Chapter 4 - The Forgotten Documents
Mark grabbed the property document from the table.
His eyes moved quickly across the page, but I knew he was not truly reading it.
He rarely read anything that threatened his version of reality.
“This is fake,” he said.
Rachel opened her briefcase again.
“It is certified.”
“You manipulated this.”
“I prepared the transfer according to your instructions.”
“I never instructed you to give her ownership.”
Rachel removed another page.
“This is your signature.”
Mark stared at it.
For a moment, the arrogance vanished from his face.
He remembered.
Not the details, perhaps, but the day.
The day he had rushed through the divorce settlement because his wealthy girlfriend, Vanessa, was waiting downstairs in a white sports car.
He had been eager to start his new life.
Eager to prove he no longer needed me.
He had signed every page without reading.
“I was under pressure,” he said.
“You brought champagne to the meeting,” I reminded him.
Emma looked at him.
“You told me you bought this place before your marriage.”
Mark ignored her.
Rachel continued.
“Mr. Dawson, you have no right to occupy the apartment without the owner’s permission.”
“I lived here for eighteen years.”
“That does not give you current ownership.”
“I paid for it.”
I finally laughed.
“You paid the first deposit.”
He turned toward me.
“I paid the mortgage.”
“No, Mark. We paid the mortgage. And for the final seven years, the payments came from my account.”
“That was household money.”
“It was my inheritance.”
Emma stared at me.
Mark became louder.
“You are twisting everything.”
“No. I am finally saying it accurately.”
The security officer shifted slightly near the door.
Mark noticed and lowered his voice.
“You planned this.”
“I planned nothing. You arrived at my home.”
Emma moved closer to him.
“Why didn’t you tell me the apartment had been transferred?”
He looked at her with impatience.
“Because it wasn’t important.”
“It seems important.”
“I can fix it.”
Rachel closed the briefcase.
“You cannot reverse a lawful transfer simply because you regret signing it.”
Mark pointed at me.
“She manipulated me during the divorce.”
I shook my head.
“You offered me the apartment.”
“Because I thought—”
He stopped.
“Because you thought Vanessa would support you forever,” I finished.
Emma’s face changed.
“Vanessa?”
Mark looked at her sharply.
“She means nothing.”
“Your wealthy ex-girlfriend?”
“She was before you.”
I leaned against the kitchen counter.
“Not completely.”
Mark’s eyes flashed.
“Laura.”
Emma turned fully toward him.
“What does that mean?”
I opened my handbag.
Inside was the black notebook.
I did not remove it yet.
Not because I was afraid.
Because timing mattered.
Mark saw the bag and seemed to recognize it.
His breathing changed.
“What do you have in there?”
“Personal property.”
“You stole something from me.”
“I kept something you left behind.”
Rachel watched him carefully.
Emma stepped away from his arm.
“What did she keep?”
“Nothing.”
His answer came too quickly.
Emma noticed.
So did everyone else.
Mark moved toward me.
The security officer immediately stepped between us.
“Please maintain distance.”
Mark stopped.
“This is a private family matter.”
“It ceased being private when you entered without permission,” Rachel said.
Emma looked around the apartment again, but now her expression was no longer victorious.
She looked uncertain.
Almost trapped.
“Mark,” she whispered, “where are we supposed to live?”
He did not answer.
That question revealed more than she intended.
Apparently, they had nowhere else to go.
The wealthy businesswoman had not merely left Mark.
She had removed him completely.
No house.
No money.
No comfortable backup plan.
He had brought Emma here because this apartment was his final refuge.
And he had expected me to surrender it.
I checked the clock.
“Twenty-three minutes.”
Mark stared at me.
“You think this is funny?”
“No.”
May you like
I reached into the handbag.
“But I think the next part will interest Emma.”
