man who might make me walk away from the house voluntarily.
And, perhaps, a man foolish enough to take the blame if the financial crimes surfaced.
Derek had never been the replacement husband.
He had been the fall guy.
Rebecca seemed to reach the same conclusion.
“Oh,” she said softly.
Derek looked at her.
“What?”
She pointed at him.
“The loan.”
Then at Claire.
“She didn’t forge your signature because she trusted you.”
Derek’s face tightened.
“She forged it because if investigators found it, you’d look like the one stealing from your own gym.”
Claire rushed forward.
“That isn’t true!”
“It fits,” Rebecca said.
“You don’t know anything!”
“I know forensic accounting.”
Martin quietly stepped backward.
I almost admired him.
Lawyers develop survival instincts too.
Derek sat heavily on the edge of the mat.
He looked young suddenly.
Twenty-eight.
Not a predator.
Just a fool.
I should have hated him.
