Chapter 11 - The Lawyer
The attorney’s name was Simone Barrett.
She had represented Alicia in the final year of the divorce but not the original filing.
Jordan remembered her as a woman with silver-rimmed glasses who had once given him a granola bar in a courthouse hallway.
Seven years later, she looked almost exactly the same.
Only Jordan had changed.
Simone read the documents without interrupting.
Alicia sat rigid beside Jordan.
When Simone reached the copied signature, she removed her glasses.
“Jordan, you are certain you did not authorize this?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever give your father online access to an email account or electronic signature platform?”
“No.”
“Did you know the 529 existed?”
“Not until yesterday.”
Simone nodded.
“The account owner of a 529 generally has significant control. The beneficiary usually does not own the funds.”
Jordan’s stomach sank.
“So he could take it?”
“I said significant control, not immunity from other obligations.”
She tapped the divorce settlement.
“This order matters.”
Alicia leaned forward.
“Marcus agreed neither of us would reduce Jordan’s education accounts for non-education purposes without written consent.”
“Yes.”
“Mine.”
“Yes.”
“And I never consented.”
“That gives us a clear family-court issue.”
Jordan pointed at his signature.
“What about that?”
Simone’s expression sharpened.
“That depends on exactly what the provider required and how the authorization was generated. We do not accuse anyone of criminal conduct based on one screenshot.”
Jordan nodded.
“But?”
“But if someone represented that you personally approved something you did not approve, we preserve that evidence.”
Alicia asked, “Can we freeze anything?”
“Potentially.”
Simone opened her laptop.
“I’d first send a preservation demand and request complete records. We can also seek enforcement of the divorce order and ask for accounting and reimbursement.”
Jordan’s jaw tightened.
“Can he sell the duplex?”
“If it is his property, ordinarily yes, subject to liens. But if we establish that he improperly diverted restricted family funds into it, that can affect remedies.”
“Can he go to jail?”
Simone looked at him carefully.
“Your goal matters.”
Jordan was surprised.
“I thought law decides that.”
“Law decides available remedies. People decide what they pursue.”
Jordan looked down.
He imagined Marcus in handcuffs.
The image did not satisfy him.
It frightened him.
“I want my money back.”
“Good.”
“And I want him to stop lying.”
Simone gave a tired smile.
“Courts are better at the first one.”
Alicia almost laughed.
Simone continued.
“I also want both of you to avoid public accusations, social media posts, or angry messages. Let documents speak first.”
Jordan nodded.
Then Simone asked, “Does Marcus know you have this copy?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He gave it to me.”
That surprised her.
“Interesting.”
“He thought it proved the money was for me.”
Simone looked again at the signature.
“Or he forgot what else it proved.”
They left an hour later.
On the sidewalk, Alicia exhaled.
“How do you feel?”
“Like I’m suing my dad.”
“We haven’t filed yet.”
“Feels the same.”
Alicia touched his arm.
“We can stop.”
Jordan looked at her.
“Would you?”
“If you wanted to.”
He believed her.
That helped.
His phone buzzed.
Keisha.
He answered.
“Hi.”
“I hope I’m not bothering you.”
“No.”
“I need to tell you something before Marcus does.”
Jordan looked at Alicia.
“What?”
“Darius and I are returning the car to the dealership.”
“Okay.”
“They won’t completely unwind the sale because it was used and the paperwork is final.”
Jordan had expected that.
“So?”
“They offered to buy it back.”
“At a loss.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Almost twenty-two hundred.”
Jordan winced.
Keisha continued.
“Marcus refused.”
“That sounds like him.”
“I told the dealer to deal with him.”
Jordan leaned against the building wall.
“You don’t owe me anything, Keisha.”
“I know.”
“Darius definitely doesn’t.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you calling?”
Silence.
“Because Marcus told me something.”
Jordan’s stomach tightened.
“What?”
“He said the money from your college account went into an investment that was ‘for the family.’”
Jordan looked at Alicia.
“And?”
“He showed me a spreadsheet two months ago.”
“What spreadsheet?”
“Projected returns from the duplex.”
Jordan stood straighter.
“Did it mention me?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Keisha sounded uneasy.
“There were three columns.”
Marcus retirement.
Jordan education.
Future household.
Jordan’s skin prickled.
“Future household?”
“I assumed he meant me and him.”
Alicia was listening now.
Jordan said, “Can you send it?”
“If I still have it.”
“Please.”
“I will.”
Jordan lowered his voice.
“Keisha, why did he show you that?”
Another pause.
“Because he asked me to move in.”
Jordan looked at Alicia.
“When?”
“Two months ago.”
“And you said?”
“I said no.”
“Why?”
“Because I wasn’t putting Darius into a house until Marcus and I talked seriously about long-term finances.”
Jordan closed his eyes.
“So he showed you the investment.”
“Yes.”
“Then bought Darius a car.”
Keisha went quiet.
The sequence became obvious.
Marcus had used Jordan’s education money to stabilize an investment.
Then used Jordan’s transportation money to impress the woman he wanted to build a new household with.
Jordan whispered, “He wasn’t choosing between me and Darius.”
“What?”
“He was financing the future he wanted.”
His phone chimed.
Incoming email.
From Keisha.
Attachment.
LPM PROJECTIONS.xlsx.
Jordan opened the screenshot preview.
At the bottom of the spreadsheet was a note Marcus had apparently forgotten to delete.
Use education reserve short-term. Replace after refi.
Jordan stared.
Date created:
Four months earlier.
Before Jordan had ever asked Marcus for help buying the Corolla.
Before Marcus had ever claimed he could not afford it.
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His father’s refusal had not been spontaneous.
The money had already been promised somewhere else.
