Chapter 29
[Addison]
That job interview was my last chance, my last opportunity for me to make it out here on my own.
Thanking Karen, I head out onto the street. She risked her livelihood telling me what Michael’s been up to. She could have just
sent me away without an explanation like everyone else did, but she had enough compassion to tell me to my face.
“My ex was also a real piece of work,” My new friend explained as she said her final farewell. “His terrible behavior was one of
the reasons why I started this organization,” sighing, she holds out a card with her personal number, offering to give me advice when she can. “I wish I could do more to help.”
The crushing weight of failure mires my spirits, but I put on a brave face to put Karen at ease. It’s not her fault that I’m in this
situation.
“Thank you, for telling me at least,” I smile as I close the door behind me.
What am I going to do?
There is nowhere left for me to turn, not without leaving the Tri–state area.
I can’t believe Michael is behind this. He’s never been this petty–or maybe he has, he’s just never directed towards me before.
What a hateful thing to do. I knew Michael was mad at me, but I didn’t realize he HATED me.
“Don’t let him win,” I repeat Karen’s last words of wisdom as I buckle into my seat. Sending a quick text to Hunter, to let him
know I’ll be back early if he still wants to meet for lunch.
If Michael thinks this stunt of his will make me come crawling back to him, he’s wrong. This is just a setback, a bump on the road to my future success. I’m not going to let this defeat me.
I have other options, resources that I promised myself I wouldn’t touch, but my parents wouldn’t have left them for me if they
hadn’t intended that I use them.
When I married Michael, he thought I was an orphan, raised in a middle–class family. In truth, I had been born to a very affluent family. My grandparents had been billionaires—not at the scale of Hunter Grant, but they likely knew his grandparents.
I had cut off all connection to that part of my life decades ago. The fame and money only ended up hurting my family in the end. When I decided to marry Michael, I was hoping for a normal life with a normal family, one that wouldn’t leave me.
“But I guess I was wrong,” I sigh as I turn onto the freeway leading back toward Manhattan and to a place I had sworn I wouldn’t
return.
The investment firm that holds onto my family trust is a place I prefer to never visit unless I have an emergency. It holds an account that I’ve only tapped into three times before–once when I went to college, once when I bought our house, and once when I put in an investment in Michael’s business.
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I don’t know how much money it contains, I never asked, but the investment manager, Mr. Craig assured me it would be, “More
than enough to get me through life as long as I used it mindfully and frugally.”
“Forgive me, Mom and Dad,” I pray as I step onto the street and walk towards the impressive stairs leading up to the old stone bank bordered in ancient looking columns. “I promise I’ll pay it back, once I’m on my feet.”
The gleaming brass handle warms beneath my fingers as I pull the stiff, heavy door towards me. The building is almost empty in
the late afternoon, and my red heels click sharply on the freshly polished marble as I march towards the elegantly clad woman
seated at a cherry wood desk.
“May I help you,” she looks up through stylish hornrimmed glasses, her chestnut hair styled in perfect curls as she smiles with
perfect, straight teeth.
Looking at myself I am suddenly glad for the new shoes and briefcase Hunter gifted me. I had forgotten how regally elegant this
entire establishment is. Armored with his gifts, I stand a bit straighter as I ask to see Mr. Craig. “To discuss my trust. I’d like to
make a small withdrawal.”
“And your name, Miss?” She turns towards her computer screen her perfectly manicured fingers balanced above the keys.
“Archer. Addison Archer.”
After a few keystrokes, she looks up at me, baffled. “Are you sure that is the name on your account?”
Laughing, I tell her to try my married name. “Sorry, I’m in the middle of a divorce. Try Addison Stone.”
As she types, her perfect smile falters. “Excuse me, Mrs. Stone. I’ll be right back.”
Shuffling towards the back of the room, she opens a heavy oak door and disappears inside. A few moments later she comes back,
her cheeks pink, a drop of sweat marring her otherwise perfect makeup. “Mr. Craig will see you now.”
Nervously I follow her back to the imposing office. The last time I entered his office was when the account was made when my
parents and grandparents died in a freak plane crash 20 years ago. I had gone by a different name then. It was so long ago that I
had almost forgotten it until a flood of sadness washed over me as the doors opened wide to let me through.
“Miss Vandersteele, please come in,” Mr. Craig stands, offering me a chair. “We have a lot to discuss. I haven’t seen you in…”
“5 years,” I smile. “Just after my wedding.”
“Ah yes, to invest in your husband’s new venture. I do hope that ended up being profitable, Miss Vandersteele.”
“Archer Stone,” I correct him. I haven’t been Vanessa Addison Vandersteele since I was six years old. “Why do you say that?”
“Because, Mrs. Stone, I didn’t think it was possible with a trust of that size, but you’re penniless. I assumed you knew,” he shook
his head. “Your signature is on every withdrawal.”
“Impossible,” my voice rises as I inform him that I not only had no idea the money had been taken but that I hadn’t signed
anything regarding this account in at least 5 years.
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Perplexed, my advisor pulls up a document that was “signed 6 months ago” for the last substantial chunk: “$200, directly to Ms. Evelyn Valentine.”
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wired
Evelyn. Somehow Evelyn had gotten her hands on my money. But how. “There must be some mistake. That’s my
mistress. I’d never wire her money.”
“But isn’t this your signature,” he shows me the form, and my blood chills.
husband’s
“That’s my signature,” I confirm and my stomach sinks to the ground. “But I don’t know how it got onto that form.”
“It seems, Mrs. Stone, that you have been swindled,” Mr. Craig apologizes. “I advise you to find a good lawyer.”
