The Signature That Wasn't Hers
Chapter 08 - The Signature That Wasn't Hers
Dana arranged for a forensic document examiner that afternoon.
The first suspicious file was a consulting authorization signed six months earlier.
It looked like Laura's signature.
Almost.
The examiner found irregular pressure and hesitation marks.
"A traced or practiced signature is likely," he said. "I would not treat this as authentic."
Laura felt sick.
The document had authorized a consulting company called Mercer Strategic Development to receive $280,000 from Bennett Coastal Holdings.
Evan owned that company.
More transfers followed.
Some were disguised as feasibility studies. Others were legal retainers or market research.
Total: $1.3 million.
Emma paced the conference room.
"How did nobody catch this?"
Laura answered before Dana could.
"Because I trusted him."
The words tasted bitter.
Her longtime accountant had been recovering from surgery. Laura had been expanding her design business. Evan had stepped in with spreadsheets, passwords, and promises to make things easier.
He had not stolen all at once.
He had made himself useful first.
That was the part Laura could barely forgive herself for missing.
Dana pushed a legal pad toward her.
"You need to stop thinking trust was stupidity. Trust is normal. Exploiting it is the wrongdoing."
Laura looked at the list of transfers.
"Can we recover the money?"
"Some. Maybe most. But the land is more urgent."
They discovered an option agreement scheduled to become binding two days after the wedding.
The buyer was a consortium named Harbor Meridian Group.
The authorized representative on the seller's side was listed as Laura Bennett.
The contact email was not hers.
It was a look-alike address created months earlier.
Dana exhaled slowly.
"He's been impersonating you."
Emma stopped pacing.
"Can we stop the sale?"
Dana nodded. "Yes. But we have to move today."
Laura stared at the fake signature one more time.
Then she remembered Evan's smile in the café.
He thought the paperwork would scare her into silence.
May you like
He had forgotten who taught Laura to read contracts in the first place.
Her mother.
