Chapter 10 - WHAT MY HUSBAND BOUGHT
I found Caden sitting alone on the curb outside the old house.
No air conditioning. No beer. No Bonnie beside him.
Just a man in a wrinkled shirt staring at the pavement.
“What did you buy with the Mesa Verde loan?” I asked.
He looked up slowly.
So he knew.
“I can explain.”
“People say that when the explanation is already bad.”
He rubbed his jaw. “A property deal.”
“With my company’s money as collateral?”
“I didn’t take the money. Derek moved it temporarily.”
“What property?”
Caden closed his eyes.
“A development outside Scottsdale.”
“Who owns it?”
He did not answer.
“Caden.”
“Desert Hearth.”
Bonnie’s company.
My laugh came out empty.
“You used my company’s balance sheet to help your mother buy property.”
“It was supposed to be ours.”
“Ours?”
“She said you would never respect me if I didn’t build something of my own.”
“So you stole leverage from me.”
“I was going to pay everything back.”
“You always say that like betrayal has a refund policy.”
He started crying.
For six years, I would have rushed toward those tears.
This time, I let them belong to him.
“Did you know about the custody plan?” I asked.
“Some of it.”
“The fake texts?”
“No.”
“The fake psychologist?”
“No.”
“Marcus breaking into the mansion?”
“No.”
“What did you know?”
He swallowed.
“That Mom wanted me to file first. She said if you controlled the narrative, I’d lose everything.”
“You were afraid of losing money, so you gambled with losing your son.”
His face crumpled.
Then the old house front door opened.
Bonnie stood there holding a folder.
“You really want truth, Taylor?” she called.
She walked down the driveway.
“Here’s truth.”
She tossed the folder at my feet.
Inside was a copy of a life-insurance policy.
Ten million dollars.
Insured: Taylor Reed.
Beneficiary: Caden Reed.
May you like
The policy had been opened four months earlier.
My signature was forged.
