Chapter 2 - The Account With My Name On It
I read Alannah's message three times.
Thomas stood ten feet away from me, waiting.
“What did she send you?”
I locked my phone.
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
His reaction was immediate.
Too immediate.
“Don't do that.”
“Do what?”
“Play games.”
Something cold moved through me.
For ten days, I had wondered whether discovering Greece would turn Thomas into a stranger.
Instead, I was beginning to understand that he had been a stranger long before I discovered the trip.
I simply hadn't known where to look.
Lily appeared at the top of the stairs with her backpack.
“Mom?”
I softened immediately.
“Coming.”
Thomas turned.
“Sweetheart, could you stay upstairs a little longer?”
“But Mom said we're leaving.”
“I know. I just need to talk to her.”
Lily looked at me.
I nodded.
“Five minutes.”
She disappeared again.
Thomas waited.
Then he said, “What account?”
I stared at him.
He had made the mistake before I asked anything.
“What account?” I repeated.
His face changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
“I assumed that's what your attorney contacted you about.”
“Why?”
“Because you've obviously been going through our finances.”
“Interesting.”
“Celeste.”
“You don't know what she sent.”
“No.”
“But you guessed bank account.”
“We have bank accounts.”
“We do.”
“This isn't some detective movie.”
“No.”
I slipped the phone into my pocket.
“So tell me about Meridian National.”
He didn't move.
That was answer enough.
The name had appeared at the top of the document.
MERIDIAN NATIONAL PRIVATE CLIENT SERVICES.
Thomas walked toward the kitchen.
“I need water.”
I followed.
He filled a glass.
His hand was steady.
I found that fascinating.
“How long?”
He drank.
“How long what?”
“Have you had the account?”
“It isn't what you think.”
“There's that sentence again.”
“It was for an investment.”
“Using my signature?”
“You knew about it.”
“No.”
“You signed paperwork last winter.”
“I signed the refinancing documents for the kitchen renovation we didn't do.”
He looked at me.
A tiny pause.
I felt my stomach drop.
“There was no kitchen renovation financing, was there?”
“Celeste—”
“Oh my God.”
“It was structured through the same lending package.”
“You told me we were applying for a renovation loan.”
“We were considering—”
“You put documents in front of me while Lily had the flu.”
He set down the glass.
“You're making this sound criminal.”
“I don't know what it is yet.”
“It isn't criminal.”
“Then why are you nervous?”
“Because my wife has packed a suitcase and hired an attorney without having one adult conversation with me.”
I stared at him.
“One adult conversation?”
“You know what I mean.”
“I discovered you took Olivia to Greece while telling your daughter you were working in London.”
“I told you nothing happened.”
“You keep saying that as if sex is the only possible betrayal.”
His eyes hardened.
“What do you want me to admit?”
“Nothing.”
“I made a stupid decision.”
“Yes.”
“I wanted to get away.”
“With her.”
“Yes.”
The admission hung between us.
He seemed surprised he'd said it.
I waited.
He exhaled.
“She contacted me months ago.”
“When?”
“January.”
“It's October.”
“I know.”
“You've been talking to her for nine months?”
“Not constantly.”
“How often?”
“I don't know.”
“Daily?”
“No.”
“Weekly?”
“Sometimes.”
“Did you delete the messages?”
His silence answered.
I felt something inside me shift.
Not break.
The breaking had already happened.
This was different.
It was the sound of broken pieces settling.
“Why?”
Thomas leaned against the counter.
“I don't know.”
“Yes, you do.”
He looked exhausted.
Maybe for the first time, honestly exhausted.
“She remembered who I was before all this.”
I looked around our kitchen.
“All this?”
“Work. Mortgage. Responsibilities.”
“Your daughter?”
“I didn't say that.”
“Your marriage?”
“I didn't say that either.”
“You didn't need to.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“She made me feel…”
He stopped.
“Feel what?”
“Wanted.”
That hurt more than I expected.
Not because I had failed to want him.
Because I had spent years making sure he could succeed.
I moved client calls around Lily's schedule because his meetings were “less flexible.”
I left my full-time consultancy job because someone needed to handle school pickups.
I freelanced at night.
I managed holidays.
Doctors.
Meals.
Forms.
His parents.
My parents.
Birthdays.
Repairs.
Everything.
