Then the realization hit me with crushing clarity, and I thought about the loan agreement I had signed using my house as collateral for Victor’s new business venture.
Jonathan had insisted on reviewing the paperwork, telling me, “I am better with numbers, trust me,” and I had believed him because he was my brother.
“Her blue folder,” Jonathan said through the speaker, “the one with her important documents, check the closet and her suitcase.”
Victor immediately opened my suitcase while Olivia walked straight to the closet as if she had memorized its layout.
She pulled out my blue folder with disturbing ease and said, “Found it.”
Jonathan’s voice came through again, steady and confident, “Tomorrow morning, once she is at the spa we booked as a wedding gift, Victor will go to First Federal Bank downtown and transfer the funds to the Cayman Islands account, and by noon there will be nothing left.”
Olivia laughed and asked casually, “And the divorce.”
“Three months,” Jonathan replied without hesitation, “irreconcilable differences, she will be emotionally wrecked and will not fight it, and with the loan unpaid and the house as collateral she will have to sell it.”
He added in a colder tone, “As her brother and financial advisor, I will offer to handle the sale.”
They all laughed together, a satisfied sound that made my wedding ring feel like it was burning my finger.
Olivia then asked, “What about her,” and I knew she was referring to me as if I were an object in the room.
“Leave her alone,” Jonathan said, “she will wake up with a headache and by then we will have already made our move.”
I felt something inside me shift from fear to focus, and instead of crawling out and screaming, I reached slowly into my clutch purse and pulled out my phone.
I had silenced it earlier, and with trembling fingers I opened the voice recorder and pressed record.
For fifteen long minutes I captured every detail, including their discussion of previous victims in other cities, women who had lost businesses and homes because they trusted Victor’s charm and Jonathan’s financial guidance.
When they finally left the suite, I remained under the bed until the hallway grew quiet and my body stopped shaking enough for me to move.