Chapter 2 - The Names Beneath Ours4 026
Six weeks of pretending.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I told Caleb he had to.”
I laughed.
“And when he didn’t?”
“I should have.”
“Yes.”
“I know.”
“No.” My voice remained surprisingly calm. “You know now because everything collapsed. Knowing then would have mattered.”
She nodded, tears slipping down her cheeks.
I felt no satisfaction seeing them.
Only sadness.
“And last night?”
Chloe covered her face briefly.
“That was my fault.”
Caleb spoke.
“It was both of us.”
I looked between them.
Advertisement
Chloe lowered her hands.
“We had been trying to find Ethan all week. He stopped answering calls. Caleb was panicking. I was scared because I had convinced him the investment was safe.”
“So you kissed him to make him feel better?”
“No.”
Silence.
Then Caleb answered.
“We’ve had feelings for each other for a while.”
There it was.
Simple.
Unimpressive.
Human.
Some part of me had expected a complicated explanation.
But betrayal rarely requires a grand reason.
Sometimes two people become careless with boundaries until one day they cross a line they had been approaching for months.
Advertisement
Chloe stared at the floor.
“We never did anything before last night.”
I believed her.
That didn’t make it easier.
“Did you plan to tell me?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
Neither answered.
I nodded.
“That’s what I thought.”
Mia stood.
“Harper, maybe we should focus on the loan.”
I loved her for giving me somewhere else to put my attention.
I turned the forged application around.
“Why would Ethan need me?”
Caleb pulled a chair closer.
“Your credit.”
“What?”
“You have excellent credit, stable employment, and almost no debt.”
Advertisement
“And he knew that how?”
Caleb’s face tightened.
“Because I gave him documents from our wedding-account application.”
I stared at him.
He continued quickly.
“I gave him statements to prove where the investment money came from. I didn’t realize they contained enough information to—”
“To steal my identity?”
“I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t think.”
“No.”
The distinction mattered.
Not enough.
But it mattered.
I reached for my phone.
“I’m calling Dominic.”
Chloe looked alarmed.
“You know Dominic Russo?”
“Apparently everyone does except me.”
Advertisement
Dominic answered immediately.
I told him about the application.
He became silent.
Then he said, “Don’t send it to me.”
“Why?”
“Because you should preserve the original chain of evidence. Call your bank. Freeze your credit. File an identity theft report. Then speak to an attorney or investigator.”
His practical response relieved me.
“You’re not going to handle it yourself?”
“I’m a nightclub owner and investment manager, Harper. Not Batman.”
A laugh escaped Mia.
Dominic heard.
“At least somebody appreciates reality.”
Advertisement
I sat down.
“What about Ethan?”
“We terminated discussions with him three weeks ago after our compliance team found inconsistencies in his paperwork.”
“Did you report him?”
May you like
“We filed reports concerning the suspicious documents he submitted to us.”
“Why didn’t anyone contact Caleb?”
Related Stories
