Chapter 8
Half an hour later, Michael called.
Anna picked up. "Did you try to freeze the assets?"
"I was looking for some advice," Michael replied.
"Did you sign the application?"
Michael didn't answer right away. "The lawyer my mom hired said the payout might count as joint property. She was worried you'd transfer the money, so she told me to hand in the forms first."
"So you signed it."
"I'm stuck with a loan, and the store could go under any day. I had to look out for myself."
Hearing how tired he sounded, Anna felt a strange sense of calm settle over her.
She thought, 'Michael hadn't suddenly changed.
'He always put his parents' problems first, expecting me to give way.
'I used to give in because we were still married.
'But now that it was over, he still thought I should keep being understanding.'
"You can claim what's yours," Anna said. "Whatever the court says is yours, I'll give you every cent.
"But if it's not yours, you won't get a dime."
Michael's voice tightened. "I never wanted to take your money."
"Did you ever ask if that 600 thousand dollars was what I needed to get by?"
"You've already got a new job, right?"
"That has nothing to do with who gets what."
Anna heard Linda's voice on the other end.
She was telling Michael to stop talking and get in touch with the lawyer immediately.
Michael lowered his voice. "Anna, if you're willing to put up 200 thousand dollars to cover the loan, I can lift the asset freeze. That's the amount you guaranteed with your signature."
"But I never took any money from Hayes Hardware. And my payout isn't supposed to pay off Hayes Hardware's debts."
Michael was silent for a long moment. "Guess we'll have to let the court decide."
After the call ended, Anna backed up the recording.
*****
Anna didn't let the freeze on her account keep her from accepting the new job.
Instead, she went upstairs and suggested three changes to the consulting contract.
The other party's representative quickly agreed and scheduled a meeting for her to sign the contract the next day.
At seven that evening, Ethan texted her, saying he'd gotten in touch with the judge and could request access to the electronic case files.
They met at a print shop near the courthouse.
Besides the asset freeze application, the files included the divorce settlement Michael had submitted, an estimate of Anna's severance pay, and a breakdown of the family's assets.
The severance estimate put Anna's payout at 800 thousand dollars.
Ethan frowned, "Your old company only figured out the real number. So how did Michael know it before anyone else?"
Anna kept flipping through the pages.
The last page was a supplementary agreement.
It said Anna had willingly promised to use her severance pay to pay off Hayes Hardware's loan.
Dated 10:40 PM last night.
Her name was right there, bold as day, in the signature box.
Anna read the supplementary agreement from start to finish, twice.
She thought, 'At 10:40 PM last night, Linda and Richard were still in my living room, trying to force me to say yes.
'At that time, I was in the study, printing out the divorce settlement.
'I'd never seen this agreement before, let alone signed it.'
Ethan slipped the document into an evidence bag. "This isn't the spouse confirmation form from the bank. So now we've got at least two forged documents, each for a different purpose."
Anna asked, "If Michael used this to apply for the asset freeze, could he be held responsible?"
"First, we need to find out whether he was aware the document was forged. If he knew it was fake and still submitted it, that's a much more serious issue. But you can't take his word for it. Make sure you have written evidence."
They immediately filed an objection with the court, requesting verification of the original documents and the device used to upload them.
The judge didn't lift the freeze right away, but agreed to put any further action on hold.
*****
After leaving the courthouse, Anna sent Michael a photo of the supplementary agreement. [So, is this another thing you claim you found out about?]
Ten minutes later, Michael finally replied. [I've never seen this before.]
Anna called him right away. "Why is this in your asset freeze application?"
"The lawyer handled all the paperwork. I only signed the application and the authorization form," Michael replied.
"Who handed over the rest of the documents to the lawyer?"
"My mom."
"Where did she get my signature?"
"I don't know."
He answered so quickly as if he had that response ready to go.
Anna didn't argue. She told him to send the lawyer's contact info.