Naomi Park’s office looked out over the Chicago River.
She appeared to be about five years older than me, dressed in a navy suit, and she listened to my entire story without interrupting.
The pregnancy.
The dinner.
The fake tuition.
The transfers.
Grant admitting what he knew.
When I finally finished, she folded her hands together.
“First, stop discussing money with his family.”
I nodded.
“Second, do not delete anything.”
I nodded again.
“Third, I want a forensic accountant to review every transfer you’ve made that involved Grant’s relatives.”
I swallowed.
“You think there’s more?”
Naomi paused before answering.
Then she pulled my laptop toward herself.
“People who invent fake educational billing entities rarely do it once.”
That sentence changed the direction of everything.
The forensic accountant was named Elliot Crane.
Within one week, he uncovered patterns I had completely missed because I had always viewed those payments as family emergencies instead of financial transactions.
Melissa’s supposed “insurance premiums” had gone to MDM.
Several of Diane’s alleged “car repairs” had also gone there.
Transfers Grant had described as reimbursements for family trips ended up at MDM too.
Even two payments I believed were emergency dental bills had moved through the same company.
The total taken from my premarital savings was $86,430.
I stared at the figure three separate times.
“Can we recover it?”
“Maybe,” Naomi replied.
But Elliot still looked concerned.
“There’s something else.”
He enlarged one of the banking records.
MDM had been sending money every month into a second account.
MERCER FAMILY TRUST ADMINISTRATION.
I looked at Grant.
Or rather, at his family name.
“What family trust?”
Naomi turned toward me.
“You didn’t know there was one?”
“No.”
Grant had occasionally mentioned that his father left behind “some investments” after his death.
Never once had he called it a trust.
Elliot leaned back.
“This isn’t a small account.”
“How large?”
“I don’t know yet.”
We needed a subpoena to learn the answer.
By that point, Grant had officially filed for divorce.
The petition described our marriage as “irretrievably broken.”
