Chapter 3 - THE COMPANY THAT WAS “DOING GREAT”
Ashlynn met Gregory four years earlier at a veterans’ charity fundraiser in Jacksonville.
He was charming without being loud.
He remembered names.
Listened when people spoke.
Never seemed threatened when Ashlynn mentioned the Marines.
That had mattered.
She had dated men who treated her service like either a challenge or a fetish.
Gregory treated it like history.
After leaving active duty, Ashlynn had worked as a civilian training consultant for several years, then moved into safety and operations for a logistics company.
She was financially careful.
Not rich.
Comfortable.
She still owned the two-bedroom condo she bought at twenty-eight and rented it out after moving in with Gregory.
She had investment savings from years of steady work.
Gregory knew that.
Before the wedding, he had asked whether they should combine everything.
Ashlynn said no.
“Eventually maybe.”
He smiled.
“No rush.”
Then his behavior around money changed.
Three months before the wedding, he asked for an updated brokerage statement.
“For our mortgage planning.”
They were not buying a house.
When Ashlynn asked why, Gregory laughed.
“Eventually we will.”
She did not send it.
Two months before the wedding, Leonard brought up Ridgeway over dinner.
“We’re refinancing some old equipment debt.”
Gregory added:
“Totally routine.”
Ashlynn asked:
“Is the company struggling?”
Both men laughed.
Leonard said:
“Honey, struggling companies don’t get bank meetings.”
She remembered that now.
One month later Gregory asked whether Ashlynn would ever guarantee a business loan for him.
Hypothetically.
She answered:
“No.”
He looked offended.
She explained.
“I don’t sign obligations I don’t control.”
Gregory changed the subject.
Two weeks before the wedding, his father made an odd toast.
“To marriage. Two people finally learning they don’t have separate futures.”
Ashlynn had smiled because everyone else did.
Now she called her attorney from the ship.
Not a divorce attorney yet.
Megan Lewis had handled Ashlynn’s condo lease and reviewed the prenuptial agreement she and Gregory signed before marriage.
Ashlynn photographed the bank packet.
“Did you sign anything related to Ridgeway?”
“No.”
“Did you authorize Gregory to submit your financial information?”
“No.”
“Then don’t sign anything now.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Good.”
Ashlynn looked through the cabin balcony doors.
Ocean everywhere.
For the first time she understood why Gregory had insisted on a cruise instead of the Costa Rica trip she originally wanted.
Four days largely at sea.
Far from her car.
Far from her apartment.
May you like
Far from Megan.
A honeymoon that looked romantic from outside and functioned beautifully as isolation.
