I even insisted that he receive legal advice concerning his own interests.
He had laughed and kissed my forehead.
“Rachel, you worry too much. This protects both of us.”
For twelve years, he had treated the agreement as a weapon he could use whenever I questioned his spending.
He knew I hadn't kept a complete copy at home.
He assumed I had forgotten what it contained.
But the original agreement protected the property each of us brought into our marriage, including the company shares that had belonged to me before our wedding.
Daniel had signed that schedule himself.
He had initialed every page.
He simply had never bothered to remember what those pages said.
Cole addressed the judge again.
“Our position is that subsequent transactions altered the ownership structure.”
I rose.
“Then those transactions need to be authenticated.”
Judge Mercer nodded.
“That is precisely why we are here.”
The document Daniel relied upon was dated March 14, six years earlier.
It purported to transfer thirty-six percentage points of my ownership to him, giving him sixty-four percent of the company.
My signature appeared at the bottom.
I had never seen it before.
Daniel claimed I had signed the agreement during a corporate restructuring.
His attorney presented an electronic signature certificate.
According to the certificate, the document had been opened and approved from my personal email account.
For a terrible moment, I wondered whether he might succeed.
The signature looked like mine.
The email address was mine.
And six years was a long time to reconstruct ordinary events.
Then June testified.
She explained that Daniel had asked her to update the shareholder ledger after presenting the transfer agreement.
She had requested written confirmation from me.
Daniel refused.
“He told me his wife didn't need to be bothered with business matters,” June said.
Cole asked whether June had personally witnessed anyone forge my signature.
“No.”
“Then you cannot testify that this document was forged.”
“I can testify that the corporate secretary never recorded a valid transfer, that I requested independent confirmation, and that Mr. Mercer-Hollis dismissed me before that confirmation occurred.”
Daniel shifted in his chair.
Cole continued questioning her.
“Isn't it true that you left the company after disagreements over your compensation?”
“No.”
“Didn't you request an increased salary?”
“Yes.”
“And Mr. Mercer-Hollis refused?”
“Yes.”
“Then you had a financial reason to resent him.”
June took a breath.
“I had worked for that company for nine years. I asked for a raise because I was doing the work of three people.”
“Please answer the question.”
“I did.”
Cole returned to his table.
Daniel seemed relieved.
Then June asked whether she could clarify one additional fact.
Judge Mercer permitted her to continue.
“After I was dismissed, Mrs. Mercer continued receiving annual shareholder notices showing her seventy-two-percent voting interest. I know because I prepared the mailing instructions before I left.”
My heart began to race.
