Chapter 3
On Thursday, Sophie sent me her findings.
"Claire, there are four loans altogether. The biggest is 10 million dollars, signed last August. The other three are three million dollars, two million dollars, and four million dollars. He used your forged signature as the guarantor for all of them," she said.
"So that's nineteen million dollars total," I said.
"Yep. And his company's cash flow is already stretched thin. If they don't land the Northshore deal, all those loans come due by the end of the year," she added.
"Can he even pay it back?" I asked.
"Not a chance. If the bank comes after him, technically your assets could get frozen—but since everything's under Visionary Holdings, they won't be able to trace it. Still, what he did is seriously shady," Sophie said.
"Put together a full chain of evidence. Keep copies of every forged guarantee. And get me the marriage registration records for him and Emily," I said.
"Claire, when are you finally going to make your move?" Sophie asked.
"When he needs me the most," I replied.
Sophie let out a sigh.
"Alright, you're the boss," she said.
That night, Adam actually brought home a bouquet of flowers for once.
"Today's our anniversary," he said.
Is it? I thought about it for a second. Turns out, it really was our anniversary.
Three years ago, I walked down the aisle in a white dress, saying my vows to him in front of two hundred guests.
Back then, I never realized that the whole ceremony was legally meaningless.
"Thanks," I said, taking the flowers.
He gave me a hug.
"Once we land this project, I'll take you traveling," Adam said.
"Okay," I replied.
He went to bed early.
I sat in the living room, just zoning out as I stared at the bouquet.
Then I grabbed my phone and shot off a text to someone.
I texted: [Ethan, can we delay the Northshore project review by two weeks?]
He replied instantly: [Sure, but what's the reason?]
I replied: [I just want the results to drop at the perfect time.]
He shot back: [Claire, you're always plotting something big.]
I texted: [It's nothing major. Just settling a personal score.]
He texted: [Need a hand?]
I replied: [Not yet.]
He texted: [Just say the word.]
I set my phone down.
Ethan Cooper was the CEO of Visionary Holdings, my old college friend, and my most trusted partner.
Everyone out there thought Visionary Holdings was his.
But only he knew who was really in charge.
A week later, Adam's company submitted their bid.
When he got home, he was in a great mood and popped open a bottle of red wine in the living room.
"This time, we're going all in. We've spent three months on this proposal—it's hands down the best," he said.
"That's good," I replied.
"If we land this project, the year-end bonus will double. I'll get you a new car then," he added.
I nodded.
He had no clue that his bid was literally sitting on my desk right now.
There were five people on the review committee, and I controlled three out of five votes.
But I wasn't about to let him fail.
I was going to make sure he landed the deal.
Let him feel all safe and secure—then pull the rug out so he crashes all the harder.
The next day, I met up with John Law.
"I'm not going to go after him for those four forged guarantees—at least not yet. But I need you to do something for me," I said.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Stay at his company and keep an eye on his cash flow. The moment he puts all those loans into the Northshore project, let me know," I said.
"Ms. Sutton, are you saying—" he started.
"He wants to go all in? Fine, let him. I'll let him put everything on the line, and when he's got nothing left, I'll blow it all up," I said.
John pushed his glasses up.
"That's pretty ruthless," he said.
"He had it coming," I replied.