He never did.
Instead, he bought himself a Porsche after the company secured its first major expansion contract.
I hadn't complained.
I told myself that success belonged to both of us.
Now, standing in court, I finally understood how much of our marriage had depended on that belief.
“Mrs. Lane?”
The judge's voice brought me back.
I looked down at the statement.
“After the sale, I transferred $386,000 into the company's operating account. Here is the deposit confirmation. Here is the board resolution acknowledging the contribution. And here is the shareholder agreement identifying the transaction as a loan from me to the company.”
Cole studied the document.
“Was this loan ever repaid?”
“No.”
“Did you demand repayment?”
“Not while the business needed the money.”
“Then perhaps you considered it a gift.”
I looked directly at him.
“I considered it an investment in our future. That does not make it a gift to my husband.”
A woman seated near the back of the courtroom lowered her head.
I recognized her immediately.
June Park.
Our company's first accountant.
I hadn't seen her in almost six years.
Daniel had told me she retired.
But the email I received from her three weeks earlier suggested something very different.
When I looked at her, June raised her eyes.
Then she gave me the smallest nod.
I turned back toward the judge.
“There is something else the court needs to see.”
Daniel's hand tightened around his pen.
And for the first time that morning, I noticed that Vanessa was no longer looking at me.
She was watching him.
