Sarah studied the records.
“This could be deliberate fraud.”
Then my phone rang again.
This time it was Brooke.
When I answered, she sounded strangely confident.
“You need to stop the investigation,” she said. “Because Nathan isn’t the only person whose signature appears on those documents.”
Then she emailed me a contract bearing my name.
Part 3
The signature looked exactly like mine.
But I knew immediately it had been forged.
The contract claimed I had approved selling the mansion to Brooke’s company at a discounted price. If investigators believed it was genuine, I could appear to be part of the fraud.
Brooke laughed softly.
“You handle the financial paperwork, Claire. Who do you think they’ll blame?”
“You forged my signature.”
“Prove it.”
Then she hung up.
For the first time that night, I felt afraid.
Sarah examined the contract and noticed the digital signature had been created from my office computer two weeks earlier. That detail worried us because I had been working that day.
Then I remembered.
At lunchtime, Nathan had brought me coffee and insisted I take Lily to her dentist appointment while he “finished inventory reports” in my office.
Our security system recorded computer logins and hallway activity.
The footage showed Nathan entering my office moments after I left.
Thirty minutes later, Brooke came in through the employee entrance.
Neither of them realized the hallway camera captured their reflection in the glass office door.
The video clearly showed Brooke sitting at my desk while Nathan stood beside her.
The forensic investigators received the recording that same evening.
By New Year’s Eve, the truth had been fully documented.
