Chapter 4 - The Thing Natalie Took Before Ethan Came Home
Ethan did not break open the cabinet.
His attorney advised him not to start destroying property in the middle of a separation.
Instead, he photographed it.
Then he checked the cloud backup for his work laptop.
The cabinet contained older company financial statements, insurance files, tax records, and external drives.
Nothing romantic.
Nothing Natalie should need to hide.
That evening, Ethan logged into Mercer Residential’s accounting platform.
Two things were different.
Cole’s administrative credentials had been disabled.
And a vendor called Northline Project Services had received six payments totaling $84,600 over eleven months.
Ethan knew every major subcontractor his company used.
He did not know Northline.
He called the controller, Priya Shah.
“Who approved Northline?”
A pause.
“Cole.”
“For what?”
“Project management consulting.”
“On which projects?”
Another pause.
“I’d have to pull support.”
Ethan sat forward.
“Please do.”
Priya called back forty minutes later.
The invoices were vague.
Scheduling coordination.
Vendor reconciliation.
Field support.
All work Cole himself was supposedly paid to manage.
“Did I approve these?”
“No.”
“Was I supposed to?”
“Cole’s approval limit technically covered the individual invoices.”
That was the problem.
None exceeded Cole’s authority.
Together they were enormous.
Ethan searched the Illinois business registry.
Northline Project Services had been created thirteen months earlier.
Its manager was not Cole.
It was a woman named Natalie Mercer.
Ethan stared at the screen.
For a moment the affair became almost secondary.
His wife had created a company.
His closest friend had routed his business’s money into it.
The first payment arrived four weeks after Northline was registered.
Around the same time Natalie told Ethan she wanted to “have something of her own.”
He had offered to fund a legitimate business.
She said she wasn’t ready.
Apparently she had been ready.
Just not to tell him.
Ethan forwarded everything to Priya and outside counsel.
Then he called Natalie.
She answered immediately.
“Where’s the key to my office cabinet?”
“Why?”
“Answer me.”
“You don’t get to interrogate me.”
“Northline.”
Silence.
That one word did more than shouting could have.
Ethan continued.
“I found the payments.”
Natalie breathed into the phone.
“You don’t understand them.”
“Then explain.”
“You’ve spent years controlling every dollar.”
“I’m asking about eighty-four thousand dollars from my company.”
“Our company.”
“You don’t own Mercer Residential.”
“I built your life while you built it.”
The resentment sounded real.
That made the betrayal harder, not easier.
Because Natalie had grievances she could have spoken aloud.
Instead she had created Northline.
Then Ethan heard something in the background.
Cole’s voice.
Natalie had told everyone she hadn’t seen him since the previous afternoon.
Ethan said nothing.
Natalie realized her mistake one second too late.
“Ethan—”
He ended the call.
May you like
The affair had not only survived being exposed.
Natalie and Cole were together planning their next move.
