Chapter 6
There was a new weariness in Michael's voice.
He said, "We've got over 600 thousand dollars worth of inventory sitting in the warehouse, and several projects haven't paid up yet.
"My dad put the house and all our savings into this, and my mom can't sleep at night.
"They didn't mean to hurt you. They wanted to keep the cash flow going."
Anna leaned back in her chair.
She knew Hayes Hardware was struggling, but she had no idea the losses had gotten this bad.
Over the past year, Michael had been sending money home every month. She wasn't happy about it, but she never demanded to see the accounts.
She thought it was for family support or covering some short-term expenses.
Now it seemed like all that money was a handful of sand thrown into a bottomless pit.
"Hard times aren't an excuse for signing someone else's name," Anna said.
"I know," Michael replied.
"So why did you sign the divorce settlement last night?"
Michael fell silent again.
He probably couldn't put it into words himself.
Part of it was his parents pushing him, and part of it was that he was sure Anna would never leave the house or the steady income behind.
He figured signing the papers was a bluff to pressure her. He never thought she'd actually go through with the divorce the very next day.
"Anna, let's talk in person," Michael said.
"First, put together everything you know," Anna replied. "That includes the loan amounts, the guarantee documents, and anything about the middlemen. If you hide anything else, I'll go straight to the authorities."
After hanging up, Anna got a message from Charles.
The partner's board had already signed off on the consultant role, and she could meet with them that afternoon.
The contract was for two years, and the base pay was twenty percent higher than her previous salary.
Anna stared at the numbers. She thought she'd be thrilled, but all she felt was emptiness.
She thought, 'A new job can fix my income, but it can't undo the damage to my credit and assets.'
Just as she was about to reply, her old company's finance department sent her an email. [The deferred incentive had been calculated, and after taxes, it totaled 600 thousand dollars. The payout is scheduled for the afternoon.]
At the same time, her bank account manager called. "Ms. Thompson, someone submitted your online authorization form. The verification code was sent to your husband's phone number."
Anna immediately asked, "When was the authorization form signed?"
"At 9:12 this morning."
At that time, she and Michael had finished the divorce paperwork.
Legally speaking, they were no longer husband and wife.
The account manager explained that the loan system hadn't updated their marital status yet, so everything was submitted using the old details.
"Why was the verification code sent to his number?" Anna asked.
"When the account was first set up, Mr. Hayes was listed as the emergency contact," the manager replied.
"But the authorization page requires a handwritten signature and a photo of a driving licence."
Anna opened the file the bank had sent her.
The signature on the authorization form looked like hers, and the driving licence photo was the same old one from when she first got the mortgage.
In the corner of the document, there was a tiny note about the operation.
The submission came from a device registered to a financing company.
"Please freeze this file and don't let it go any further," Anna said.
"We've already frozen it and notified the staff to explain the situation," the manager replied.
"What happens to someone who submits fake documents?"
"It depends on whether any actual losses were caused, and if there was intent to fraudulently obtain a loan," The account manager said before a pause. "The loan hasn't been disbursed yet, so there's still room to investigate."
Anna caught his hint.
The bank wanted to cut their losses fast and didn't want things to blow up into a mess.
She wasn't in a rush to call the police either.
It wasn't because she was going easy on anyone. She needed to figure out who did what first.
*****
At two in the afternoon, Anna met Michael at a café.
He brought a brown paper bag stuffed with Hayes Hardware's loan contracts from the past two years, plus a few guarantee documents.
"This is all I could find," Michael said.
Anna flipped to the last document.
The guarantee document was for 200 thousand dollars, with a three-year term.
Michael's signature was unmistakable in the signature box.
"Is there any other debt you don't know about?" Anna asked.
"We might owe a supplier some money," Michael replied.
"How much?"
"Over one hundred thousand dollars."
"Your parents said last night that the store needed some cash flow."
"They didn't dare tell me everything."
He clasped his hands together so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "My dad has been in business for thirty years and has never owed his workers a dime.
"Last year, his biggest client went bankrupt, and he couldn't collect over 250 thousand dollars in payments. That's when he started borrowing money.
"He's stubborn. The more he lost, the more determined he was to keep the store open.
"My mom talks a big game, but she put in her own retirement savings."