Chapter 13 - The SealEvelyn had been a notary for twenty-two years.
She rarely used the seal anymore.
Two years earlier, Caleb had asked to borrow it.
“For company documents,” she said.
Marcus looked at her in disbelief.
“You gave him your official notary seal?”
“For one afternoon.”
“And never checked what he notarized?”
“He returned it.”
“That is not an answer.”
“I trusted him.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
Again.
Everything returned to that word.
Trust.
The same word Marcus used to excuse his own blindness.
The same word Sarah had stopped accepting months ago.
Naomi explained the seriousness carefully.
If Caleb had used Evelyn’s seal without her presence, the notarization could be fraudulent.
If Evelyn had knowingly allowed him to use it, she could face consequences too.
Evelyn looked terrified.
“I didn’t know.”
“Then tell investigators everything,” Naomi said.
Evelyn nodded.
For the first time since Sarah’s collapse, she did not argue about protecting family reputation.
She called Detective Grant herself.
That decision mattered.
Grant interviewed her for nearly three hours.
When she finished, Evelyn emerged looking twenty years older.
Marcus stood from the hallway chair.
“What happened?”
“I told her everything.”
“Everything?”
“Yes.”
“The payments?”
“Yes.”
“The seal?”
“Yes.”
“Dad?”
“Yes.”
Marcus nodded.
His mother touched his arm.
“I should have done this years ago.”
“Yes.”
The answer hurt her.
But it was true.
That night, Sarah sat beside Marcus on their bed.
The bedroom door remained slightly open.
Jaden had begun sleeping poorly.
Sometimes he walked the hallway to make sure his mother was still home.
Marcus noticed.
He had started doing the same thing.
Sarah rested her head against his shoulder.
“You’re angry at her.”
“Yes.”
“You’re angry at yourself.”
“Yes.”
“You’re angry at me.”
Marcus turned.
“No.”
“You are.”
“Why would I be angry at you?”
“Because I investigated your family behind your back.”
Marcus stared at his hands.
“That’s not why.”
“Then why?”
“You knew something was wrong and didn’t trust me enough to tell me.”
Sarah sat upright.
“I tried.”
“Once.”
“More than once.”
“You gave hints.”
“Because every direct question became an argument.”
Marcus looked away.
Sarah continued.
“You know what Caleb understood better than anyone?”
“What?”
“You hated feeling disloyal.”
Marcus frowned.
“To who?”
“Your father. Your mother. Caleb. The company.”
“That isn’t a crime.”
“No.”
She touched his chest.
“But you treated questions like betrayal.”
Marcus remembered every time she had challenged the business.
Every time he called her paranoid.
Every time he told her not to worry.
“You’re right.”
Sarah blinked.
She clearly had not expected surrender.
Marcus continued.
“I made you feel like questioning Caleb meant questioning me.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
Sarah’s eyes filled.
“I’m sorry too.”
“For what?”
“I should have told you once I had proof.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because I wanted enough evidence that you couldn’t dismiss me.”
The honesty hurt more than an accusation.
Marcus nodded.
“I earned that.”
“No.”
Sarah shook her head.
“You contributed to it. There’s a difference.”
For the first time since the hospital, they held each other without discussing evidence.
The peace lasted seven minutes.
Then Marcus’s phone rang.
Detective Grant.
“We matched the fingerprint from the detector.”
Marcus sat upright.
“Caleb?”
“Yes.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
Marcus stood.
“That proves he touched it.”
“Yes.”
“Can you arrest him?”
“Not by itself.”
Marcus almost shouted.
“What else do you need?”
“We need to establish intent.”
“He entered my garage, disabled the detector, and my wife nearly died.”
“We can establish entry. We can establish contact with the detector. We still need to establish exactly what he did and why.”
Marcus clenched his jaw.
Grant continued.
“But we also found something on one of his encrypted drives.”
“What?”
“A file containing your home’s security layout.”
Marcus felt cold.
“Why would he have that?”
“We’re asking him.”
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
Grant paused.
“A document titled ‘Sarah leverage.’”
Marcus stopped breathing.
“What does it say?”
“We’re still reviewing it.”
“Tell me.”
“Marcus—”
“Tell me.”
Grant’s voice softened.
“It contains notes about your marriage.”
Sarah stared at him.
“What kind of notes?”
Grant answered.
“Arguments. Financial disagreements. Things Sarah told other people.”
Marcus looked at his wife.
“How would he know?”
Sarah’s face changed.
Slowly.
Terribly.
“My therapist.”
Marcus stared.
“What?”
“I used a counseling app through the company insurance.”
Grant was silent.
Marcus understood first.
Employee health records.
Company benefits.
Administrative access.
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Caleb had not merely monitored money.
He had been studying where their marriage was weakest.
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