PART 2 — THE SECRET BEHIND THE STOLEN HOUSE
Nolan stared at the people sitting in my living room.
His eyes moved from the detectives to my mother’s attorney.
Then he looked at me.
“Mara, what is this?”
I held Iris closer.
“You already know.”
“I don’t.”
The process server stepped forward.
“Mr. Hale, you have been formally served.”
Nolan took the envelope but didn’t open it.
“What am I being served for?”
My mother’s attorney answered.
“Fraudulent transfer of property, unauthorized use of power of attorney, and financial misconduct.”
Nolan’s face went pale.
“That is absurd.”
My mother stood.
“You transferred my house.”
“I didn’t transfer anything.”
“Then explain your signature.”
She pushed the documents toward him.
Nolan glanced at them.
Then he looked at me.
“Mara, you need to listen to me.”
“I’ve been listening to you for nine years.”
His voice lowered.
“This isn’t what you think.”
I almost laughed.
“You were supposedly in Riverton.”
“I was.”
“The hotel records say you were in Bellwether.”
He froze.
“You were with Selene.”
His silence answered everything.
Talia stepped forward.
“And the bank records show that $280,000 was borrowed against Evelyn’s house.”
Nolan shook his head.
“I never took that money.”
The detective placed another document on the table.
“Then perhaps you can explain this.”
It was a bank transfer.
The money had been moved from the holding company into an account controlled by Selene Ward.
Nolan stared at it.
“I didn’t authorize that.”
“Your electronic signature did.”
He looked at me.
“Mara, someone is setting me up.”
I believed him for exactly three seconds.
Then my mother’s attorney opened another folder.
“We thought that too.”
He pulled out a security photograph.
It showed Nolan entering a private office three weeks earlier.
He was carrying a folder.
Beside him was Selene.
My stomach turned.
Nolan looked at the photograph.
“I can explain.”
“Then explain this,” I said.
I handed him another photograph.
It showed him leaving the same office with a man I didn’t recognize.
Nolan’s expression changed.
He knew that man.
“Who is he?”
Nolan said nothing.
The detective answered.
“His name is Victor Lane.”
I looked at Nolan.
“Who is Victor?”
Nolan finally sat down.
“He handles private financial arrangements.”
My mother’s attorney shook his head.
“He handles illegal asset transfers.”
The room became silent.
Then my mother said something that made Nolan look terrified.
“My husband knew him.”
I turned toward her.
“What?”
She explained that my father had once investigated Victor Lane’s company.
Before he could finish his investigation, he died unexpectedly.
I had always believed it was a heart attack.
But now my mother was telling me something I had never heard before.
My father had left behind evidence.
Evidence connected to the same company that Nolan had been dealing with.
I looked at Nolan.
“Why were you involved with the company my father investigated?”
He wouldn’t answer.
Then my phone rang.
It was an unknown number.
I answered.
A man’s voice spoke quietly.
“Mara, stop asking questions.”
My blood ran cold.
“Who is this?”
“You don’t understand what you’re involved in.”
I looked at the detectives.
The voice continued.
“Your husband isn’t the person you should be afraid of.”
Then the call ended.
I stared at my phone.
Nolan looked frightened.
“What did they say?”
I looked at him.
“They said I shouldn’t be asking questions.”
His face became completely pale.
Then he whispered:
“Don’t tell them about the baby.”
I froze.
“What?”
He immediately looked away.
My heart began pounding.
“What does Iris have to do with any of this?”
Nolan didn’t answer.
The detective stepped closer.
“Nolan, you need to tell us everything.”
He shook his head.
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
He looked directly at me.
“Because if they find out that Iris exists…”
He stopped.
My hands tightened around my daughter.
“Who are they?”
Nolan swallowed hard.
Then he finally said the words that changed everything.
“The people who transferred your mother’s house weren’t trying to steal the property.”
“They were trying to get access to something your father hid there.”
My mother went completely still.
“What did he hide?”
Nolan looked at her.
“A safe.”
My mother’s face drained of color.
“What safe?”
Nolan whispered:
“The one your husband told everyone never existed.”
And suddenly, I realized my father’s death, my mother’s house, Nolan’s secret trip, Selene, and the forged documents might all be connected to one secret.
A secret my father had taken to his grave.
Except now, someone was willing to do anything to uncover it.
And they had just threatened my newborn daughter.
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