Chapter 5 - Unearthing the SecretsI opened the door, keeping the safety chain on. "Natalie?"
"Valerie, please let me in," Natalie whispered, looking nervously over her shoulder. "I drove three different routes to get here. I didn't let Julian know where I was going."
I unlatched the chain and let her in. Natalie stepped into the room, looking exhausted. Her eyes were red, and she looked as though she hadn't slept a wink.
"Are you okay?" I asked, bringing her a glass of water.
"I’m terrified, Val," she admitted, her hands trembling as she took the glass. "But I couldn't let them do this to you. Last night, after the police took Diego, Victoria and Richard went into full damage-control mode. They screamed at me for hours for speaking to the police. Julian... Julian called me a traitor. He threatened to divorce me and leave me with nothing."
"Natalie, I am so sorry you got dragged into this," I said gently.
"No, don't apologize. You gave me the courage to stand up," Natalie said, looking at me with fierce determination. "I’ve been trapped in that family for three years. Julian is just like Diego—controlling, manipulative, and abusive in his own quiet ways. But I’ve been keeping records, Valerie."
She opened her large designer tote bag and pulled out a thick manila envelope, placing it on the coffee table.
"What is this?" I asked.
"The real reason they want your Capitol Hill condo," Natalie said. "It has nothing to do with Victoria’s knees or her not wanting to climb stairs."
I frowned, sitting down and opening the envelope. Inside were financial statements, bank transfers, and foreclosure warnings.
"They are broke, Val," Natalie revealed. "The lavish lifestyle, the Cherry Hills estate, the luxury cars—it’s all a facade. Richard’s real estate company, Vanguard Developments, is facing multiple lawsuits for structural defects in their latest apartment complexes. They are millions of dollars in debt. They desperately needed an asset that was completely clean, unencumbered by debt, and in a prime location. Your condo is worth nearly two million dollars in today’s market, and it’s fully paid off. They planned to force you to sign it over, take out a massive equity loan against it, and use the cash to pay off their creditors."
I turned the pages, my eyes scanning the damning numbers. It was all there. Tax evasion, fraudulent loans, and systematic embezzlement of company funds.
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My husband and his parents hadn't just assaulted me. They had tried to rob me to save themselves from ruin.
"They messed with the wrong architect," I whispered, a dangerous spark igniting in my chest.
