The Name on the Deed
Chapter 02 - The Name on the Deed
Nobody moved.
Grant stared at Claire from the center of the ballroom as though the woman standing at the microphone were a stranger.
Perhaps she was.
The Claire he knew would have protected him.
She had protected him through bad investments, angry employees, embarrassing magazine profiles, and countless nights when he came home smelling of whiskey and someone else’s perfume.
That Claire had disappeared sometime between finding the forged signature and walking onto the stage.
“The original Harbor House property,” Claire continued, “was purchased with money from my grandmother’s estate.”
A murmur moved through the room.
Grant shook his head.
“Enough.”
Claire ignored him.
“When Grant and I married, I placed the property into a family trust. Grant managed the hotel company. He never owned the land beneath the hotel.”
Richard lowered his head.
He had known.
That realization struck Grant harder than Claire’s words.
“You knew about this?” Grant demanded.
Richard looked at his son.
“I knew what your wife owned.”
“You let me negotiate the sale?”
“I wanted to see how far you would go.”
Grant’s face changed.
Claire removed another document.
“Three weeks ago, my attorney received a copy of the proposed sale. My signature appeared on page fourteen.”
She turned the page toward the audience.
“I never signed it.”
The murmuring became louder.
Grant climbed onto the stage.
“This is a private family matter.”
“No,” Claire said.
Her voice remained steady.
“You made it public when you invited investors here to celebrate a sale based on a forged authorization.”
Grant reached for the folder.
Claire stepped back.
Richard was suddenly between them.
“Don’t touch her.”
It was the first time Claire had ever heard Richard speak to his son that way.
Grant looked around the ballroom.
The humiliation he had intended for Claire had turned.
Phones were coming out.
Board members whispered to one another.
At the rear of the room, the attorney representing the purchasing company stood and quietly left.
Grant leaned close to Claire.
“You have no idea what you just did.”
Claire looked at the champagne stains running down her dress.
“I think I finally do.”
She stepped away from the microphone.
Then Richard said something that stopped her.
“There’s more, Claire.”
She turned.
The old man’s expression frightened her.
“What do you mean?”
Richard looked at Grant.
May you like
“The forged signature isn’t the worst thing your husband has done.”
And suddenly, Claire understood that the gold folder she carried might only contain the beginning.