And somewhere in that arrangement, Thomas had apparently interpreted service as absence.
“You wanted to feel wanted,” I said.
“Yes.”
“And you couldn't tell your wife.”
“I didn't know how.”
“So you called your ex.”
“She called me.”
I almost laughed.
“Of course.”
“That isn't what I meant.”
I checked the time.
4:31.
I wanted to call Alannah.
But not with Thomas listening.
“I need ten minutes.”
“Where are you going?”
“The office.”
He stepped forward.
“No.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“We need to finish this conversation.”
“We will.”
“Now.”
“No.”
He blocked the doorway for half a second.
Then he realized what he was doing.
He moved.
That half second stayed with me.
I walked into the small office and shut the door.
Then I called Alannah.
She answered immediately.
“Are you alone?”
“Yes.”
“Is he home?”
“Yes.”
“Do not discuss Meridian with him yet.”
“Too late.”
A pause.
“What did he say?”
“He called it an investment.”
“Did he acknowledge your signature?”
“He said I knew.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“All right.”
Her voice remained calm.
That was why Priya had recommended her.
“What did you find?”
“We pulled the credit disclosure tied to the loan application.”
“And?”
“The Meridian account was funded by a line of credit secured partly against marital assets.”
I sat down.
“How much?”
“Celeste.”
“How much?”
“Initial draw was two hundred eighty thousand.”
The room seemed to narrow.
“What?”
“There were subsequent movements.”
“How much is left?”
“We don't know yet.”
“Where did it go?”
“That's what we're trying to determine.”
I pressed my fingers against my mouth.
“Our house?”
“Potentially affected.”
“Lily's school fund?”
“We're checking.”
My eyes filled.
That was the first moment in ten days when I almost cried.
Not over Olivia.
Not Greece.
Lily.
“What else?”
Alannah hesitated.
“What?”
“The application lists you as co-authorizing spouse.”
“I didn't.”
“I believe you.”
“How do we prove it?”
“We compare signatures, electronic access logs, device records. There are ways.”
I looked toward the closed door.
“Who is the other name?”
“That is the strange part.”
“Tell me.”
“Evan Rourke.”
“Who is that?”
“You don't know him?”
“No.”
“Thomas does.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Rourke's company appears in corporate records connected to Thomas's employer.”
My pulse quickened.
“So this is work?”
“Possibly.”
“And Olivia?”
“I don't know.”
I remembered the reservation.
The flights.
The photographs.
For the first time, another possibility entered my mind.
“What if the trip wasn't only about Olivia?”
Alannah was silent.
Then she said, “That's exactly why I told you not to leave yet.”
My skin went cold.
“Why?”
“Because if Thomas realizes we found Meridian, he may move whatever is left.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Act normal for one hour.”
I almost laughed.
“You're asking the wrong woman on the wrong day.”
“I know.”
“What are you doing?”
“Emergency financial preservation filing.”
“How long?”
“I'm trying to get it in front of a judge tonight.”
I heard movement outside the office.
Thomas.
“Celeste?”
I lowered my voice.
“He's outside.”
“Do not confront him about Rourke.”
“Okay.”
“Call me when you're safe.”
I hung up.
Thomas opened the door.
He didn't knock.
“You finished?”
I stood.
“Yes.”
“Can we talk?”
“I've talked enough.”
His gaze went to my phone.
“What did she tell you?”
“That I'm allowed to leave my own office.”
“Jesus.”
He stepped back.
“I'm trying to fix this.”
“No, Thomas. You're trying to control how quickly I understand it.”
His face changed.
I had landed somewhere close to the truth.
He turned away.
That evening, I delayed leaving.
I told Lily we were having pizza.
Thomas barely ate.
At seven, he asked if I planned to stay the night.
I said I didn't know.
At eight-fifteen, Lily fell asleep on the couch beside me.
At eight-thirty, Thomas went upstairs.
At eight-forty-two, I heard the shower.
My phone vibrated.
Priya.
You need anything?
I replied:
Maybe.
Then I heard Thomas's phone ringing on the kitchen counter.
He had left it downstairs.
The screen lit up.
I did not touch it.
I didn't need to.
The caller's name was visible.
EVAN ROURKE.
The ringing stopped.
Five seconds later, a message appeared on the lock screen.
You said she would never find the account.
May you like
Then another.
Call me before Olivia talks.
