PART 2 — THE MONEY HE THOUGHT I WOULD NEVER FIND
I stood outside the house, staring at Andrew through the glass door.
For twelve years, I had believed I knew my husband.
Apparently, I had known only the version of him he wanted me to see.
My attorney, Michael, was still on the phone.
“Carla, I need you to sit down before I explain this.”
“I’m already standing.”
“This isn’t a joke.”
“I know.”
He hesitated.
“We traced several transfers from your personal investment accounts into accounts connected to Andrew.”
My stomach tightened.
“How much?”
Another pause.
“Approximately four-point-six million dollars.”
I stopped breathing.
Four-point-six million.
I had earned most of my wealth before meeting Andrew. My company had grown rapidly, and I had always kept our finances separate. Andrew had his salary, his family business, and his own accounts.
At least, that was what I believed.
“Are you certain?”
“We checked everything twice.”
“Over how long?”
“Seven years.”
Seven years.
I looked through the window again.
Andrew was talking to Theresa.
She looked frightened.
He looked furious.
Michael continued.
“The transfers were disguised as business investments, tax payments, and property-related expenses.”
“Could Andrew access my accounts?”
“Not legally.”
“Then how did he do it?”
Michael lowered his voice.
“Someone had your authorization credentials.”
My blood ran cold.
I remembered the years when Andrew had helped me organize paperwork.
The times he'd said, “Let me handle that.”
The passwords he'd insisted were too complicated for me to remember.
The occasions when he'd told me my bank's security system was “annoying.”
I had trusted him.
And he had used that trust against me.
“Michael,” I whispered, “what did he do with the money?”
“We're still tracing it.”
“Find everything.”
“We will.”
“No.”
I looked back at the house.
“Find everything before he knows we're investigating.”
Michael went silent.
Then he said something that changed the entire situation.
“Carla, there's another problem.”
“What?”
“The money didn't simply disappear.”
My heartbeat quickened.
“Where did it go?”
“Some of it went into the family company.”
“I knew about that.”
“Not all of it.”
“What does that mean?”
“We found another company.”
My eyes narrowed.
“What company?”
“It was incorporated four years ago.”
“By whom?”
“That's the strange part.”
He paused.
“The registered owner is Andrew.”
I felt a strange calm settle over me.
“How much of my money went there?”
“We haven't finished tracing it.”
“Michael.”
“I know.”
His voice became quieter.
“But there's something else.”
“What?”
“The company owns a property.”
“Which property?”
He gave me an address.
My heart stopped.
It was the address of a house I had never seen.
But I knew the name attached to it.
Theresa.
I looked toward the mansion.
“So my husband used my money to buy his mother a house?”
“Apparently.”
I closed my eyes.
Suddenly, every conversation made sense.
Theresa's expensive vacations.
The renovations.
The jewelry.
The investments Andrew had told me were “family expenses.”
They weren't family expenses.
They were purchases made with my money.
“Michael,” I said, “freeze everything.”
“We're preparing the legal applications.”
“Do it today.”
“I already started.”
I ended the call.
Then I walked back toward the house.
Andrew opened the door before I reached it.
“Carla.”
I looked at him.
He tried to appear calm.
“Can we talk?”
“We've been talking for twelve years.”
His jaw tightened.
“Don't do this.”
“Do what?”
“Act like I'm some criminal.”
I smiled.
“I haven't called you a criminal.”
His eyes shifted.
“Then why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because I'm trying to understand when you became a stranger.”
Theresa stepped forward.
“Carla, this is getting ridiculous.”
I turned toward her.
“No, Theresa. It stopped being ridiculous when your son started stealing from me.”
Andrew's face went white.
“I didn't steal anything.”
“Interesting.”
I pulled out my phone.
“Then you'll have no problem explaining these transfers.”
I showed him the first transaction.
His expression changed.
Then the second.
Then the third.
Theresa looked between us.
“What is she talking about?”
Andrew didn't answer.
I showed her the amount.
“Four-point-six million dollars.”
Her mouth opened.
“Andrew?”
He finally spoke.
“It wasn't like that.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Then tell me what it was like.”
He stepped closer.
“I was protecting our future.”
“By taking my money?”
“The company needed help.”
“You could have asked.”
“You would have said no.”
The words hung between us.
I stared at him.
“So you knew I wouldn't give you the money.”
He said nothing.
“And you took it anyway.”
He looked down.
That was enough.
Theresa suddenly turned toward her son.
“You told me the money came from the business.”
Andrew looked at her.
“I had to keep you out of it.”
She froze.
“You told me you paid for everything.”
“I did.”
“With my money,” I said.
Theresa's face drained of color.
For the first time, I saw something I had never seen before.
Fear.
Not fear of losing me.
Fear of losing everything.
I turned away.
“I'm done.”
Andrew grabbed my arm.
“Carla, wait.”
I pulled free.
“You have until tomorrow morning to give my attorney every financial document you have.”
“And if I don't?”
I looked at him.
“Then the police can ask you.”
His eyes widened.
I walked away.
But before I reached the car, my phone rang again.
Michael.
I answered.
His first words made me stop.
“Carla, don't go anywhere.”
“Why?”
“We found the original transfer.”
“What original transfer?”
“The first payment you made into Andrew's family company.”
“When was it?”
“Three years before you married him.”
I frowned.
“That can't be right.”
“That's what I thought.”
He took a breath.
“Carla, the money was transferred before you even met Andrew.”
I stared at the house.
“Then who authorized it?”
Michael was silent.
Then he said:
“Your father.”
My entire body went cold.
“My father died when I was twenty-four.”
“I know.”
“Then how did he authorize a transfer three years later?”
Michael's voice dropped.
“That's exactly what we're trying to find out.”
I looked at the house again.
And suddenly, I realized something terrifying.
Andrew hadn't started this scheme after marrying me.
He had been connected to my family long before I ever knew his name.
* * *
