Chapter 3 - THE EMAIL MADDIE ALMOST DELETED
Maddie left the rental house at 11:17 p.m.
She did not drive after drinking.
The bartender hired for the party called her a rideshare, and Maddie spent the night at a modest hotel near downtown Lake Geneva with wet hair, no toothbrush, and a satin dress stuffed inside a plastic laundry bag.
Bradley sent forty-three messages.
Most were about the money.
Only three mentioned the pool.
I barely touched you.
Everyone had been drinking.
You embarrassed yourself afterward.
Maddie screenshotted all three.
At 1:08 a.m., unable to sleep, she searched her email for the name of the title company handling Monday’s closing.
She wanted to know exactly what canceling the transfer had jeopardized.
There were inspection reports.
An insurance quote.
An appraisal.
Then an email from three weeks earlier that Maddie had marked unread while boarding a flight to Dallas for work.
FINAL VESTING CONFIRMATION.
She opened the attached summary.
Buyer:
Mercer Lake Holdings LLC.
Members:
Bradley Mercer — 50%
Barbara Mercer — 50%
Maddie read it again.
Her name was nowhere on the ownership section.
She searched for an older email Bradley had shown her.
In that version, the proposed ownership had been:
Bradley 40%.
Maddie 40%.
Barbara 20%.
Bradley had explained that Barbara needed a minority interest because she would occasionally live there.
Somewhere between that conversation and the closing documents, Maddie had disappeared.
Her money had not.
She called Bradley.
He answered immediately.
“Thank God. Are you done being insane?”
“Why am I not in the LLC?”
Silence.
“Maddie—”
“I’m putting in ninety-two thousand dollars. Why am I not an owner?”
“It’s a tax structure.”
“Explain it.”
“It’s one in the morning.”
“You were awake enough to send me seventeen messages about the transfer.”
Bradley exhaled.
“Barbara’s accountant structured it. We were going to amend everything afterward.”
Maddie looked again at the document.
Something near the bottom caught her attention.
Source of funds: Family gift contribution.
“Bradley.”
Her voice changed.
May you like
“Why does it call my money a gift?”
He hung up.
