adult problems.”
“That sounds like her.”
“Then she said something weird.”
“What?”
Lily's breathing quickened.
“She said Dad ruined everything because he couldn't wait until after tomorrow.”
Dianne looked at Santos.
“After tomorrow?”
Santos stepped closer.
“Ask what happens tomorrow.”
Dianne did.
Lily went quiet.
Then said, “I don't know.”
A door slammed on her end.
“Mom just left.”
“Lock the door.”
“Dianne—”
“Lock it.”
Another pause.
Then the sound of a deadbolt.
“Done.”
Dianne put her on speaker.
Santos said, “Lily, this is Gabriel Santos.”
“I know who you are.”
“Did your mother say anything else?”
“No.”
“Think carefully.”
Lily's voice dropped.
“She said the bank would have fixed everything if Dad had just kept me busy one more day.”
The room became silent.
Dianne stared at Santos.
“Kept her busy?”
Susan whispered, “The party.”
Santos's face changed.
Lily's birthday celebration had not only been a celebration.
It had kept both girls occupied.
Dianne at home expecting to be ashamed.
Lily in a ballroom surrounded by guests.
Arthur and Celia had designed a night where nobody would notice them disappearing.
Dianne asked, “What bank?”
“I don't know.”
Santos returned to the company records.
He scanned the financing page.
Then stopped.
“The proposed lender required a second verification step.”
Dianne moved beside him.
“When?”
“Within twenty-four hours after execution.”
“What kind?”
He read.
“In-person confirmation at the bank funding the credit facility.”
Dianne's pulse jumped.
“If tonight's transfer failed, why does tomorrow matter?”
Santos looked at her.
“Because tonight may not have been their only document set.”
He reached for his phone.
“I need to contact the bank immediately.”
Dianne stared at the clock.
Arthur had not gone home.
Celia had just left.
And somewhere, perhaps already prepared, another version of Dianne Reed might be waiting to finish what Renata had failed to do.
Click here to continue reading: PART 8: We Raced to Stop the Second Transfer, but the Person Waiting at the Bank Was Someone I Never Expected to See There
I Had the Score My Father Wanted, but His Reaction to My Lie Confirmed the Fear I Could Never Prove
Part 7 of 27
