“But be careful, Lauren.”

“Daniel is backed into a corner.”

“He will look for anyone else to blame.”

I hung up the phone and sat down at the table.

The house was cold, so I pulled my cardigan tighter around my shoulders.

I spent the next two hours going through the digital copies of our old tax returns.

Every signature of mine had been forged on the secondary schedules.

I could see the slight tilt in the letters of my name, the way the ‘L’ looped too high.

At noon, my laptop chimed with an incoming email.

It was from Rachel, Daniel’s sister.

I opened it with a hesitant click.

*I tried to warn him,* the email read.

*Vanessa was seeing her ex-boyfriend three months before she moved into the condo.*

*Mother is beside herself.*

*She’s calling an emergency meeting of the family trust.*

*I think Daniel is going to try to run.*

I stared at the words on the screen.

Daniel wouldn’t run; his ego was too large to abandon the Mercer name.

But he would fight dirty to keep what was left of his reputation.