Chapter 5 - WHAT MARK HAD BUILT IN SOPHIE’S NAME
The first complete accounting took nine days.
Emily and Sophie did not spend those nine days together.
That hurt.
Sophie remained with Ava’s family.
Emily moved into her sister Karen’s basement apartment after Priya advised her not to return home alone.
Mark sent apologies.
Then accusations.
Then apologies again.
Emily saved everything.
The credit bureaus provided account details.
The lenders provided fraud packets.
A forensic accountant named Denise Morgan reviewed the records.
By Friday afternoon, Denise had a number.
$63,481 in current debt.
But Mark had moved far more money through accounts connected to Sophie over eighteen months.
Some balances had been paid down.
Others transferred.
One account had been opened, used heavily, paid off, and closed before Sophie ever knew it existed.
“Where did the money go?” Emily asked.
Denise turned her laptop.
Mostly Marcus Home Restoration.
Payroll.
Building materials.
Insurance.
A delinquent equipment lease.
Supplier invoices.
Past-due payroll taxes.
Emily almost wished there had been another woman.
A casino.
A sports car.
Something selfish in an obvious way.
Instead, Mark had been feeding a dying business.
That complicated the motive.
Not the betrayal.
“He was trying to keep the company alive,” Emily said.
Denise nodded.
“That appears to be part of it.”
“Part?”
“There are things I don’t understand yet.”
Sophie sat at the opposite end of the conference table.
She had barely looked at Emily since arriving.
Denise showed them one application.
Sophie Bennett.
Age nineteen.
Occupation: Office Operations Coordinator.
Annual income: $68,000.
Time employed: 18 months.
Sophie gave a short laugh.
“I’ve never earned sixty-eight thousand dollars in my life.”
Emily looked at her daughter.
“I know.”
Sophie finally met her eyes.
“Do you?”
The question hurt more than shouting would have.
Denise continued.
Several applications contained information Mark could easily have obtained from household records.
Social Security number.
Driver’s license number.
College address.
Date of birth.
But other information required fabrication.
Income.
Employment duration.
Job title.
“He didn’t accidentally use her information,” Denise said.
Emily already knew that.
Still, hearing somebody else say it mattered.
Sophie looked down at her hands.
“At Christmas, he said I stole four hundred dollars.”
Emily closed her eyes.
“I remember.”
“You made me empty my purse.”
“Sophie—”
“You searched my room.”
Emily’s throat tightened.
Mark had stood in the doorway while Emily opened drawers.
He had looked wounded.
Disappointed.
Almost paternal.
“I’m sorry.”
Sophie’s voice broke.
“He knew I didn’t take it.”
Emily looked at Denise.
Denise was watching the records.
Not them.
Sophie continued.
“He made you think I was stealing while he was doing this.”
Emily could not defend herself.
She had missed the cruelty because Mark packaged it as responsibility.
Then Denise turned one final page.
“There’s something else you both need to see.”
A transfer from one of Sophie’s fraudulent accounts had passed through Emily and Mark’s joint checking account before reaching the business.
Emily’s name was on that account.
Sophie stared at the screen.
“If this gets investigated…”
Denise nodded carefully.
“Someone is going to ask what Emily knew.”
Emily understood.
May you like
Mark had not only used Sophie’s identity.
He had moved the money through a place that could make Emily look involved.
